Becoming a Member of 4CS

Becoming a(n):

General Member - Executive Board Member - Area Representative - Volunteer - Sponsor

Becoming a General Membership

4CS General Membership is open to those classified governance bodies established by classified staff at the various colleges and districts as stated in the 4CS Bylaws. It has traditionally been left up to the classified staff at each site to determine its own structure, representation and governance roles. After the classified staff at that college or district has appropriately ratified the classified governance body, commonly known as a Classified Senate, it can contact 4CS to request official recognition by becoming a General Member. The senate can become a member of 4CS by simply mailing a copy of its constitution (and bylaws, if in existence) to 4CS. The constitution should state that the senate or organization's purpose includes governance representation. As the senate makes revisions to its constitution or bylaws, update copies should be sent to 4CS after the revisions are ratified.

4CS has traditionally held the right to verify that the requesting body is indeed representative of the local classified staff prior to granting full "General Membership" status. General Membership status includes voting responsibilities and rights to have its individual staff members run for elected office as stated in the 4CS Bylaws and Letter of Intent form.

4CS maintains a list of senates/organizations that have submitted constitutions for membership.

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Becoming a Member of the 4CS Executive Board

If you are an active, permanent classified staff employee of a California Community College District, you may qualify to become a member of the 4CS Executive Board. Each candidate for election to the 4CS Executive Board shall be an active member of a 4CS member classified senate.

E-board positions, which are open for new candidates to apply, include all of the Area Representative positions and the officer positions of Treasurer and Secretary (as terms expire). The President, President-Elect, Vice Presidents and President Ex-Facto positions are only open to current E-Board members. These five positions require a working knowledge of the organization, its history and mission. If you are interested in running for a vacated position or an expired term position, you must file a letter of intent and meet criteria associated with "active member" status by the appropriate deadlines. If a vacant position exists, the President, with confirmation by the E-board, can immediately appoint individuals directly to fill those positions on the board.

The 4CS E-Board includes fifteen Area Representative positions, which represents all areas of the State of California. The community colleges of the State of California have been divided into five representational regions for the organizational purposes of 4CS. The five areas are North, Bay, Central, Southwest and Southeast. The sizes of these areas are based upon the populations, number of colleges, and the distances between colleges. Each of these five areas has three Area Representatives, which serve as liaisons to the colleges in their region and serve on the Executive Board of 4CS. If you work as a classified employee and have served your senate at any one of the colleges or districts in the general area (North, Central, Bay, Southwest, and Southeast), you can apply to be an Area Representative. If your college is listed in Bay 2, for example, you can run (be elected) as either Bay 1, Bay 2 or Bay 3 Area Representative, assuming the positions are vacant or terms are about to expire.

Currently, an e-board members primary obligations include service to 4CS (attending four meetings held in various locations across the state) and service to your area (as an Area Representative). At this time, 4CS cannot afford, in general, to pay for your participation on the E-Board. You must either have personal funds available or support from your district and senate. Contact your local Area Representative or any of the current 4CS Officers for more information.

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Becoming a 4CS Area Representative

Becoming a 4CS Area Representative is a great and exciting place to begin helping the colleges and districts statewide to improve through better governance.

Area Representatives serve to share information from their area to 4CS, between 4CS and other statewide organizations, and from 4CS to area colleges and their classified staff. This can be accomplished by sharing newsletters, visiting the colleges, attending the 4CS meetings, volunteering to work on 4CS committees and being available to speak with area colleges. 4CS is a great organization, yet young compared to other statewide groups. It needs members that care about the quality of services provided by the community college system and it needs members dedicated to the mission of 4CS.

An Area Representative must attend the four annual E-board meetings and the Annual Business meeting held at the close of CLI. In general, the summer meeting is held after the close of the CLI in June, the fall meeting in the north, the winter meeting at the CCLC Annual Convention (alternates between north and south) and the spring meeting in the south. The fall and spring meetings are typically held at an area community college. Attending these conferences and meetings may include lodging, food, conference and travel costs. Area Representatives should seek support from their district for their participation in 4CS activities. Yearly cost for attending meetings is estimated at $1500. It is important that you know that 4CS budget is limited and cannot generally support your involvement.

To be an effective Area Representative one should have a strong interest in the overall health of the community college system, the quality of services provided to our students and the professional interests held by classified in how the system provides its services; the ability to see the needs and become an advocate for the community college system as a whole. The passion to work for our current and future students and the community college system through its governance mechanisms. To work and earn respect for classified staff by representing the global interests of our students and our communities. The dedication to make an educational difference for our society.

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Becoming a 4CS Volunteer

4CS Volunteer Form (Word format)

There are numerous ways that you can volunteer to assist 4CS. The easiest way is to help distribute information from and to 4CS and the classified staff of the community colleges. One of the most important, yet seemingly hardest functions of any organized group, is to stay in touch with its members (senates and individuals). Help 4CS by volunteering to forward newsletters, bulletins and email letters to the classified staff at your college and your colleagues at other colleges. Likewise, forward information about what your senate and its members have been doing to 4CS.

Other ways to help are by helping with fundraising activities; becoming an educational resource by sharing important legislative information with your college; volunteering to help your local senate; joining a statewide taskforce; helping Area Representatives arrange Area Meetings; attend a 4CS E-board meeting.

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Becoming a Sponsor of 4CS

If you think you or your group would be interested in providing financial support visit the Sponsorship page.