Form a STATE student chapter

Students are the driving force of STATE. The more schools that have student chapters, the more influence STATE will have on curricular reform

Initial Steps to forming a student chapter

1. Join STATE yourself.
2. Form an e-mail list of chapter members at your school.
3. Send the group e-mail address (not individual addresses) to STATE national, so all members can receive announcements.
4. Identify a faculty advisor for your group. The faculty advisor will provide continuity by finding new student leaders when former leaders graduate. 

Further steps

• Write a brief description of what is happening in transpersonal education at your institution (possibly called contemplative studies, or consciousness studies, among other names).  This will be posted on the STATE national website, and will be of great use and inspiration to students and faculty pursuing these initiatives elsewhere.
   
• Hold regular gatherings of students and faculty. These might include group meditations, artistic expression, discussions, reading lists, guest speakers, potlucks, teas, etc.  These regular meetings will be the underlying current that drives STATE, because of the strong community bond they foster, and their capacity to fulfill students’ desire to integrate their deepest convictions about human potential with their academic studies and life as a whole.
   
• Sponsor occasional retreats, camping trips, trips to meditation centers, etc.
   
• Engage in outreach activities - presentations (e.g. creative activities, guided meditations, etc.) at prisons, homeless shelters, and public schools.
   
• Encourage participation in the STATE internet dialogues.
   
• Stay abreast of developments in transpersonal education nationally and at other student chapters, and be sure to let STATE know of new developments at your institution.
   
• Communicate with other students chapters, to share ideas, information, and pursue collaborative efforts.
   
• Lobby for expansion of transpersonal education at your institution by identifying faculty and administrators who are supportive of this area, and conveying to them the growing interest locally and nationally in transpersonal education.  Encourage the design of related courses and possibly curricular models. Key to these efforts is the way transpersonal education can enhance conventional learning, and open up new avenues to areas such as creativity, diversity studies, and cross-disciplinary education. Cite initiatives at other schools, such as Brown University and The University of Michigan.
   
• Encourage independent majors. Many schools have a mechanism whereby students can design their own majors, or concentrations.  If this is the case at your school, and there are enough courses that involve a transpersonal / spiritual component, encourage as many of your peers as possible to design this kind of program. As curriculum committees note these kinds of proposals, they will realize the significant interest in this kind of education, and will be more receptive to the idea of a permanent curriculum of this nature.
   
• Promote the growth of the national STATE movement by polling your student members for friends at other institutions who are interested in transpersonal education. Encourage them to form STATE student chapters at their schools, and submit their names to STATE national.
   
• Host regional or national STATE meetings at your school.

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