The traditional AAUW structure has included

• Members at large (now called national members) who join AAUW at the national level
• Branch members who join community-based groups
• College/University partner institutions who name one of their staff members as a “representative” to AAUW . The “rep”  is treated as a national member and may join one or more branches if s/he wishes.

In addition, there has been an “intermediate level” structure in each state. All branches are expected to participate in the state organization and contribute to the state organization based on their membership and the dues set by the state organization. How national members participate in the state and whether or not college/university reps are granted special status in the state organization (other than as national members) depends on individual state bylaws.

In the last few years, we’ve also seen the rise of virtual branches that are not tied to a specific community. These are of two forms:

• Online branch, e.g. AAUW CA Online Branch
• Branch without borders, e.g. AAUW Tar Heel Branch

The first mirrors a community-based branch with programming and communications that involve the entire branch but are conducted “online”. The second provides something more like an “at large membership in the state” with the additional benefit that members who find that there are a few other members near them can self-organize community-based events that advance the AAUW mission. Both of these types of branches may have a high proportion of their members who are active in AAUW at the state and national levels — those who see the benefit of connecting with AAUW members outside of their local community.

With the new AAUW bylaws of 2009, it is possible for new types of AAUW “entities” to be organized under the following Article:

ARTICLE XII. ADDITIONAL AAUW ENTITIES
The AAUW Board of Directors may establish informal geographic, issue, or special interest groups and networks to further the mission of AAUW and foster the specific interests and needs of members. In addition, groups of members, branches, or states may form other affiliations with one another to serve common AAUW purposes. If desired, they may seek recognition of those AAUW entities following procedures and policies established by the AAUW Board of Directors.

I’m not sure that there’s a broad understanding of what kinds of entities are possible, so here are some examples –

• Established by the Board of Directors – this strategy could be used any time an issue could be better addressed by a broader-based, grass roots effort instead of (or in addition to) a more tightly controlled committee, task force, or even a mailing list.
• Established by
  • States
    • A multi-state structure that can complement (or replace) individual state governance structures
    • A group for a state-wide project such as a Student Advisory Group or a Lobby Corps
  • Branches
    • A coalition of virtual branches to share ideas and, perhaps, programming
    • A coalition of branches that are near each other but in different states to share communication channels and more tightly integrate their programming
  • Members
    • A group supporting each other in a specific role (e.g. web managers, book sale coordinators)
    • A group working on a specific issue of interest (e.g. pay equity, STEM)

The second sentence above (“… groups of members … may …”) is really just stating the obvious. Of course, these groups “may” self-organize without the imprimatur of AAUW. The crux of the matter is  how they use “AAUW” in advertising their work — and here, clear and simple processes to both protect the “brand” AAUW and to allow for the grass roots to address issues that have not (yet?) been awarded resources by the national organization need to be laid out.

If you see any policies on this posted at aauw.org, please let the rest of us know!