Joining CHSR is easy!

1. Fill out a Membership Form
2. Hand it in (with your club fee).
3. Get trained.
4. Propose a show (optional).
5. Get involved!

The Membership form is really important to us!

• The form is used to keep track of the members at the station. We need to know who is a member for security reasons, how many members we have for quorum at meetings (the minimum number of members needed for business to be done), and who has the right to vote.
• The form is also used to communicate with the members, to keep the members up to date with schedule changes, special events, opportunities which need volunteers, show approvals and committee opportunities, and to help each other find fill-ins when needed.
• The form also tells us what kind of things you are interested in doing at the station. Everybody is unique. We want you to be able to get involved in things you’d like to do at the station. We use that section of the membership form to enable coordinators to contact you to offer the chance to learn or exercise your interests.
• Finally, we use the forms to keep a tally of where people are from. Nobody is second class at the station, but our funding agencies are always interested in whether their constituency is making use of the place. We never give names, but we do give percentages, when asked.

You can pick up a membership form at the station (on the side of the shelves to the right of the Program Director’s door) or download an application form (it’s in PDF format). If you download it, you have to print it out and bring it to the station or mail it in (CHSR, Box 4400, Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3). You can’t fax it or email it, because we can’t take it without the membership fee.

The Membership Fee

• Yes there’s a membership fee.
• Yes, even students of UNB and STU have to pay the fee.
• Membership fees (currently $10 for a year) are not used by the station, but they are used by the club for cool club activities which would not otherwise occur. These include socials, parties, coffee and our annual awards banquet (The Barry Awards).
• The members voted to establish the fee, could vote to remove it, and vote on what they want to do with the money each year.

Filling out your membership form

• PRINT your information. This is not merely an exercise in paperwork. We input ALL the data, and handwriting is usually the first barrier to getting email or phone calls from us that you will really, really want.
• We need both your local address and (if you are a student) a long-term address, to assist us in locating you in the summer, or afterward. You do not want to be among the surprising number of people who are offended because they believe they were “forgotten”.
• The funding agencies care about where our members come from. There are no quotas that you have to fit into — nobody is turned away because they are not a student or not from a particular school. This is just a way to show that the station is being used by the different groups.
• If you tell us how you found out about the station, we can keep working on where we promote ourselves, discovering what works and what doesn’t (yet).
• All those categories are really important in helping us find a good fit for you and your interests here at the station. Keep in mind, that these are things you are interested in — experience isn’t required, only interest! If you check off a department you’d be interested in being involved with, somebody from that department will contact you to find out what you want to do, and how you can get involved. The different types of shows, issues and music interest are also to help like-minded people find each other.

Handing it in

• We can only take the form if it is accompanied by the club fee. This is pretty much an absolute rule, simply because it gets too confusing to determine who paid, otherwise. Every year, a number of people ask us to bend or ignore this rule because they don’t have the money on them and they don’t want to lose the form, or delay the application or, whatever. There’s a bank machine around the corner, and a bank on campus, so you aren’t far from getting the money you need.
• NEVER slip a form under an office door, or into one of the office mailboxes, or tucked into any space which, in your opinion, staff should be checking daily. We may not, and your form and money could be lost, or worse, “found” by somebody else. We can’t process what we don’t get, and we only get the ones that are given to us directly.
• You can mail it in — but who knows how long that might take? If you can’t make it to the station to hand in the form, then are you really going to have to get involved? Besides: if you visit, we’ll give you the tour, we’re learn your name, and you can talk about some of the things you are interested in doing. And, we can book your training time. It’s much more convenient than telephone tag.
• No: we don’t have change. At all. Yes, the bank machines give out $20 bills — but the store will quite happily change that for you. We don’t keep money on hand, and the odds are no one here can break a $20.
• Money should not be a barrier to radio. If you have difficulty paying the fee (or paying the fee in time for training) talk to the Staff or the Executive about options. The fee is meant to help the club do things collectively, not to acts a filter.

Who to talk to, and why: The Program Director (PD)

The Program Director (PD) is the staff person in charge of broadcasting. The PD can accept your fee, begin the process of putting you in the database, and sign you up for training. The PD will also likely be the one doing your training, and the one you ask for help. If you want to be a programmer, it does not hurt to introduce yourself to the PD so they are more familiar with you when presenting your program proposal to the Programming Committee.

The Program Director’s office is the one just to the right of the front door.

“Is there anyone else I can give this to?”

• Yes. The Station Manager (SM) is another staff person and is able to accept your fee and begin the process of putting you into the database. The SM is not connected to programming, or directly to volunteer services, but will advise you on when to return or who to call to make sure you do get put on the right track.  The Station Manager’s office is the second one to the right of the front door.
• Yes. The Executive Committee has a position called Secretary/Treasurer. When that position is filled, they will post their hours and be available to collect fees and process applications. The board next to the Station Manager’s office will list the in-office hours of the Secretary/Treasurer. Note that this is a volunteer position, and will likely have very specific and short hours.
  

Nobody else can take your form or your fee. Be careful not to hand in money to just anyone. They may lose it (or worse!) and we can only count processed individuals as members of the Club.