GROWING AND MAINTAINING VIABLE STUDENT CHAPTERS OF PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: THE CASE OF THE NATIONAL AGRIMARKETING ASSOCIATION

There are 35 accredited student chapters of the National AgriMarketing Association (NAMA) from 24 states and 3 Canadian Provinces. Membership in a NAMA student chapter allows students to network with professionals, develop their marketing and communication skills, and develop leadership and team-building skills. A survey of student chapter advisors was used to identify what facilitates and what constrains student chapter success. Advisors indicated the opportunity and enjoyment of the national conference and professional and career development opportunities to be the most important reasons students participate in student NAMA. The opportunity to network with professionals, they noted to be the most important advantage of participation, followed by experience in developing/presenting a formal marketing plan. A clear consensus among advisors was that the students themselves make student NAMA successful, in particular the leadership skills of students. They also indicated that students themselves can make student NAMA unsuccessful, particularly when they are not motivated. Other threads of concern include constraint on faculty time, lack of support from the university (financial, student credit hours), and a professional chapter. Professional NAMA should take advantage of its focus of marketing to help grow and maintain viable student chapters. The value of student NAMA needs to be marketed to students, faculty-advisors, academic administrators, and professionals. Professional members can get to know the students and provide tangible incentives to encourage them to network. They can help faculty recruit students and encourage/entice them to be active in the student and the professional NAMA chapters, can provide financial assistance to the student organization, and can help faculty market student NAMA throughout the university. Academic advisors can get to know their professional members, work with them to recruit highly motivated students, and ensure the proper incentives are in place to help maintain student motivation