Resources

Internal resources for chapter members. Bylaws, working group handbooks, the chapter calendar, dues information, and links to national DSA materials.

Resources for Meetings

Once a month we hold general meetings where we come to together as a chapter to vote on major decisions. These are our guidelines for respectful discussion. Meetings are typical open to all persons but only those who are official DSA members can vote, with any major votes submitted as a resolution and decided upon using Robert’s Rules. Additionally, our meetings abide by the following Meeting Code of Conduct.

Submit an Item of Business

To submit an item of business to be taken up in a future meeting, you can write up a resolution and post it in our #dsa-talk channel on our Discord server or send it to our steering committee via tidewaterdsa@gmail.com. Our Steering Committee will take it up for discussion, likely the next monthly general meeting.

Submit a Grievance

If you are having a conflict with another member of Tidewater DSA which you feel would benefit from mediation or experiencing harassment of any kind, please reach out to our harassment/grievance officers (HGOs) at tidewaterdsahgo@gmail.com. Once a grievance has been submitted, our HGOs will be in contact with you with you through the process of mediation. Please note that this is a confidential process handled by our appointed HGOs. No concern is too small to start a converrsation with our HGOs who are intent on making sure we have a healthy and safe community. For more context into this process, please review the Grievance Procedure in our chapter bylaws, the Code of Conduct in our chapter bylaws, and DSA National’s Unified Grievance Policy.

Code of Conduct

Our Code of Conduct defines behaviors that constitute harassment, abuse, and bullying, and that may be subject to filing a grievance. Grievances are referred to our Harassment and Grievance Officers. If they are unable to mediate conflict or resolve prohibited behaviors, the Steering Committee may issue penalties against the misbehavior. For more information, see the Code of Conduct in our chapter bylaws.

Chapter Bylaws

The latest version of our chapter bylaws can be found here.

DSA Membership

If you want to become a DSA member, you can join by paying dues to DSA National and choosing Tidewater DSA as your chapter. Monthly dues are recommended so that your membership does not unexpectedly expire. Dues are a sliding scale on the basis of what you can afford, including the option of a dues waiver. If you need to change your name, mailing address, or phone number on your membership, you can go here.

DSA National

As a DSA member, you can request a training from DSA National, or access member-only forums to discuss issue with other DSA members. If you would like to access a technical tool provided by or if you encounter a problem with ones of these tools, you can fill out an IT request here.