The ACR exists to serve its membership, and state chapters are a vital link between members and ACR elected leadership bodies. State chapters are organizing units — gathering radiologists, radiation oncologists, radiation physicists, and other associated professionals to identify key issues for local and national focus. Chapters provide ACR members with the opportunity to attend meetings, connect with colleagues, discuss matters of radiology practice and patient access, and speak with one voice. That voice is heard yearly when the ACR Council, the legislative body of the College, convenes in Washington, D.C. This meeting is the culmination of a year of work by leaders, members, and chapters to shape the agenda and prepare for decision-making.

The ACR Committee on Chapters functions between state chapters and the national organization. The Committee on Chapters provides a natural avenue for communicating about state needs — amplifying the power of ACR members to shape priorities of the Council and the ACR leadership bodies. Likewise, the Committee on Chapters connects state chapter leaders to one another, as well as to ACR resources. Each chapter has individualized needs and strategic goals, and ACR content experts are available to guide and support those efforts.

The mission of the ACR Committee on Chapters is to:

• Enhance and facilitate the relationship between the ACR
  and its chapters
• Assist chapters in the development and implementation of
  programs and services helpful to their members
• Provide recognition of chapters that excel in fulfilling the
  missions of their chapter and of the ACR

The work of the Committee on Chapters includes:

• Resourcing state chapters
• Connecting chapter leaders to share issues and best practices,
  such as through the annual Chapter Leaders Workshop
• Focusing on innovations, particularly around membership,
  meetings and education, government relations, and quality
  and safety
• Assisting chapters in communicating the value of the
  ACR to preserving and advancing the work of the radiology
  specialty

In the coming year, the Committee on Chapters hopes to build on its current work, while rethinking how it can best advance state chapter initiatives. Chapters can expect outreach from ACR’s Chapter and Member Engagement Manager Katie Kuhn, CAE, to each chapter president as part of our role in communication and connection. Chapters can also look for opportunities to engage on focused topics and leadership development through the ACR virtual gatherings — such as the meeting on scope of practice, initiated by the ACR State Government Relations Committee this past spring. As ACR BOC Chair Howard B. Fleishon, MD, MMM, FACR, noted in the May 2021 Bulletin, “Rather than assume what members want, we need to invite them into the process and build relationships based on broad input.”