2005 Membership Committee Report
The Membership Committee met in San
Diego, CA at the April Experimental Biology 2005 meeting. The primary topic
of discussion at the meeting was how the Committee might best serve the
Society so that it can continue to recruit and retain members. As of March
1, 2005, the total membership is 9,610 and the regular membership is 7,170.
The number of regular members rose sharply from 1999 to 2003 and has fallen
slightly over the last two years. Over a period of six months from October
1, 2004 to March 1, 2005 a total of 303 regular members and 229 student
members were approved. The new members represent a large and broad group of
physiologists. The vast majority of new members hold the PhD (76 percent)
and/or MD (23 percent). The average age of new regular members is 41
years. Twenty-six percent of the new regular members are female. The new
members represent a broad cross section of all academic positions and ranks
including Chairperson, Director, Chief, Professor, Associate Professor,
Assistant Professor, Instructor, Research Scientist, Postdoctoral Fellow,
Research Fellow, Clinical Fellow, and Registered Nurse. Twenty-eight
percent of new members are from outside of the USA. Canada and Japan
contributed 27 percent of the new regular members from outside of the USA.
New members were approved from Argentina, Australia, Chile, China, Denmark,
France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand,
Nigeria, Oman, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and West Indies.
During the same reporting period, there was a decrease in regular
membership by 662 and in student membership by 614. There was a net
decrease in the total number of members of 763 or 7 percent. The drop in
regular members appears to be due to a plateau in the number of new regular
members from 2001 to current, and a sharp increase in dropped regular
members from 2001 to current. Therefore, the membership committee must
address the increased numbers of dropped regular members. The decrease in
membership could be attributed to three factors: 1) an increase in
number of dropped members; 2) the increase in regular membership
dues; and 3) an increase in the number of institutions not providing
financial assistance for membership dues.
As requested at the last Membership Committee meeting, stickers of the
APS logo were provided for all member attendees to place on the IUPS/EB
registration badges. The stickers were available at the APS Exhibit Booth
and in the APS Headquarters Office. The main reason for requesting the
stickers was because student registration badges do not include the society
affiliation. Having a sticker helps identify our student members.
Additionally, some APS members are also members of other participating
societies and fail to select APS. There was a lot of enthusiasm among the
members to wear the stickers and it was proposed that the stickers be
available at future meetings.
The group reviewed the March 2005
status report. Concern continues regarding the large number of members
dropped for nonpayment of dues. Discussion arose regarding why members are
dropping and if there is a correlation between length of membership or
sectional affiliation with the numbers of dropped regular members. Roughly
50 members join a month and the average age of a newly-elected Regular
member is 41 years. We need to look more closely at the age of the members
being dropped. It is possible that those joining at age 41 are not the ones
being dropped. Rather, those dropping could be student members who
transition to Regular members and are focused on other issues. Members may
also be dropping because they have retired; it was noted that members are
retiring earlier. The committee asked APS staff to research the regular
members dropping after the first through fifth year to see what percentage
converted from student membership and what percentage had retired.
Another interesting statistic regarding dropped members is sectional
affiliation. Thirty-six percent of the dropped regular members were not
affiliated with a section. In addition, 21 percent of regular members are
not affiliated with a section. This represents 1,634 members that are not
receiving information from APS sections that are specific to their
scientific interests. This is indicative of the need to become affiliated
with a section at the outset of membership. The new member packet includes
information about the sections and, now, the membership application form
includes a check-off for affiliation. It was proposed by the committee that
the online membership application form should make the field for section
affiliation mandatory. Additionally, it was proposed that the dues notice be
revised to state “Select Sectional Affiliation” rather than “Change
Sectional Affiliation.” It would be advantageous to have that information
on the front of the form rather than the back.
The Group agreed that members not affiliated with a section should
receive a letter explaining how they maybe missing out on a major member
benefit. The letter should include a brief overview of all the sections and
should address the benefits of sectional membership and how it is the
perfect way to become connected with the larger society. It should be noted
that of regular members who are affiliated with a section there is an
average of 3 percent (range 1-6 percent) of the current section membership
that were dropped in 2004. Therefore, there does not appear to be one
particular section that is losing a greater percentage of the members at
this time.
The question was asked whether those who drop membership without a
section affiliation are simply not the type to get involved anyway. There is
a need for further information about the relationship between dropped
members and section affiliation.
It was difficult to make conclusions on why members do not renew because
there were only a few members who responded to the questionnaire about why
he/she dropped from membership. An email was sent out to 311 regular
members for non-payment of dues. Forty-three members responded immediately
and renewed ((14 percent). Thirty-three emails were returned and could not
be contacted. Twelve members responded to the questionnaire. The average
length of membership of the questionnaire responders is 14 years (2-28 year
range). A common theme of the responders was an inability to obtain
institutional or government funds for reimbursement of dues and a change in
research area.
It was noted that some institutions will reimburse for meeting
registration but not membership dues. Therefore, there is little incentive
to join the APS if the difference between the nonmember registration and
member registration is less than the annual membership dues.
The committee agreed that there is a need to have more career resources
information available for members only. A particular need is information
targeted to help postdoctoral fellows transition to the next level (how to
get a job, how to write a grant, training, job skills, etc.) It was noted
that more and more postdoctoral fellows are working in industry. The LWIC
should provide job links and career information behind the members’ only
firewall.
It was also suggested that established and senior physiologists should be
invited to write a brief note in the American Journal of Physiology
or The Physiologist indicating from their own experience the benefits
they achieved from being APS members. Postdoctoral fellows could also be
invited to write a note indicating their personal experience and how the
student membership helped them in their early careers.
The decreased membership number
over the past six months was carefully discussed. Data show that 44 percent
of dropped regular members in 2004 were members for five or less years. The
percent of regular members who were dropped decreased for each additional
five-year increment in membership.
It was suggested that sections could be more involved in welcoming new
members to the APS. The section chair could send a welcome letter to the new
member, providing an overview of section activities for the coming year.
This would be especially helpful for new members joining at a time of year
when sections are particularly quiet (such as after the Spring Meeting).
A question was asked, “How to get information across to potential
applicants regarding the importance of membership in APS?” Some suggestions
are:
-
Ask esteemed member(s) to write a testimonial in The
Physiologist about why membership is important. Ask the Senior
Physiologists Committee to identify members who would write testimonials.
-
Ask members requesting emeritus membership to write a
comment about what APS has done for them over the years.
-
Ask current members, who are postdoctoral fellows, to write
about what APS is dong for them now.
-
Ask institutional program directors (Allen Cowley, Gabby
Navar, etc) to write a profile about the benefits of membership.
It was encouraged that every member wears the APS lapel pin on the coat
in the lab and at meetings to promote the visibility of the APS.
A suggestion was made that, in addition to the 50-year membership
acknowledgment, APS also send recognition at 10-, 20-, 30-, 40- years of
membership.
The Trainee Advisory Committee has recommended, and Council approved, a
new dues structure for student members beginning in 2006. Students will pay
$10 for the 1st year of membership, and $20 per year for the remaining four
years of eligibility. The first year of regular membership will be free,
and a 50 percent discount will be applied to their regular membership dues
for years two to four. The group agreed that this was an excellent
recommendation and applauded Council’s approval.
The APS used to send the ACDP members a poster encouraging student
memberships. The Committee would like her to reinstitute the mailing. ACDP
should be encouraged to pay for student memberships within their
departments. We need to remind ACDP that student members now have to pay
dues. We should ask if ACDP members can pay for their student’s
memberships—or provide assistance by paying for a percentage of the dues.
ACDP should also encourage faculty members in their departments to join.
Recruiting is important but we must focus on retention. A large number
of students join for the free year but then drop. We will probably see a
decrease in students joining with the new $10 dues but they may remain
members longer.
The group questioned if there could be a student member on the Membership
Committee. Allen noted that many years ago there was a student
representative. It was agreed that the committee would ask Council if a
student member could formally serve on the Committee.
The Committee would like APS to require emeritus members to select a
section affiliation. Additionally, they wish to require emeritus members to
provide an annual response indicating the desire to remain a member. Those
who do not respond would be dropped.
The goal for the committee is to identify innovative strategies to
recruit new members to the Society and to retain regular members, with
special emphasis on assuring that student members become regular members
after obtaining their professional degree. The committee is grateful for
the efforts of all of our members in sponsoring and recruiting new members
to the Society.
Lisa M. Harrison-Bernard, Chair
Council Actions
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