2006 Membership Committee Report
In Attendance: Lisa M. Harrison-Bernard (Chair), Jeff
M. Sands (Council Liaison), Robert B. Robey, Kirk L. Hamilton, John B.
Buckwalter, Sue Sabur, Linda Allen.
New Student Dues
Structure
The Chair reviewed the current student dues structure:
Students members now pay $10 for the first year and $20 for each additional
year up to five years. Their first year of regular membership is free if
they transition from student membership.
Membership Statistics
The Chair reviewed the membership statistics. Total
number of members is currently 10,216. There were 325 new Regular members
and 161 new Student members, however, there were 441 dropped Regular members
and 358 dropped Student members. Thirty percent of the dropped Regular
members were members for less than five years. Seventy-six percent of new
Student members are age 20-30, while 75% of dropped Student members are age
30-39. Interesting, only 1% of dropped Student members are age 25-29. The
membership committee will closely monitor the student membership. Eighteen
percent of all members and 22% of Regular members are not affiliated with a
section. The fact that the majority of members dropped are not affiliated
with sections was addressed. Thirty-three percent of dropped Regular
members and 73% of dropped Student members had no sectional affiliation. It
was noted that new members are now required to select a primary section
affiliation. Therefore, there is no component of the new regular and student
members that are not affiliated with a section. The dues renewal forms ask
members to select section affiliation, but it is not mandatory. The
membership committee hopes that affiliation and active participation with a
section will aid in retention of members. Questions arose regarding the
ability to police renewals without affiliation. Linda Allen stated that it
is possible; however, policing would require additional staff time currently
not allocated or budgeted.
Tracking Postdoctoral Members
The committee discussed a need to track our
postdoctoral members. Do they pay dues after the first year of free
membership dues? An IT task force may need to be created to handle this
issue. The committee suggested that new trainees be automatically channeled
through the Trainee Advisory Committee.
Strategic Plan
The Chair queried if we are addressing the needs of the
diversity of the membership. This was a major point of discussion at the
strategic planning meeting. A list of issues that are most related to the
charge of the Membership Committee was pulled from the approved strategic
planning document. One important question was how to make the web or future
technologies more interactive to meet the goals of membership.
Discussion arose regarding APS’s global impact, how to
partner with other national societies not only western countries but eastern
(Asian) countries. Exhibiting at international meetings and having members
attending international meetings bring membership materials for distribution
were discussed.
Member Retention
The committee will continue to monitor the trends in
dropped members by sectional affiliation. It is anticipated that the
numbers of student and regular members in the non-sectional affiliated group
will decrease now that selection of sectional affiliation is mandatory for
new regular and student members. Hopefully engaging the sections will help
with member retention. Sue Sabur stated that she is identifying new sources
for marketing membership to potential members.
APS staff has placed APS logo stickers around the EB
meeting and many members are wearing them on the badge. This is an outcome
of a request from the Membership Committee last year. Members have been
quite enthusiastic about wearing their APS logo stickers.
Meeting with APS Section Chairs
The Chair was invited to present at the Friday, March
31 APS Section Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting. The Chair provided
statistical information on section affiliation of current, dropped and new
members. The SAC was very interested in the dropped regular members by
section and their role in welcoming and retaining members to their sections.
Section Listservs and APS Global Emails
The Chair would like new members to be added into the
listserv of the primary affiliation automatically. Linda Allen explained
that this is under discussion also with the Section Advisory Committee.
There are some technical issues and past bad experiences when APS has
automatically added names to listservs. Discussion arose regarding the use
of listservs and Martin Frank’s APS Update emails. Are they read? Are they
serving their intended purpose? It was agreed that at the very least members
need to be educated about how to join listservs and what the benefits are of
being on listservs. Sue Sabur suggested mailing a postcard with the
information. It was suggested that Martin Frank’s APS Update emails include
a link directly to the section listservs. It was suggested that the URL for
joining the listserv be printed on the APS member calendar.
Testimonials
Each member of the Membership Committee is charged with
providing a testimonial—either their own or a colleague’s—that states how
being a member of APS is important. Committee members should email their
testimonials with picture, if possible, to Linda Allen: lallen@the-aps.org.
Emeritus Membership
It was noted that the retirement requirement for
emeritus is not policed, but is an honor system. The guidelines state the
following: Emeritus membership is open to individuals who have reached the
age of 65 and are retired from regular employment or have retired due to
illness or disability. Members in this category receive all privileges and
benefits of membership, except they may not vote or hold elected office.
Emeritus members pay no membership fees.
Membership Dues Block Grants
Jeff Sands stated that the American Society of
Nephrology solicits block grants from pharmaceutical companies to cover
membership dues for students and postdoctoral fellows. Discussion arose
regarding the probability of APS being able to secure similar funds.
Publications and Membership Benefits
It was suggested that APS increase the manuscript
submission fee for non APS members and keep the APS member submission fee
the current amount ($50). Membership ID number would be required at the time
of manuscript submission. This would increase member benefits and
membership plus increase revenue for the Publications Department. It was
noted that 50% of the submission to APS journals are from outside of the US.
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