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:
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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.
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Ask members requesting emeritus membership to write a comment about what APS has done for them over the years.
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Ask current members, who are postdoctoral fellows, to write about what APS is dong for them now.
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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