I am forwarding AERA's decision about (CH-)SIG dues (individual and group ones).
What does that decision mean for us??
On one hand -- each one of use will pay only $7 for membership in as many SIGs as one wants. However, as a group, we will pay $225 (there are 174 members on the listserve). This is a quite a bit more than our SIG paid in dues to AERA in the past -- but I think we will still have enough money to organize our program.
I urge you to renew your AERA membership with CH-SIG participation (whenever it is due) --> it's worth it. :-)
Lots of greetings to all
Ana
-------- Original Message --------
| Subject: | [2005_sig_officers-announce] New SIG Dues Structure |
|---|---|
| Date: | Tue, 13 Jul 2004 22:51:31 -0400 (EDT) |
| From: | Schuyler W Huck <huck@utkux.utcc.utk.edu> |
| To: | 2005_sig_officers-announce@listserv.aera.net |
| CC: | Phoebe Stevenson <pstevenson@aera.net>, Sue Houston <shouston@aera.net> |
Dear SIG Officers, one and all: In late June, AERA's Council unanimously approved two recommendations from the SIG Executive Committee regarding the dues structure for SIGs and SIG members. First, Council rescinded the SIG dues policy that was adopted in January and that was scheduled to go into effect 13 days ago on July 1. (As a part of that policy, SIG members would have been assessed $5 for EACH of their SIG affiliations.) Second, Council adopted a new policy (recommended by the SIG Executive Committee) that sets forth a new "individual assessment" and a modified "SIG management fee." Here is the exact wording of what was adopted: "Any AERA member who holds membership in one or more SIGs will be assessed $7 annually, with this money going directly into the AERA operations budget for coordinating and providing services to SIGs, including room space and meeting times for SIGs at the Annual Meeting. This fee does not go to any SIG. In addition to this individual fee, each SIG of 128 or fewer members shall pay an annual management fee to AERA of $150; SIGs with memberships between 129 and 200 shall pay an annual management fee of $225; and those above 200 shall pay an annual management fee of $300." Please note that the "individual assessment" has been changed from $5 per person PER SIG AFFILIATION to a flat $7-per-person amount REGARDLESS OF HOW MANY SIG AFFILIATIONS ONE HAS. This new dues policy went into effect on July 1, 2004. After a period of two years, the workability of this new dues policy will be assessed. (This planned review of our new dues policy is in line with AERA's effort to monitor closely all income and expenditures.) In making its proposal to Council in late June, the SIG Executive Committee tried its best to do two things. First, we wanted to be fiscally responsible and respond to AERA's request that SIGs generate a larger percentage of the funds needed to support the services provided to them by AERA's Central Office. (Phoebe Stevenson discussed these many services at the SIG Open Meeting in San Diego, and they are summarized in the revised SIG Handbook distributed at that meeting; the Handbook and a description of these services is due to be posted on the SIG page of AERA's website by the end of the week.) Second, the SIG Executive Committee took into consideration the expressed wishes of those SIG leaders who (a) shared their views at the SIG Open Meeting in San Diego and/or (b) ranked three possible dues structures sent to all SIG Officers this past May. (We also considered alternative dues structures some of you proposed.) The actual dues proposal submitted to and adopted by Council is aligned with the majority opinion expressed by the SIG leaders who spoke in San Diego and by those who provided feedback to the "Dues Document" sent out in May. No SIG member likes to pay higher fees. Your SIG Executive Committee knows that. We also know that no particular dues structure will be preferred by all 8,022 individuals who belong to one or more SIGs. For these reasons, we thought long and hard before making our recommendation to Council. We greatly appreciated the input many of your provided. In the end, our recommendation to Council mirrored the expressed first-choice preference of our constituency. Schuyler (Sky) Huck Chair, SIG Executive Committee P.S. The dues proposal submitted to and adopted by Council was contained in a 7-page document prepared by the SIG Executive Committee. If you'd like a copy of that document, I'll be more than happy to send one to you.
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