[Stc_cny] STC dues amount and chapter dues: your input needed

Sat Jul 7 18:10:49 MDT 2007

To members of the Central NY Chapter email discussion list:

A task force has been organized to consider changing in the way STC dues are
charged and disbursed back to local chapters. Russ Kahn agreed to be one of
three STC members representing our size chapter (41-75 members). Russ took
part in a conference call on June 28 and agreed to distribute the following
set of questions to chapter members.

Please review this information, which I'm posting at Russ's request, and
send any feedback in the next ten days, so Russ can include it in the follow
up conference call on July 19. Since this is a discussion list, you can
click Reply and post your thoughts to the list, or write to Russ directly at
russ at cs.sunyit.edu. If you're currently a friend of the CNY Chapter, but not
a member, your input is still welcome. Please let us know what it will take
to for you to renew or join.

A LITTLE HISTORY AND THE PROPOSAL

Currently STC dues are collected in a single "bundle" and a "rebate" is sent
back to the chapters twice a year. Under the proposal, STC would collect a
fee (not yet determined - perhaps around $100) for the Society ("national")
and a second, optional fee for those wishing to join a local chapter. The
second fee would be sent directly to the local chapter at the end of every
month for all the new members who joined that month, or the members who
renewed that month. Further details are included in the attachment, which
also notes questions raised in the conference call June 28. Reading the
attachment gives a sense of all of the details.

Russ has been asked to survey members on the following issues. Russ's
thoughts follow each question just to get the conversation rolling. The task
force agreed to have a follow up conference call on July 19, so Russ would
like to get your responses as soon as possible.

(1) WHAT SHOULD THE "NATIONAL" AND CHAPTER DUES (PASS-THROUGH AMOUNT) BE?

Russ's input: The general feeling seemed to be $100 for the Society
("national") and $25 for the local chapter. Our $25 portion would be about
what we get now (about $24). I asked what this would mean for student
memberships and the leaders said it wasn't clear (see the attachment for
more detail on this important issue.) Currently students pay $55 for
membership in the Society and two chapters and unlimited SIGs.

(2) SHOULD THERE BE A SINGLE CHAPTER DUES AMOUNT OR SHOULD THERE BE
DIFFERENT CHAPTER DUES AMOUNTS BASED ON THE INDIVIDUAL NEEDS OF EACH
CHAPTER? (An example of this might be that (some) smaller chapters may need
larger dues in order to support high-quality programming for their members.

Russ's input: I'm especially open to input in this.  I think we have to be
careful not to charge too much and risk losing members but we may have
difficulty running programs with only $25 fee if we get fewer members.

Note: The Project Management Institute uses this model. You can check out
the various pricing associated with specific chapters by going to
www.pmi.org and walking through the online application process yourself.
(You can exit out of this before you need to enter credit card information,
so you do not have to join PMI to see what I'm talking about.) There is a
base price for joining PMI and then chapters and SIGs are priced above that.
Most US chapter dues appear to in the $20.00 to $35.00 range. I did not
check out dues for other countries, but this information is posted.

(3) WHAT CONCERNS DO CHAPTER LEADERS HAVE ABOUT THE PASS-THROUGH MODEL?

Russ's input: I'm concerned that this model could severely cut back on the
income the Central NY chapter receives from members since only about 10%
take an active role in the chapter. If only 10-15% choose to join the
chapter then our income would drop to around $250 per year - currently we
get about $1,000 per year. We do get an excellent turnout at the annual
banquet, though our cost for the free dinner is about equal to the cost of
local membership ($25). We might have to cut back on the quality of the
annual banquet and/or charge members a reduced fee for the banquet if we
lose local membership based on this new model.

(4) SHOULD CHAPTERS BE ENCOURAGED TO SET THREE LEVELS OF PRICES FOR CHAPTER
EVENTS?

(a) Chapter/STC member for members who belong to the chapter
(b) STC member price for those who belong to STC but do not belong to the
specific chapter 
(c) A much higher price for those who do not belong to STC at all

Russ's input: Yes, I think this is what we currently do and it makes sense.
We need to make it clear that membership brings benefits.

(5) SHOULD STC SET UP AN AFFILIATED CHAPTER MEMBERSHIP CATEGORY THAT WOULD
PERMIT MEMBERS TO BELONG TO BUT NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO VOTE IN A SECONDARY
CHAPTER FOR A LESSER DUES AMOUNT?

Russ's input: Yes, This makes sense.

Thank you for responding by clicking Reply or writing to
russ at cs.sunyit.edu.
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