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The Future of IEEE Membership

Region 8 Students Congress, September 2004

Marc Apter

IEEE Vice President Regional Activities

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The Future of IEEE

• In November 2003 the IEEE BoD decided to devote more time to strategic issues

• Examples of strategic issues – Membership– The future of IEEE publications and its effect on IEEE

societies– The role of IEEE in education and accreditation– Should we seek to merge with other professional

associations?

• First issue addressed was Membership

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Why is membership a strategic issue for IEEE?

• We have been a membership-based organization since inception– We do not perceive ourselves primarily as conference

organizers or publishers

• We have continually measured our success by counting the number of our members

• There appears to be correlation between our membership numbers and our influence and impact, financial health, and political clout– Though there is no solid research to show that…

• And these assumptions were questioned from time to time…

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Why should IEEE be discussing membership now?

• There appear several threats to our membership growth– Changes in information technology

• Changes in mode of delivery of new knowledge

• The effects of electronic communications and the Internet

• Our main intellectual product is widely available to non-members and students

– Perceived changes in social patterns of behavior– Changes in the business climate

• Economic trends

• The emergence of strong technical publishing competitors

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Why should IEEE discuss membership now?

• We changed qualifications for membership 20 months ago– Membership is more “open”– Though it is not clear we have followed up

• We have discussed changing membership models informally– But the discussion did not go beyond possible general

descriptions of the models

• We have struggled for many years to increase student retention– …with little success

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The Strategic Context

IEEE Vision is to advance global prosperity by…

• fostering technological innovation• promoting IEEE communities worldwide• enabling members’ careers

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The basic IEEE strategic goal

• We want to be the leading organization in dominant and emerging technologies – In electrical engineering, electronics,

electrophysics, computing, communication, biomedical engineering and healthcare technology, media and entertainment, automation and manufacturing

– In new areas of technology

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Working assumptions• We need to be a large organization (= have many

members)– It will be very hard to be influential if we are small or shrinking– If the technology sector continues to grow we need to grow with it

• We need to expand beyond ECE and beyond North America– It will be very hard to be influential if we stick to our traditional

core• What areas are we missing in our portfolio right now?

• What groups of professionals are missing or underserved by IEEE

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Working assumptions

• We must be relevant to industry– It will be very hard to be influential if the major source of capital

and human resources considers us marginal– We are not looking only for customers, we are looking for

partners• What industries are most relevant to our goals?• What can we offer them?

• We need to engage the general public – It will be very hard to be influential if we are not widely known

• What is the target audience?• What do we have to offer to the general public?

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IEEE is a membership organization

• We do not see ourselves as “just” conference organizers and publishers

• We emphasize the creation and fostering of a community of professionals– This is the basic philosophy of our regional, technical,

and standards activities– We tell students that belonging to IEEE is a natural

part of being a professional

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Observations…

• IEEE should grow in proportion to the growth of the technology sectors – If we are lagging behind, professionals are going

elsewhere

• If IEEE wishes to grow membership, doing “more of the same” will not work

• The solution may not be within existing structure

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Recommendation from Membership Project:A New IEEE Membership Model

• Five grades: Student Member, General Member, Professional Member, Senior Member, Fellow– All names are temporary– Student Member grade may split -- graduate and undergraduate

• General Member grade is open to the public

• Professional Member grade requires degree in IEEE field of interest

• Senior Member grade requirements may need minor modifications

• Fellow grade requirements will follow the existing model

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Recommendation from Membership Project: Outreach Campaigns to New Disciplines

• Objective: attract large numbers of professionals eligible for Member grade (non-ECE)

• Proposed segments for “first step”: – Healthcare and health-related professions– Content developers & users of Broadcasting & Multi-media– Information Technology– Pre-College Education – Math & Science

• Recruiting campaigns characterized by a clear value proposition: IEEE as resource for solving practical needs of the target community

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Recommendation from Membership Project:A New Corporate Partnership Model

• Develop a new corporate membership initiative– memoranda of understanding between corporations & IEEE– Emphasize shared goals & common areas of interest

• Provide services to corporations in IEEE’s areas of expertise – “Basket” of services– Corporate-specific IEEE activities

• Conference and conference-session organization• Educational activities• Standards• On-line publications• Corporate affinity group

• No direct tie to individual membership; no rebates

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Some observations about students…

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Three Membership Issues

1. Attracting students– Works– Attract 34,000 new Student members per year

2. Retaining Student Members– 12,000 graduate (good)– 31,000 do not renew (47%)

3. Transitioning to full members– 12% are IEEE members (M) 5 years after graduation

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Student Return-on-Investment …

• IEEE subsidizes student membership to the tune of approximately $3M/year– dues vs. services

• Our student membership model is dues-based

One might ask…• Are there better ways to spend $3M/year? • Is this the appropriate level of investment in

students?

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The traditional approach to student membership

• Focus on undergraduate students

• Focus on retention

• Services to students:– Spectrum– Potentials

• in the US; additional fees outside US

– Financial support for branches and sections– University partnership program

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Student Model ChallengesFocus on undergraduate students

Growing graduate student population

Average age: 25

Focus on retention …with little success

Services to students How about…tutorials, job sites, virtual communities, insurance programs?

Spectrum and Potentials Are these the best publications for students? How about substitution?

Financial support for branches and sections

You do not need to be a member to benefit

Graduate students do not participate

University partnership program Do students really benefit?

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Possible conclusions

• Our various student-directed campaigns did not increase retention– Possible reasons: availability of XPLORE, questions

about value, price (?)

• It appears that the primary long-term value of student membership to IEEE is in making students aware that we exist– …so that they can join us a decade or so later – …not for short-term retention as members

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Membership Project Recommendation:New Student Model

• Objective: align student membership model with the demographics and the business climate

• Proposed changes – New grades

• Student Member and Graduate Student Member• Graduate Student Members may have to belong to at least

one society

– New services• Publication ‘substitution’; tutorials; job site; insurance

programs

– New financial model• Change balance of rebates between Branch and Section

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MEMBER OPTIONS PORTAL

Intro - Portal Public site – Membership portal “home” page

Member log-in

(members-only area)

Member profile

Membership references

IEEE heritage

Membership updates

IEEE product feature

Member benefit headline

Membership benefit tabs

Society & Stds memberships

Section activities

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MEMBER OPTIONS PORTAL

Intro - Portal

[ Members-only area ] – acct admin & online benefit access

Service Advisor

Multimedia Audio & visual streams

“IEEE.tv”

Benefit modules & other news w/ direct access

… The Institute, IEEE Spectrum, StandardsWire

PersonalizationGreeting and affiliations

Membership ManagementRenewal, change of profile, add services

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“The future is purchased by the present.”

Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784

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Questions and Comments

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Backup

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Student Membership - 1963 to 2003

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Student Retention Rates (1 yr.)

63.1%62.2%

57.8%

66.1%

69.3%

72.4%

50.0%

55.0%

60.0%

65.0%

70.0%

75.0%

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

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Outcomes of the Student Membership breakout group: New Student Membership Grades

• Differentiate between a Student Member and a Graduate Student Member.

• Define qualifications and benefits for the two grades.

• Consider voting rights for Graduate Student Members.

• Consider “built-in” society membership for Graduate Student Members.

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Outcomes of the Student Membership breakout group: Student Services (cont’d)

• Develop a major review of services to students

– student member access to job site– health insurance for students– receiving a society magazine or

Transactions instead of Spectrum.