www.ieee.org/students
option presented is to ―Continue to Checkout‖, or ―Print and Mail with Payment‖. By choosing the ―Print and Mail
with payment‖ option, the information that has been entered is temporarily stored and matched with the form
when it arrives at the IEEE Operations Center with payment. This policy was implemented in 2005 and Student
Branches continue to adapt well to the process.
4. Searching for your School in the IEEE Online Application
When students join or renew, they need to provide their school information. In the online application system, the
school search uses key words. For example, if you enter *Texas*, using the asterisk as a wild card, any school
with the name Texas in it will appear. We do not use acronyms in the IEEE database. With over 1,600 IEEE
Student Branches at universities and colleges worldwide, an acronym like MIT could mean several different
educational institutions, e.g. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Manipal Institute of Technology, Macau
Institute of Technology, Madras Institute of Technology. In most cases, we also use standard abbreviations
such as:
Univ = university, universidad, universitat
Inst = institute, instituto
Eng = engineering
Tech = technology, technical
The school search is important because that is how we track Student members. If the correct school is not
selected by the new student or renewing student, then your Student Branch may not be credited with your
excellent recruiting efforts.
5. Running a membership recruitment campaign on campus
Student Branches can set up a computer in the IEEE office or conference room to enable prospective students
to join online right there and pay the dues with cash or other form of payment. The students can then select the
―print and mail with payment‖ option and pay the Student Branch in local currency. The Student Branch
membership committee can then send the group of applications, a list of the member names and IEEE member
numbers, and send with one payment to the IEEE Operations Center for processing. The Student Branch
officers can then let the students know about upcoming activities and to get engaged with future members,
connecting them to the local IEEE community quickly.
6. Establish realistic membership goals
Whether the goal is to increase membership retention by 3% or grow new member recruitment by 5%, an
effective membership development plan needs to have quantifiable metrics. Your Student Branch recruiting
efforts help the IEEE meet its MD goals. Remember, that your Student Branch rebate is based on membership
statistics as of 31 December each year. The better the recruiting efforts, the higher your $2 per member rebate
will be when you submit your annual report next year. Plan activities with other student organizations on
campus, increase awareness of the IEEE brand and great people getting more involved in its activities
7. The Student MD officer needs to engage others for the best results
Invite other students, GOLD Affinity group members (recent graduates), faculty members and others with some
available time to help. Ask them why they joined IEEE and help to promote awareness on campus, on their
jobs, or faculty members can talk about IEEE in their classes. The tasks can yield profound results. Something
as simple as designating an individual the ―brochure person,‖ responsible for bringing membership brochures
and making sure there is a computer with internet access set up so students can join online to every Student
Branch event, will ensure an IEEE member presence for non-members in attendance. Designating an individual
as a ―greeter‖ at an event will establish a welcoming environment.