Title: APHA Environment Section’s Membership Committee Report

Author:

Section/SPIG: Environment

Issue Date:

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Maintaining their dynamic start, the Membership Committee designed and field
tested a membership recruitment and retention survey; explored the possibility
of establishing a listserv; began work on the New Members Orientation;
periodically sent welcoming letters to new members and to lapsed members; and,
as a way to maintain contact with our secondary members, developed and sent
out an Environment Section update. APHA staff has shown its support of the
Environment Section, at every step of the way, by providing staff time and
computer expertise to ensure the success of several of these endeavors.

APHA has been especially helpful in the area of providing Section data, allowing
us to examine our Section’s membership. Please see the membership data below.

Nov. 2004--1,093
Dec. 2005--1,094
Jan. 2005--1,113
Feb. 2005--1,098
March 2005--1,101
April 2005--1,091
May 2005--1,058
June 2005--1,071

Although we are without more than one year of data, we have guessed that there
is a sharp rise in membership right before the Annual Meeting to enable
registering at the discounted members rate. Lastly, in spite of the sharp
plunge in membership between January and May, the actual numbers indicate only
a differential of 55 members. We are working on obtaining more than one year
of data so that we can verify our beliefs.

One of our most recent efforts has been that of the mentorship program. As a
pilot project, the mentor was to provide the mentee with guidance possibly in
the area(s) of career choices, how to navigate the Environment Section, and/or
tips to understanding the APHA Governance structure. Initially, the call went
out to the Environment Section Leadership, where more than 10 mentors have signed
up. However, others are welcomed and encouraged to sign up, as well.

We welcome Environment Section members to join us in undertaking any or all of our activities. Please contact us at des0@cdc.gov (Dorothy Stephens) and Stone.Susan@epamail.epa.gov (Susan Stone). We look forward to having you join us.