communication department

Volume XIX Number 8

Membership

Exit Survey Responses Provide Valuable Feedback

STC values its members—present, past, and potential. To better understand its membership as a whole, STC conducted an exit survey of all former members whose memberships had expired over the past three years. In the first survey of its kind, past members spoke very candidly about their reasons for not renewing with STC.

The most commonly cited reasons included: unemployment, career change, and a lack of funding. Of respondents, 51.3 percent did not renew their membership for reasons unrelated to STC,10.4 percent had changed careers, and 9.8 percent explained that funding was no longer available through their workplace. One past member wrote, “As much as I’d love to remain a member, it’s tough when the bill is factored with ‘fixed-income.’ The gas prices won out in this case.”

While some past members saw the survey as a reminder and subsequently renewed their membership, others used it to voice their concerns and issues. Of the persons who responded, 61.7 percent said they would “recommend STC to someone else.”

“I’m happy to hear the majority surveyed would recommend STC,” observed Mary Kabza, STC’s Director of Marketing and Membership. “However, let’s face it—the survey was sent to members who have not renewed, so clearly there are reasons behind their actions. That’s the information I want to know. I think it is important to know what we are doing right, but it is also essential to know the ways we can improve—and act on them.”

Suggestions for improvement included:

❖ Taking advantage of strategic partnerships
❖ Focusing efforts in the areas of teaching, learning, and mentoring
❖ Creating programs and services specifically targeted to senior writers
❖ Focusing on future trends
❖ Making the Web site more accessible
❖ Increasing online training and research opportunities offered through STC

By reflecting on its strategic objectives and the feedback received from members and former members, STC plans to use this and future exit surveys to help shape marketing and membership efforts.

To discuss STC’s marketing and membership plans or to share your thoughts, please feel free to contact Mary Kabza, Director of Marketing and Membership, at (703) 522-4114, ext. 206.

 

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Chapter Size Categories

Various Society-level chapter recognition programs are judged according to chapter size. For example, the chapter achievement awards and the most improved STC newsletter award take chapter size into account.

Below is a complete list of STC chapters and their size categories, including a list of student chapters. The figures given refer to membership as of the end of the preceding Society fiscal year (June 30, 2006). These figures will be used for recognition programs throughout the current fiscal year, July 1, 2006–June 30, 2007.

The symbol * indicates chapters that have changed size category from the last fiscal year.

Size Category 1
Membership--More than 600

Name	Region	Size
Silicon Valley Boston	8 1	819 635

Size Category 2
Membership--301 to 600

Name	Region	Size
Puget Sound* Twin Cities Washington, DC Atlanta Toronto Chicago Rocky Mountain New York Metro Houston	7 6 2 3 1 4 7 1 5	556 509 493 383 379 358 358 323 321

Size Category 3
Membership--151 to 300

Name	Region	Size
Lone Star* Philadelphia Metro Willamette Valley Orange County Carolina San Francisco Alberta Canada West Coast San Diego Austin Southeastern Michigan Phoenix Los Angeles Northern New England Wisconsin Orlando* Eastern Ontario Northeast Ohio*	5 1 7 8 2 8 7 7 8 5 4 5 8 1 6 3 1 4	277 273 261 260 253 232 223 218 202 193 185 174 169 165 162 159 156 153

Size Category 4
Membership--76 to 150

Name	Region	Size
Berkeley Suncoast* Southwestern Ontario Montreal* Southwestern Ohio Pittsburgh Rochester Sacramento United Kingdom Intermountain Central Ohio Israel East Bay Metro Baltimore TransAlpine India Palm Beaches Indiana Connecticut New Mexico Kachina Kansas City France New Jersey* Snake River	8 3 1 1 4 4 1 8 2 5 4 2 8 2 2 6 3 4 1 5 6 2 1 7	148 141 134 131 128 126 125 122 121 120 118 116 113 108 107 105 97 86 84 81 79 77 77 76

Size Category 5
Membership--41 to 75

Name	Region	Size
St. Louis* Central Iowa* San Fernando Valley* Middle Tennessee West Michigan Shores James River Australia San Gabriel Valley East Tennessee Oklahoma Southern Arizona Four Lakes Manitoba Huntsville/North Alabama Mid-South Southern Nevada* Tokyo Central New York Vermont NorthBay Tech Valley	6 6 8 3 4 2 8 8 3 5 5 6 6 3 3 8 7 1 1 8 1	73 69 68 65 62 61 60 58 57 57 57 56 56 54 51 51 50 45 45 42 41

Size Category 6
Membership--40 or fewer

Name	Region	Size
Metrolina* Eastern Iowa* Santa Barbara* Inland Empire* Belgium* San Luis Obispo Birmingham Chapter* First Coast* Long Island South Carolina Foothills South Carolina Midlands Alamo Arkansas Mid-Valley* Heartland* Susquehanna Valley SpaceTech Kentuckiana New Zealand* Southern Colorado Montana Alaska Inland Northwest Niagara Frontier St. Joseph Valley Aloha Singapore Quad Cities Rock Valley Republic of China Korea*	2 6 8 8 2 8 3 3 1 3 3 5 5 7 6 2 3 4 8 7 7 7 7 1 4 8 7 6 4 7 7	40 39 38 37 36 36 34 34 34 34 34 33 33 33 31 30 26 25 25 25 23 21 21 21 20 17 15 11 11 9 0

Student Chapters, Size Category 1
Membership--20 or more

Name	Region	Size
Texas Tech. U. (ST) U. of Washington (ST) James Madison U. (ST) Missouri State U. (ST) New Jersey Ins. of Tech. (ST) North Carolina St. U. (ST)* U. of Minnesota (ST)	5 7 2 6 1 2 6	44 36 32 32 29 29 25

Student Chapters, Size Category 2
Membership--19 or fewer

Name	Region	Size
Oklahoma St. U. (ST) U. of Wisconsin, Stout (ST) Cedarville U. (ST) Iowa St. U. (ST) Brigham Young U. (ST) Minn. St. U., Mankato (ST) Mercer U. (ST) Metropolitan St. U. (ST) Utah St. U. (ST)* Bowling Green St. U. (ST) East Carolina U. (ST) Missouri Western St. U. (ST) Cal Poly (ST) Austin Peay St. U. (ST) College Station (ST) Michigan Tech. U. (ST) Northern Illinois U. (ST) Trinitite (ST) London Ontario (ST) RPI/Jay R. Gould (ST) Tennessee Tech. (ST) Miami U. (ST) U. of N. Carolina-Charlotte (ST)	5 6 4 6 5 6 3 6 5 4 2 6 8 3 5 4 4 5 1 1 3 4 2	17 15 14 14 13 13 12 12 12 11 8 8 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 2 2