October 2002 • Volume 36 • Number 10

APS Foundation and Division-Sponsored Promotion Brings Record Number of Student Members to APS
  

Supporting and mentoring the next generation of plant health scientists is one of the goals of APS. Students represent the future of plant pathology and have an important role to play within the society. One of the ways APS supports students is through the APS Foundation, which provides students with programs and travel grants designed to help underwrite the cost of annual meeting attendance for students. The Foundation also encourages students to join and become involved in APS.

In years past, APS at various times has offered students the opportunity to join for one year at a discount. This past year, however, the Foundation decided to try something new. Looking for a way to help students stay involved in APS longer, the Foundation (with support from APS divisions) created a special “2-for-1” student membership promotion, whereby students pay for a full year’s membership in APS and get their second year of membership free. APS Foundation funds cover the second year dues. Students also receive a free online subscription to the APS journal of their choice.

Says Don Mathre, chair of the APS Foundation, “We know from experience that getting students to remain as members for more than a year is important. The longer they belong, the more involved they become and the more they benefit from the experience.” This, says Mathre, was the reasoning behind extending the membership offer to two years. 

Jeff Bradshaw, a graduate student at Iowa State University, said he became aware of APS as soon as he decided to pursue a comajor in entomology and plant pathology. Wanting to join APS, but already a member of the Entomological Society of America, Bradshaw was finding it difficult to budget membership in both ESA and APS. So, when he found out about the “2-for-1” student membership offer, he quickly sent in his application. “It was a great deal. I couldn’t pass it up.” He also admires the thinking behind the promotion’s creation. “I think its smart to attract a larger number of students. It benefits both the students and the society. The longer we remain members the more dedicated we’ll become. Someday we’ll be the ones advising students to join APS.”

Graduate student Jeff Bradshaw says the special "2-for-1" student membership offer made it possible for him to join.

Since the promotion began in November 2001, more than 200 students have joined from 70 universities, bringing total APS student membership to more than 500. More than 90 of the students have chosen to join an APS division as well, and the campaign has been so successful that the Foundation has decided to continue it into the near future. While the offer may be hard to refuse, Mathre says credit for much of the campaign’s success should go to university department heads. “They were our point of contact for making students aware of the offer,” says Mathre. “Without them far fewer students would have joined through the promotion.” In the meantime, the APS Graduate Student Committee is gearing up for a busy year with even more new student members likely. Mathre says the student membership promotion sends an encouraging message, “Plant pathology is alive and well. It’s exciting to see all of the interest in what we’re doing.”

Interested in International Activities? Check Out OIP’s Online Newsletter

The APS Office of International Programs (OIP) biannual newsletter is now available on APSnet. For the latest on OIP activities and opportunities visit www.apsnet.org/ members/oip/top.asp and scroll down to “Recent News and Activities” for the July 2002 link.
 

Mark Your Calendars!
 

The 2003 APS annual meeting will be held August 9–13 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, NC. Program Chair Gary Bergstrom will be working with the Program Planning Committee to develop a strong program. The meeting’s theme, “Plant Health and Security in the Age of Genomics,” will be explored in the Plenary Session and in other events designed to highlight the relevance of these issues to all aspects of our discipline. The exhibitor prospectus will be mailed in late December. The call for abstracts will be available on APSnet in January. Registration materials will be mailed to APS members and others on our mailing list in early April..

Also in this issue: (as a .PDF file, see link below)

• Perspective 126
• Public Policy Update 130
• Outreach 132
• People 134
• Meetings 137
• Classifieds 138
• Journal Articles 139
• Calendar of Events 140

 
Have an event you want listed? Go to http://www.apsnet.org/meetings/calsubmit.asp and submit your meeting information. Your listing will be posted on the APSnet calendar as well as in this section of Phytopathology News.
 

You can download the entire issue of Phytopathology News with the push of a button.  View it on screen or print it out and bring it with you.  The .PDF format allows you easy access to the newsletter in the same design you are used to receiving it in.  Simply click here for your .PDF Format.  Can't view the .PDF?  Click here to get Acrobat Reader.

© Copyright 2002 by
The American Phytopathological Society