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GUEST EDITORIAL Should ACM Have Graded Memberships? by Paul Armer *See Com*~*. A C M (Aug. 1964), 507-8. "~Thursday, O c t o b e r 29, 7 : 3 0 p . m . , a t t h e J a c k T a r t I o t e L T h e A C M C o m m i s s i o n of T h o u g h t f u l P e r s o n s ( C O T P ) l a s t A p r i l r e c o m m e n d e d t h a t A C M h a v e g r a d e d m e m b e r s h i p s . * H o w e v e r , a t its A u g u s t m e e t i n g in P h i l a d e l p h i a t h e A C M C o u n c i l c o n c l u d e d t h a t b e f o r e t a k i n g a c t i o n on t h i s r e c o m m e n d a t i o n it s h o u l d h a v e m o r e f e e d b a c k on t h e s e n t i m e n t s of A C M m e m b e r s . I n f a c t , t h i s f e e l i n g of a n e e d f o r m o r e k n o w l e d g e of g r a s s r o o t s e n t i m e n t , on m a n y topics, d o m i n a t e d t h e C o u n c i l m e e t i n g . To a i d in f i l l i n g t h i s need, t h e Council s c h e d u l e d a m e e t i n g w i t h a l l C h a p t e r C h a i r m e n in c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h t h e F J C C in S a n F r a n c i s c o t h i s m o n t h . t A s p a r t of a g e n e r a l p r o g r a m to p r o m o t e d i s c u s s i o n a b o u t A C M ' s f u t u r e a c t i v i t i e s p r i o r to t h i s m e e t i n g , I a g r e e d to p r e p a r e t h i s e d i t o r i a l . I n t h e f e w w e e k s b e t w e e n t h e a p p e a r a n c e of t h i s e d i t o r i a l a n d t h e m e e t i n g , you c a n s e r v e ACM b y c o m m u n i c a t i n g y o u r f e e l i n g on t h i s s u b j e c t ( a n d on a n y a s p e c t of A C M a c t i v i t i e s ) to y o u r C h a p t e r C h a i r m a n a n d / o r y o u r R e g i o n a l R e p r e s e n t a t i v e . ( I f in d o u b t a b o u t n a m e s , see Communications of the ACM, J u n e , 1964.) T h e o p i n i o n s w h i c h f o l l o w a r e mine, a n d n o t n e c e s s a r i l y t h o s e of C O T P . I b e l i e v e t h a t a s y s t e m of g r a d e d m e m b e r s h i p s w i l l h e l p A C M to r e a l i z e s e v e r a l l o n g - s t a n d i n g goals. O n e is a c h i e v i n g t h a t s t a t u r e i n d i c a t i v e of a t r u l y p r o f e s s i o n a l s o c i e t y . To do so, s o m e s t a n d a r d s r e l a t e d to m e m b e r s h i p s t a t u s , o t h e r t h a n t h e p o s s e s s i o n of $18.00, m u s t be a d o p t e d . I feel t h a t we s h o u l d a d m i t to o u r A s s o c i a t i o n a n y one s y m p a t h e t i c w i t h o u r g o a l s w h o w i s h e s to j o i n , b u t b e f o r e w e c o n f e r u p o n an i n d i v i d u a l a level of m e m b e r s h i p w h i c h i m p l i e s p r o f e s s i o n a l s t a t u s he s h o u l d m e e t c e r t a i n s t a n d a r d s of p r o f e s s i o n a l i s m . Such a p r o g r a m w o u l d n o t o n l y g i v e a d d e d s t a t u s to t h e m e m b e r s b u t a l s o to ACM a s a s o c i e t y . W i t h t h e i n c r e a s e d s t a t u r e of a t r u l y p r o f e s s i o n a l society, i t w o u l d be e a s i e r to a t t r a c t as m e m b e r s t h e m a n y c o m p u t e r p r o f e s s i o n a l s who do n o t n o w b e l o n g to ACM. T h e i n c r e a s e d m e m b e r s h i p w o u l d t h e n p r o v i d e some of t h e w h e r e w i t h a l to l a u n c h p r o g r a m s f o r p r o v i d i n g s e r v i c e to o u r m e m b e r s a n d to o u r p r o f e s s i o n . G r a d e d m e m b e r s h i p w o u l d a l s o h e l p A C M to p r o v i d e i m p r o v e d s e r v i c e to o u r field. A m o n g t h e m a n y f a c t o r s w h i c h m o t i v a t e p e o p l e a r e m o n e y , s t a t u s , a n d t h e p e r s o n a l s a t i s f a c t i o n s of a c c o m p l i s h m e n t a n d of s e r v i c e to o n e ' s f e l l o w m e n . T h e l a s t t w o m o t i v a t e m o s t individuals who labor for ACM and the computer profession. Nevert h e l e s s , one of t h e g r e a t e s t n e e d s of o u r A s s o c i a t i o n is f o r i n d i v i d u a l s who can a n d w i l l w r i t e o u t s t a n d i n g t u t o r i a l a r t i c l e s , s u r v e y p a p e r s , a n d t h e like, a n d f o r i n d i v i d u a l s w h o w i l l p r o v i d e d y n a m i c l e a d e r ship and hard work for our many committee activities. ACM cannot offer m o n e y in s i g n i f i c a n t a m o u n t s to p r o v i d e i n c e n t i v e f o r s u c h efforts, b u t we c a n offer s t a t u s if w e c h o o s e to do so, b y h a v i n g g r a d e s of m e m b e r s h i p s u c h a s S e n i o r M e m b e r a n d F e l l o w . I n t h e s a m e v e i n we s h o u l d h a v e a n A w a r d s P r o g r a m , b u t t h a t is a n o t h e r t o p i c . Some f e e l t h a t s e r v i c e to o n e ' s p r o f e s s i o n s h o u l d be sufficient m o t i v a t i o n of i t s e l f a n d t h a t i t is s o m e w h a t b a s e to " u s e " s t a t u s a s a n a d d i t i o n a l i n c e n t i v e to g e t i n d i v i d u a l s to c o n t r i b u t e , b u t i t does work. M a n y p r o f e s s i o n a l s o c i e t i e s do h a v e g r a d e d m e m b e r s h i p , n o t o n l y to p r o v i d e p r o f e s s i o n a l s t a n d i n g to t h e i r m e m b e r s a n d to offer s t a t u s in t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n as a n i n c e n t i v e , b u t also a s a w a y of r e c o g n i z i n g i n d i v i d u a l s f o r o u t s t a n d i n g c o n t r i b u t i o n s to t h e i r p r o f e s s i o n . T h e d e t a i l s of a g r a d e d m e m b e r s h i p p r o g r a m f o r A C M a r e p r e s e n t l y b e i n g s t u d i e d b y t h e C o m m i t t e e on P r o f e s s i o n a l S t a n d a r d s a n d P r a c t i c e s u n d e r D o n n P a r k e r . One i n t e r e s t i n g p r o p o s a l is t h a t t h e a c h i e v e m e n t of a g i v e n level of m e m b e r s h i p be d e p e n d e n t on e l e c t i o n b y i n d i v i d u a l s in ACM who h a v e n o t r e a c h e d t h a t level, r a t h e r t h a n by t h o s e w h o have. Whatever the details, whether or not ACM has a graded members h i p s y s t e m w i l l d e p e n d on t h e f e e l i n g s of t h e m e m b e r s h i p . W o n ' t you l e t y o u r C h a p t e r C h a i r m a n , R e g i o n a l R e p r e s e n t a t i v e o r C o u n c i l M e m b e r s k n o w n o w h o w you feel - - n o t o n l y on t h i s t o p i c b u t on a n y o t h e r w h i c h you b e l i e v e is i m p o r t a n t to your A s s o c i a t i o n ? V o l u m e 7 / N u m b e r 1 0 / October, 1 9 6 4 C o m m u n i c a t i o n s o f the ACM
Communications of the ACM – Association for Computing Machinery
Published: Oct 1, 1964
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