At its recent meeting, IHEEM’s Council approved the introduction of a Student category of Membership. The decision followed work undertaken by the Institute’s membership department and Membership Committee, with the new membership “class” designed to fill a gap in the range of membership categories available to prospective members.
IHEEM said recent experience had highlighted this gap, in that the Institute did not have a suitable membership category available for young engineers studying for their initial professional qualifications. The development is also in line with IHEEM’s strategic goal of attracting and maintaining younger members, a topic that the Council also discussed at its March meeting. Members in this category will be classed as Affiliate Members, and, as such, will not be able to use professional post-nominals. They will, however, be able to indicate on their CV that they are “a Student Member of the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management”. A wide range of membership benefits are available to Student Members, including a significantly reduced membership subscription of just £26 per annum. It is expected that all such members will look to upgrade to full membership, and the IHEEM membership department will be seeking opportunities for this. Chief executive John Long commented: “Addressing the problem of the ageing membership of the Institute is something that is high on IHEEM’s agenda for 2011. I welcome the Council’s decision to introduce this Student category of membership, which gives us an opportunity to develop a relationship with members at an earlier stage in their careers. Although the Institute’s usual stance will remain that applicants should apply for, and be granted, full membership where possible, this new membership category will provide a valuable opportunity to engage with potential members who are the healthcare engineers and estates managers of the future.”
