New year: new membership structure for BINDT
23/12/2015
In 2013, the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT) initiated a working group to review its current membership structure. The objectives of the group were to increase the inclusiveness of BINDT membership and to simplify the structure. As a result, a new streamlined model was developed to meet the needs of pathways into membership for practitioners, scientists/engineers and non-technical persons working in NDT.In January 2016, BINDT will replace its existing membership structure of voting member grades: Fellow (FInstNDT); Member (MInstNDT); Practitioner (PInstNDT); and Graduate (GInstNDT), and non-voting member grades: Student and Affiliate, with the new simplified model.
The new grades will be as follows: voting members: Fellow (FInstNDT); Member (MInstNDT); and Associate Member (AMInstNDT), and non-voting members: Affiliate and Corporate. The current Associate member grade will be renamed ‘Corporate’ member under the new structure. Practitioner and Graduate member grades will be combined into one grade and renamed ‘Associate’ member. Similarly, the Student member and Affiliate member grades will be combined and renamed ‘Affiliate’ member. There will be no change to the Fellow and Member grades.
Existing members in the grades of Practitioner, Graduate, Student and Affiliate will be contacted early in 2016 to seek consensus to change each particular grade.
There will be minimal changes with regards to the benefits of membership. The legacy membership benefits for Fellow, Member, Practitioner, Graduate and Associate members of the Institute will remain the same. However, the benefits for non-voting Affiliate members (previously Student and Affiliate grades) will now include free membership and electronic copies of the Institute’s publications, Insight and NDT News.
The new structure will be rolled out as of 1 January 2016, when any person joining the Institute from that date will join at one of the new grades. As of this date, four grades of membership will no longer be available to new members but will continue to exist for an unspecified transition period, until such time that all existing members have transitioned into one of the new grades of membership. During the transition period, the legacy and new structure will run concurrently, allowing the Institute to implement the new scheme. The membership grades of the Institute during this time will temporarily be as follows: voting members: Fellow; Member; Associate; Practitioner – legacy; Graduate – legacy; Honorary Fellow; and Honorary Member, and non-voting members: Affiliate; Student – legacy; and Affiliate – legacy.
The Institute has planned for a smooth transition between the legacy grades and the new structure and the Membership Department will be on hand for any member who feels that they need more guidance on the changes.
For more information, visit: http://www.bindt.org/membership/ or contact BINDT’s Membership Department, tel: +44 (0)1604 89 3811 or email: membership@bindt.org
