Helping members in transition.

• Position: Recent Activities

In October, TEI's Membership Committee recommended and the Board of Directors approved two changes to assist unemployed TEI members--extending the period during which an unemployed member may continue on the membership rolls and substantially lowering the conference fee charged its members in transition. In addition, the Board urged the chapters to evaluate their programs to help unemployed members.

Under TEI's By-Laws, an individual must be employed in the tax function of a profit-oriented enterprise in order to be eligible for membership. (Persons engaged in a public tax practice may not qualify.) For the past several years, however, TEI's practice has been to allow members in transition (i.e., between jobs) to continue their membership for up to two years ... specifically, the year in which they become unemployed and the following year. This relief from the active employment requirement is conditional on the member's paying his or her dues, but many chapters have complemented the Institute's policy by waiving of reducing meeting fees in respect of members who are temporarily unemployed.

During the Board meeting at the 2003 Annual Conference, the Institute's Membership Committee recommended that the "temporarily unemployed member," or TUM, period be extended to up to three years--the current year plus two additional years. This change is effective immediately.

The Membership Committee also recommended that, on a trial basis, the Institute lower the conference registration fee for members in transition. Specifically, the recommendation was to charge members in...