Last fall I established an ad hoc committee charged with investigating membership in TWS. The Wildlife Society is the professional society of wildlife biologists, and strives for membership of all wildlife biologists. Council needs to better understand why a substantial number of wildlife biologists are not members of TWS. Do many biologists not know about TWS, and would they be interested in being members if they knew more about us? Are there benefits or services that we don’t currently offer that would help expand our membership? Are there ways that we can increase the value of TWS to our current members? All of these are important questions to which we seek answers.
The ad hoc committee is trying to answer these questions and to specifically determine what members value most about TWS, why some biologists are members of local chapters but not of the parent society, why other biologists aren’t members of TWS at all, and what benefits would encourage greater membership in the parent society. The committee developed a questionnaire that has been sent out to a wide distribution list, including members of the parent society. We are very interested in the views of all recipients of the survey, and I encourage you to complete the survey if you have not already done so. The deadline for completion is the end of October.
As I write these comments, our annual conference to be held in Pittsburgh is only a month away. I am very excited about the conference, and think that it will offer a wealth of information and networking opportunities. My term as President will end at the conference and I will then serve a year as past president. It has been a privilege and honor to serve as President of TWS. While it has been a very busy year, I will cherish the opportunity it provided to me. Thank you to all who helped TWS this year and especially to those who responded to my requests for assistance and provided such great service to TWS. You are essential to keeping TWS as a strong functioning organization, and your contributions and commitment are greatly appreciated.
