[NABS-L] Action Required: Important Updates About the NABS Membership Process

[Gene Kim]

Dear NABS Family,



It is with immense excitement that I write to you with updated membership
procedures for 2022. Okay, I’ll admit, the procedures themselves aren't
anything Earth-shattering, but following them is the first step to getting
the NABS fam back for the ultimate reunion in New Orleans. I highly
encourage you to read this email in its entirety.



As a reminder, per national division guidelines, we transitioned to a
calendar membership year (January-December) as of January 1, 2022. To
accommodate for this change, we honored dues from both 2020 and 2021 until
December 31, 2021, assuming an individual followed our application process,
met the requirements for membership, and was voted into the organization by
our Board of Directors.



Now that we are officially out of the transition period, all prospective
members, both new and returning, will need to follow our updated process to
be an active member of the national student division in 2022. Keep in mind,
paying dues to your state student division or state affiliate is entirely
separate from applying for NABS membership. Some of you have already
completed this new process in this calendar year and have been notified of
your membership status; however, we are sharing this information now, in
preparation for national convention, so that any members wishing to
participate in elections will be able to do so come July.



Important Note: Your membership application and dues payment must be
received by June 30, 2022 to be eligible to participate in official
business at the NABS Business Meeting at national convention. If you choose
to apply for membership in-person on the day of our meeting, you will be
able to participate in programming, but your individual vote will not be
tallied for organizational matters that require a precise count.


Dues

As part of the criteria to become an active member, dues of $5 must be paid
each year per our constitution <https://nabslink.org/our-constitution> (see
Article VII). If you have not paid your dues since January 1, 2022, we
invite you to do so through any of the following mediums:

1.      PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/NABSPayments?locale.x=en_US, or send
payments to @NABSPayments

2.      Zelle: send payments to nabs.president at gmail.com

3.      Credit/debit card: Navigate to the “donate now” link at the top of
our website www.nabslink.org and clearly indicate that your payment is for
your membership dues in the notes field.

4.      Check: send checks to NABS Treasurer, Elizabeth Rouse, at PO Box
942 Durant, IA 52747. Checks must be postmarked by June 15 to insure timely
receipt.

Always ensure to include your name and purpose for payment when using
any/all of these platforms in order to guarantee your payment is linked to
your membership application.



If you choose to apply for membership on the day of the meeting, rather
than before June 30, we will accept cash or card at the door.


Membership Application

We are asking all new and returning members to also fill out the below
linked membership application to ensure that we have up-to-date information
on record.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScp_IYqTMPgjf3pxeRojn9UTbQW6cUXz7QkdL2S0hbzrjH0sQ/viewform?usp=sf_link



Once both of these steps are complete, two scenarios are possible:

1.     If you have not been voted in by the board before, meaning you did
not participate in elections last year through our Swift platform or
receive confirmation of your membership between the close of convention and
December 31, 2021, our board will review your application and vote on your
membership status based off of the attached criteria. You will be notified
of the decision regardless of the outcome.

2.     If you were an active member on or before December 31, 2021, you
will not need to be voted in a second time, and will retain active
membership status on the condition that you have completed the membership
form and paid your dues for the current calendar year. You will still be
notified when your form and dues have been processed.



In either case, if you have been notified that you are an active member,
you will then be eligible to vote and run for a position at our business
meeting.

If you are unsure of your membership status or have more generalized
questions about the membership application process, please email Board
Member Gene Kim at gene.sh.kim at gmail.com. If you have questions about
payment options or want to confirm your dues were received, please email
Treasurer Elizabeth Rouse at elizabethrouse.nfb at gmail.com.



There will be no additional registration process for active members
attending the business meeting. We will simply have you check in at the
door to receive voting materials. All other attendees will be asked to
apply for membership at the door to gain entrance into the meeting.



We’re looking forward to the largest gathering of blind students to date
in just a few months!


Cheers,

Gene on behalf of the NABS Board

--

Gene S-H Kim

Co-chair | NABS Legislative and Self-Advocacy Committee

Webmaster/Board member | National Association of Blind Students