AST Policies

AST Executive Committee Votes to Raise Member Dues, Effective 9/1/08

On July 1, 2008, the AST Executive Committee voted to raise annual and life member dues with the new rates to take effect on September 1, 2008. Student rates will remain unchanged. Current rates will remain in effect through the end of August. As always, you may pay for one or more additional years of membership at any time -- you don't have to wait until your current membership period expires.

AST's initial dues were set artificially low in 2004 to reflect the limited services that the AST offered its members as the organization worked through the startup process. Over the past 4 years, AST has fostered volunteer activists who have expanded and matured what AST can now offer our members:

  • a uniquely interactive national conference
  • support for smaller peer workshops (AST owns the LAWST trademark and will train future facilitators for these types of meetings)
  • a high-quality magazine
  • free online courses in software testing that our students rate as exceptionally challenging and valuable
  • free training in online teaching, focused on teaching software testing courses
  • a Special Interest Group on integrity in voting, participating in the drafting of new US Government standards for electronic voting equipment
  • more SIGs in formation (to be announced at CAST)

We will take this even farther next year.

As AST's membership has grown and services expanded, the infrastructure to support our work has become more complex and more expensive. As we considered a recruitment drive for new members, we realized that our costs per member exceed our dues. Revenue from CAST (our conference) made it possible to subsidize the dues to keep them low, but the need for a subsidy limits the growth we can support. We decided to raise dues this year to what we think is break-even cost of a new member. That will make a member recruitment drive possible. But as membership grows and services expand further, we will reassess dues again next year.

Here is the dues structure for 2008-2009:

  • Regular Membership - $85
  • Student - $25
  • Retired - $50
  • Life Under 30 - $1,275
  • Life 30-39 - $1,035
  • Life 40-49 - $850
  • Life 50-59 - $635
  • Life 60+ - $425

You can lock in these rates by buying additional years of membership at any time (you don't have to wait until your current membership period expires), or you can buy a life membership.

If you renew your AST membership before September 1, you can renew it for as many years as you want at the $50 rate for regular members.

On May 28, 2008, The AST Board of Directors resolved to amend the bylaws:

Qualification and Term of Directors

Section 4.03 Qualifications of Directors.

The qualification for becoming and remaining a Director of this Corporation is that the proposed Director must be a Voting Member of the Corporation for a minimum period of time prior to the election. That time shall be:

  • 6 months for 2008 elections
  • 9 months for 2009 elections
  • 1 year for all elections in 2010 and after.

from:

The qualification for becoming and remaining a Director of this Corporation is that the proposed Director must be a Voting Member of the Corporation.

 

Section 4.06 Term of Directors.

Each Director shall have a term of two (2) years. The terms of Directors shall overlap so that some Director positions will be up for election each year. Each Director shall hold office for the term for which he or she was elected and until a successor has been elected and qualified. The number of Directors to be elected each year shall be set by the Board of Directors or Executive Committee within the limits of Section 4.04 of this Article.

from:

Each Director shall have a term of one (1) year. The Members may, but shall not be required, to stagger the terms of Directors so that there are, to the extent possible, experienced Directors remaining after the annual election of new Directors. Each Director shall hold office for the term for which he or she was elected and until a successor has been elected and qualified. The number of Directors shall be set by the Members within the limits of Section 4.04 of this Article.

 

On July 31, 2007, AST resolved to adopt the following policy:

Guidelines for Supporting Projects or Initiatives of Value to Software Testers

AST will consider providing support to projects or programs meeting the following criteria:

  • The project must not be directly or indirectly driven by profit
  • The project must be accessible and valuable, or potentially valuable, to all software testers
  • Both the project and the leaders of the project must explicitly comply with and/or agree to the AST and ACM Code of Ethics
  • At least one of the project organizers be a member in good standing of AST

Any project or initiative meeting these criteria may apply for support from the AST who will provide support based on the type of support requested as compared to the resources that AST has available to provide.

 

On March 6, 2007, AST resolved to adopt the following policies:

Equal Opportunity Employment Policy

  1. AST is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EEO). Accordingly, we promote equal opportunity in the areas of recruitment, employment, training, development, transfer, and promotion. Our employment practices are without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, age, disability or medical condition, national origin, and veteran status, and all other categories protected by federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws.
  2. The Executive Director of the AST, serves as the EEO Officer to facilitate Equal Employment Opportunity under the direction of the President and Board of Directors. Questions concerning Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity should be directed to the Executive Director.

Anti-Discrimination Policy

  1. AST shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, approval of membership, hiring and firing of staff, selection of volunteers, selection of vendors, and provision of services.
  2. Definitions of Harassment:
    • a. Sexual harassment constitutes discrimination and is illegal under federal, state and local laws. For the purposes of this policy, sexual harassment is defined, as in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Guidelines, as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when, for example:
      • i. submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment
      • ii. submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual; or
      • iii. such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.
      Sexual harassment may include a range of subtle and not so subtle behaviors and may involve individuals of the same or different gender. Depending on the circumstances, these behaviors may include, but are not limited to: unwanted sexual advances or requests for sexual favors; sexual jokes and innuendo; verbal abuse of a sexual nature; commentary about an individual's body, sexual prowess or sexual deficiencies; leering, catcalls or touching; insulting or obscene comments or gestures; display or circulation in the workplace of sexually suggestive objects or pictures (including through e-mail); and other physical, verbal or visual conduct of a sexual nature. Sex-based harassment - that is, harassment not involving sexual activity or language (e.g., male manager yells only at female employees and not males) - may also constitute discrimination if it is severe and pervasive and directed at employees because of their sex.
    • b. Harassment on the basis of any other protected characteristic is also strictly prohibited. Under this policy, harassment is verbal or physical conduct that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual because of his/her race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, citizenship, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital status or any other characteristic protected by law or that of his/her relatives, friends or associates, and that:
      • i. has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment;
      • ii. has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance; or
      • iii. otherwise adversely affects an individual's employment opportunities.
    • c. Harassing conduct includes, but is not limited to: epithets, slurs or negative stereotyping; threatening, intimidating or hostile acts; denigrating jokes and display or circulation in the workplace of written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group (including through e-mail).