TESOL welcomes individual, global electronic, full-time student, retired, part-time employment, new teachers, and joint household members to the association. TESOL also offers an institutional subscription program for libraries wishing to add TESOL Quarterly and TESOL Journal to their libraries. Membership categories may not be changed except at time of renewal. Membership is individual and nontransferable. TESOL does not provide corporate or institutional memberships.

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Membership Payment Options

BENEFITS

Membership provides many benefits and includes:

• complimentary subscription to TESOL Journal (effective March 2010), TESOL's quarterly membership publication
• option to purchase subscription to TESOL Quarterly, TESOL’s flagship journal, which includes both the paper copy and free, full-text access to TQ online from 1996 to the current issue through IngentaConnect
• ability to find, submit, and review resources from the TESOL Resource Center
• voting privileges in the association's annual election
• open access to as many interest section e-lists and e-newsletters as you wish at no charge
• discounted prices for the annual convention, TESOL education programs, and TESOL publications
• subscription to TESOL Connections, the association’s monthly e-newsletter; the Placement E-Bulletin, the bi-weekly e-newsletter of our Career Center, the Worldwide Calendar of Events, the monthly e-newsletter calendar of affiliate events around the world; and the BookInfo alert, issued as new titles become available for purchase
• access to the online Membership Directory and Leadership Directory
• eligibility to apply for awards and grants
• discounts on credit cards, and calling cards; and discounted subscriptions to other publishers' serial publications

DUES

MEMBERSHIP TYPES

The global electronic membership (GME) category offers a discounted membership option for members who are current legal residents or native-born current residents of a country with a gross national income (GNI) per capita of US$15,000 or less (as defined by the United Nations). Global members are full members of TESOL but are not eligible for early renewal discounts. As an electronic-only category, members must have a valid e-mail address in order to receive benefits by e-mail.
GME members may add electronic access to TESOL Quarterly (electronic only; no print copies included) for an additional $45.

A subsidized global membership fund is available to new members who are unable to pay full dues to join. (The fund is not available for membership renewals.) If you are interested in becoming a global electronic member (GME), your subsidized dues would be $10 (rather than $35). To apply, send an e-mail to Pam Williams, Director, Member Services/Assistant Executive Director pwilliams@tesol.org along with your e-mail address, and a short paragraph summarizing why you should receive the fund. You will be contacted regarding acceptance or not. If accepted, you will be sent an application to complete and submit along with the small payment. This fund is not available to any one living in locations other than those countries on the qualified eligible countries list. Please note that this fund is occasionally depleted and a wait list may exist.

Full-time student membership is for those engaged in full-time study only (12 or more credits undergraduate, 6+ credits master's/graduate, 3+ credits doctoral). Students must provide (by e-mail, mail, or fax) a dated unofficial transcript to verify full-time study, and must reapply annually. Maximum participation as a student member is limited to 6 years. Student members of TESOL may participate in a student-only electronic discussion list. Full-time members are not eligible for early renewal discounts.
Students who meet the 6-year eligibility requirement will be automatically converted to the New Teacher category which is defined further down this page.

Retired members must qualify by having been a TESOL member 5 of the past 10 years, be fully retired from the workforce, and send proof of full-time retirement with their first application. Proof of full-time retirement can be in the form of a letter from your place of retirement on official letterhead, or anything from Social Security or a pension fund indicating retirement. Proof is only required the first time you join as a retired member. Retired members are not eligible for early renewal discounts.

Thanks for following up on my membership. I value my TESOL membership and read all TESOL publications that come my way. Look forward to continuing my membership, although retired from the public school classroom.
-- Jeanette Ruffle, Burlington, VT

Part-time employment membership is for individuals, who work part-time, defined as teachers, administrators, or professors characterized as part time by their employer, business, or school. Proof of part-time employment can be in the form of a letter from your place of employment on official letterhead, or an email from your supervisor. Part-time employment members must reapply annually. Part-time members are not eligible for early renewal discounts.

It's great that TESOL is supporting part-time teachers in this way.
-- Joan M. Hood, Assistant Director, English Language Institute, Office of International & English Language Programs, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

Joint household members are two-member households. They receive all benefits but if they subscribe, they receive only one copy of TESOL Quarterly. Both persons are voting members and eligible for discounts. Both members may each choose a primary interest section. Members must reside at the same address and that address must be used for membership mailings. Joint household members are not eligible for early renewal discounts.

Individual membership is for anyone who does not work part-time, is retired, is a student, is a new teacher, is eligible for the global electronic membership, or are joint members. Individual membership provides a full range of benefits available electronically. This category is the only membership category eligible for the early dues renewal discount.