Update on Proposed Membership Changes

by Scott Patterson March 1, 2012

Membership category redesign proposed

In the December 2011 ASHI Reporter, I presented the overall scope of the proposed changes, which have been developed over a period of almost two years by committee members working countless hours on a proposal that is expected to impact the ASHI membership for years to come.

With more than 30 volunteers and staff participating in this multi-year process, it is still evolving. I’m happy to report we’re still on track to present a motion on the proposed membership category changes to the ASHI Board of Directors at the July Board meeting.

In the December Reporter, we asked for comments and suggestions. We received a few comments via email, several were voiced at various chapter meetings around the country and the last group came from the roundtable discussion held at InspectionWorld in January.

As you can imagine, we have had a few negative comments from folks who do not see the need for any change. Negative comments were outnumbered by comments from members who see the need for a change, but only an adjustment to our entry testing. By far, the comment we heard the most was to add technical questions to the Standards and Ethics module/exam, which is already required for membership. This seems to ease the fear that we are lowering the requirements for use of the ASHI logo.

With the addition of technical questions to the Standards and Ethics module/exam, along with other proposed changes, ASHI will have the most stringent entry requirements of any national home inspector organization. This will be a milestone change and one that will make ASHI an even stronger presence in the profession. ASHI will be a Society that we can all be proud to be members of for years to come.

So, based on membership feedback and with the addition of technical questions, the proposed membership category for home inspectors joining ASHI will look something like the chart below.

Proposed Membership Categories and Requirements
The ACI logo will remain the same. The proposed Inspector logo and the newly designed proposed Member logo maintain a uniform look, but are different enough to be differentiated in an overall marketing campaign.

ProposedMemberCategories.jpg

I would like to personally thank every single volunteer and staff member who worked on this monumental project, which took more than two years to reach this point. In addition, I would like to thank those members who took time to think about and comment on this proposal. As you can see, those comments did not fall on deaf ears and have helped to shape the future of ASHI.

As with many changes, this will be difficult for some to accept, but it is the firm belief of your ASHI leadership that in order for ASHI to remain the voice of the profession, changes like this must take place. A change of this magnitude will require a change in the ASHI Bylaws and this will require passage from the voting membership. This is not to be taken lightly and the main reason that this is a multi-year process.
As promised, the membership has been kept up to date though the Reporter, online media, the InspectionWorld Roundtable and presentation at the annual COR meeting.

IWExpoASHI_12-2508.jpg
Photo above: Scott Patterson presents the proposed changes at a roundtable discussion at InspectionWorld Phoenix.


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