Membership
Active participants in BCCS projects who are not BCCS members often have many questions about BCCS Membership. Typical questions include: What are the requirements for membership? Why do so few people become members? What are the membership policies? What are the responsibilities and expectations of being a member?
To summarize, membership is a responsibility, not an honor or a privilege. If you just want to keep caving with us, perhaps being a BCCS Friend is best for you. Members are expected to dedicate themselves to supporting the Society's goals and mission, doing work well beyond that on a typical cave trip or project weekend.
The 1978 BCCS Newsletter contained three articles that were written to address these questions, and you can read the articles via the links below.
While the articles were written a few decades ago, they are very well-written and are still very useful today. Of course, certain facts have changed in the intervening years, and opinions and attitudes of the membership have also varied and matured over time.
The first article, titled BCCS Membership Policy, was written by the late Fred L. Wefer, BCCS founding member, and past NSS President. In this article Dr. Wefer discusses and illuminates the official BCCS membership policies, as they are outlined in the BCCS By-Laws.
The second article, titled Membership in the BCCS, was also written by Dr. Wefer, and he presents what he believed to be the consensus of opinion, or sometimes simply his opinion, on the topic of BCCS Membership.
The third article, titled A New Member's Perspective, was written by Toni Trees (Williams), who was a newly-elected BCCS member at the time and so the article presents her viewpoint as a long-time active BCCS participant who had recently became a BCCS member.
The 2010 BCCS Newsletter contained two articles on BCCS Membership. The first, titled Membership Musings, was written by Jack Igoe and contains his reflections on the articles from 1978 and on BCCS membership in general. The second, titled Membership Growth, was also written by Jack Igoe and is a brief discussion on the number of members of the BCCS.
