AMTA Assembly of Delegates Update

AMTA Assembly of Delegates Update
Assembly Meeting: August 7th, 2023 (8-9:30pm ET)

Dear Music Therapy Community,

We are excited to share a brief update from the AMTA Assembly of Delegates Meeting held on August 7th, 2023. During this meeting, members of the assembly voted on and unanimously approved a motion regarding the 2024 and 2025 membership dues structure. You may recall a similar motion presented by members of the board and the AMTA Membership Committee failed to pass in the December 6th meeting of last year. After continued discussion with the Membership Committee, and two Assembly workgroup sessions held earlier this year focused in part on this topic, the AMTA Board of Directors presented the below motion to the Assembly on August 7th 2023.

Motion:
In consideration of the work and feedback from the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) Membership Committee, AMTA Assembly of Delegates, community members, and the AMTA Board of Directors, I move the following membership dues rates for the 2024 and 2025 membership years on behalf of the Board of Directors:
Professional Membership on a tier system of $150 / $200 / $250, Student and Graduate Student $60, Retired $100, Inactive $50, Affiliate $350, Patron $650, and Honorary Life $0.
Rationale:
Community members have indicated that membership dues are not widely accessible to all individuals who want to join the Association due to cost prohibition. With a fee reduction for Student, Graduate Student, and Retired categories and a tiered system of Professional dues, more individuals are expected to join the Association.
Professional associations similar to AMTA are reviewing and changing dues structures due to declining membership. It is timely for the AMTA to change dues structures in response to community feedback and identified inequities to those who are unable to afford membership.

With this motion passing, the above dues structure has been approved by the Assembly and will be in place for both 2024 and 2025. We anticipate that many of you may have questions about the new dues structure, so please look for continued communication from the AMTA Board of Directors as we implement  this new tiered membership system next year. This will include information to assist new and returning members in understanding and selecting where they most appropriately fit within the tiered system. 

We want to thank the AMTA Membership Committee, past and current members, for all of their previous and ongoing work on this important topic of dues structures. The work of the Membership Committee has been challenging, complex, and vital to the continually changing needs of the music therapy community. Their commitment to the music therapy community fueled this momentous and historical moment for changing AMTA membership dues and couldn't have happened without their labor. Our thanks go out to Council Coordinator Chelsea Mabes for coordinating efforts through ongoing communication with all involved, and Treasurer Leslie Henry for providing the information necessary to inform this important vote. We also thank the AMTA Board of Directors for ongoing engagement and discussion related to this topic. Finally, we want to thank Assembly Delegates and Alternate Delegates for asking important questions while participating in meaningful discussions focused on membership dues structure this past year.

In service,

Brian Jantz, Assembly Speaker
Spencer Hardy, Assistant Speaker
Mia Krings, Assembly Board Representative
Kevin Bock, Assembly Board Representative

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