Adopted Membership Language
2000 - 2001 NSPE Policy Manual

Article V:  Membership (LATEST REVISION: July 2000)

Section 1. Membership in the National Society shall be designated as Licensed Member, Member, Fellow Member, Honorary Member or Student Member.

Section 2. All members other than Honorary Members and Student Members shall have voting privileges in the National Society except that only Licensed Members may hold National office other than Secretary.

Section 3. Licensed Member: Licensed Member shall be defined as a person holding a valid license or certificate of registration as a professional engineer, issued under the laws of any state, territory, possession, or district of the United States, or a province, or territory of Canada; or the equivalent under the laws of any country, or a retired engineer who obtained and retained a valid license or certificate while in active practice in the profession until retirement.

Member :  
A Member shall be defined as a person of high moral character who is:

a)        A certified engineer-in-training (Engineering Intern), or the equivalent under the laws of any country, or

b)        A graduate engineer:  A graduate engineer is one who has graduated from an engineering curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET); or has graduated from an engineering curriculum which is accredited by ABET within six years after graduation; or has been awarded a graduate engineering degree from a college or university which has one or more undergraduate engineering curricula accredited by ABET. For a graduate of an engineering curriculum in a foreign country, the applicant shall possess educational background equivalent to that attained from an engineering curriculum accredited by ABET.

A Member shall advance to the Licensed Member grade as soon as eligible by licensure.

Student Member :  A Student Member is a person defined as one who is enrolled in an ABET-accredited engineering program or an engineering or pre-engineering program that leads to engineering licensure. A full-time graduate student in engineering may choose any grade for which eligible, including student member.

Section 4. A person eligible for membership in any grade except a Student Member under this Constitution shall obtain, or retain, membership through a state society, except:

a)        If the person resides outside the United States, its territories, possessions, or districts; or

b)        If the state society where the person resides does not have provisions for the grade or type of qualifications for membership for which that person is eligible.

Individuals that are in categories Sec. 4(a) or Sec. 4(b) above may join or belong to the National Society in an "At-Large" status for the grade of membership for which they are eligible.

When an individual in an "At-Large" category becomes eligible for membership in the state society of residence, or moves to a state where the individual is eligible for membership, then the individual must join the state society to retain membership in the National Society.

Section 5. Fellow Member :  A Fellow shall be a Licensed Member and approved by a peer review of Fellows. The peer review shall take into account, but not be limited to, such considerations as professional status and outstanding service to NSPE, the engineering profession and the public. Procedures for such review and selection shall be defined in the Bylaws.

Section 6. Honorary Member :  An individual, whose knowledge and accomplishments deserve special recognition for contributions to the engineering profession. An Honorary Member shall not have voting privileges, may not hold office, and shall be exempt from paying dues. An Honorary membership shall be awarded upon the approval of two-thirds of the Executive Committee. At no time shall there be more than ten living Honorary Members of the National Society.

Section 7. Any current member holding a grade and not eligible for one of these grades shall be retained in the grade of Member until eligible for another grade of membership.

Section 8. A member may be expelled from the National Society or otherwise disciplined for cause as provided in the Bylaws.

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