Membership
MEMBER QUALIFICATIONS
The PSC membership shall consist of regular, student, Fellow, honorary, life, and corporate members. The regular members shall consist of professional engineers and scientists in the field of photonics. The student members shall consist of college undergraduate and graduate students.
Any PSC regular members whose professional achievements in the field and whose contributions to PSC have reached distinction may be elected to Fellow membership as a lifetime honor and recognition by PSC. The Fellows are elected with at least two thirds votes by the PSC Advisory Committee appointed by the President of PSC with the approval of the Board of Directors. The members of the Advisory Committee consist of past PSC presidents and activists.
Any non-PSC member who has made extremely valuable contributions to PSC or to the photonics community that deserves special recognition may be elected to be an honorary member of the PSC. Honorary membership is considered a lifetime honor by PSC and should be awarded with extreme care.
Fellows and honorary membership must be nominated by a Fellow member and endorsed by 3 Fellow members to the PSC Advisory Committee. If approved by the Advisory Committee, such nominations shall be submitted to all Fellow members for confirmation.
Regular and student membership can be applied via PSC website or at PSC meetings. A membership is generally accepted if the applicant works in a field or fields related to photonics and accept PSC By-Laws and regulations, and pays for the membership fee.
ANNUAL MEETING
The annual meeting of members shall be held each year on a date and at a time designated by the board of directors. In general, it will be coincide with the PSC annual meeting at the Optical Fiber Communications Conference (OFC).
MEMBERSHIP FEES
An annual membership fee shall be paid by all regular, student and Fellow, and corporate members. The amount of the fee shall be determined by the Advisory Committee. Since most PSC’s activities are sponsored by donations from corporate members and all officers, board members and staff are volunteers, the regular and student membership fees of PSC are suggested to be below 10% of the fees for the regular and student members of the Optical Society (OSA) or IEEE, respectively. $20 regular membership fee, $10 student membership fee, and $500 corporate membership fee are recommended.
The membership fees for regular and students are voluntary. The suggested amount is symbolic and signifies members’ recognition to the organization. The members are encouraged to pay the membership fees to show their bonds to the organization. A member also has the option to pay multiple years’ membership fees at once. Any member pays a one-time $500 to PSC shall be recognized as a life member and shall enjoy the recognitions and benefits of the organization for life without further payment. The names of life members will be listed on PSC’s website so long as PSC continues to operate.
