Membership Policy Draft

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Joseph Huberman

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May 6, 2025, 10:51:51 AMMay 6
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For the last several weeks the BOD has been formulating a Membership Policy.  Surprisingly we don't have a formal policy and have been acting on tradition.  We have drafted this policy and are open to your opinions on this policy draft before we finalize and approve a policy.

Here are the relevant points:
  • "Student" membership name has been changed to "U25" since it doesn't matter if you are enrolled in school only if you are under age 25 on Dec 31 of the current year.
  • For joining or renewing Junior and U25 memberships, your age is considered your age on Dec 31 of the current year. (The same as your competition class.)
  • Family Lifetime memberships are being discontinued.
    • Existing Family Lifetime are grandfathered and rules for handling them have been defined.
  • Family Memberships are defined
  • Lifetime (individual) memberships will include dependents under 25.
  • Fees are not changing in this policy.
  • Club OUSA membership procedures are not changing.
  • There is a table showing the benefits by membership type.
Here is the policy draft for your review.

Joseph Huberman
OUSA Board, VP Club Services

Joseph Huberman

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May 12, 2025, 9:09:04 PMMay 12
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Thank you for your comments.  Here is the updated version of the policy addressing some of the points.  

The parts that were changed from my previous post are:
  • Youth is for those 25 and younger on Dec 31 (Similar to competition category nomenclature i.e. Y-25)
  • Junior is for those 20 and younger on Dec 31 (Similar to competition category nomenclature i.e. J-20) and consistent with the Junior Development Program.
  • Additional Family members' ages are consistent with the Youth age definition.
Joseph Huberman
OUSA Board, VP Club Services


Joseph Huberman

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May 12, 2025, 9:33:45 PMMay 12
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Same link as before:

Joseph Huberman
OUSA Board, VP Club Services


Joseph Huberman

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May 13, 2025, 7:37:21 AMMay 13
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Here is a slight correction to my comments on the changes to the Membership Policy.  
     (I said Junior Development Program instead of Youth Development Program)

Here are the updates to the Membership Policy from the previous draft.
    • Youth is for those 25 and younger on Dec 31 (Similar to competition category nomenclature i.e. Y-25)
      • We added an additional year for consistency with the Youth Development Program (YDP)
    • Junior is for those 20 and younger on Dec 31 (Similar to competition category nomenclature i.e. J-20)
    • Additional Family members' ages also go through age 25 so they are consistent with the Youth age definition.

    Joseph Huberman
    OUSA Board, VP Club Services


    On Mon, May 12, 2025 at 9:08 PM Joseph Huberman <joseph....@orienteeringusa.org> wrote:

    Jon Torrance

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    Jun 23, 2025, 1:01:12 AMJun 23
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    All,

    I want to put out there before the board meeting tomorrow... okay, given how late it now is, this evening, that the bullet point saying “Lifetime (individual) memberships will include dependents under 25.“ is somewhat controversial within the board. Lifetime OUSA memberships for individuals have not previously covered dependents and the defined price of 20 times the annual individual membership fee was not intended to cover dependents; that’s what the family memberships, annual and lifetime, and the junior and youth memberships have been for. So this idea kind of swings a wrecking ball through the whole structure of membership options. I can’t quite recall the genesis of this idea beyond a vague notion that it maybe somehow emerged from discussions of what the decay products of a couple with a lifetime family membership breaking up ought to be alongside a general tendency to wish to make it easy to bring children orienteering. In any case, no one outside the board seems to have commented at all on this aspect of the proposal. If that is because everyone loves the idea of individual lifetime memberships covering dependents, I suppose that’s something we as a board ought to take into consideration but I would like to see that position positively affirmed by multiple commenters rather than assume it has broad support just because no one outside the board has registered any objection to date. So please, if you love the idea, say so, Ditto if you hate the idea. Thanks.

    Jon


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    Evan Custer

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    Jun 23, 2025, 1:11:27 AMJun 23
    to Jon Torrance, ClubNet
    Bad idea to cover dependents for lifetime individual membership. 

    Evan

    Sent from my iPad

    On Jun 22, 2025, at 22:01, Jon Torrance <jon.to...@orienteeringusa.org> wrote:

    

    Kathleen Kerns

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    Jun 23, 2025, 2:33:00 AMJun 23
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    In doesn't make any sense to include dependents in an individual membership, in the first place.  

    Issuing a lifetime membership to an individual and including others?  Dependents grow up and should then become members in their own right. Not be covered under parent/guardian in perpetuity.  

    I don't agree with the proposal to include dependents in an individual lifetime membership. 

    Kathleen Kerns

    Mike Minium

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    Jun 23, 2025, 7:33:48 AMJun 23
    to Kathleen Kerns, ClubNet, jon.to...@orienteeringusa.org
    The arguments in favor of including minor children in an individual life membership, primarily came about when we discussed the idea of eliminating the family life category entirely because of the tremendous range of possible complexities of who gets to remain a member when families break up and re-form.   The idea was that life memberships only be offered as an individual option, with kids under 18 getting a free ride with the individual member.  This is beneficial in promoting orienteering by allowing a parent with a life membership to bring their children without additional non-members costs.  At 20x an individual annual membership, our individual life membership is way over-priced for what it needs to be in order to be financially beneficial to OUSA. Our membership options should not just be about dollars; they should also be about promoting and grow in orienteering. 

    Mike Minium

    On Jun 23, 2025, at 2:33 AM, 'Kathleen Kerns' via ClubNet <clu...@orienteeringusa.org> wrote:

    

    maver...@gmail.com

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    Jun 23, 2025, 8:20:47 AMJun 23
    to ClubNet, jon.to...@orienteeringusa.org

    I agree with Mike Minium, including that the cutoff age for dependent coverage should be under 18, although I would support continuing dependent coverage through under 24 as long as the dependent is enrolled as a full-time student.

     

    Mike Avery

     

    From: clu...@orienteeringusa.org <clu...@orienteeringusa.org> On Behalf Of Mike Minium
    Sent: Monday, June 23, 2025 7:34 AM
    To: Kathleen Kerns <klk...@mthoodo.org>
    Cc: ClubNet <clu...@orienteeringusa.org>; jon.to...@orienteeringusa.org <jon.to...@orienteeringusa.org>
    Subject: Re: [OUSA-ClubNet] Re: Membership Policy Draft

     

    The arguments in favor of including minor children in an individual life membership, primarily came about when we discussed the idea of eliminating the family life category entirely because of the tremendous range of possible complexities of who gets to remain a member when families break up and re-form.   The idea was that life memberships only be offered as an individual option, with kids under 18 getting a free ride with the individual member.  This is beneficial in promoting orienteering by allowing a parent with a life membership to bring their children without additional non-members costs.  At 20x an individual annual membership, our individual life membership is way over-priced for what it needs to be in order to be financially beneficial to OUSA. Our membership options should not just be about dollars; they should also be about promoting and grow in orienteering. 

    Mike Minium



    On Jun 23, 2025, at 2:33AM, 'Kathleen Kerns' via ClubNet <clu...@orienteeringusa.org> wrote:

    

    In doesn't make any sense to include dependents in an individual membership, in the first place.  

     

    Issuing a lifetime membership to an individual and including others?  Dependents grow up and should then become members in their own right. Not be covered under parent/guardian in perpetuity.  

     

    I don't agree with the proposal to include dependents in an individual lifetime membership. 

     

    Kathleen Kerns

     

     

     

    On Sunday, June 22, 2025 at 10:01:12PM UTC-7 jon.to...@orienteeringusa.org wrote:

    All,

     

    I want to put out there before the board meeting tomorrow... okay, given how late it now is, this evening, that the bullet point saying “Lifetime (individual) memberships will include dependents under 25.“ is somewhat controversial within the board. Lifetime OUSA memberships for individuals have not previously covered dependents and the defined price of 20 times the annual individual membership fee was not intended to cover dependents; that’s what the family memberships, annual and lifetime, and the junior and youth memberships have been for. So this idea kind of swings a wrecking ball through the whole structure of membership options. I can’t quite recall the genesis of this idea beyond a vague notion that it maybe somehow emerged from discussions of what the decay products of a couple with a lifetime family membership breaking up ought to be alongside a general tendency to wish to make it easy to bring children orienteering. In any case, no one outside the board seems to have commented at all on this aspect of the proposal. If that is because everyone loves the idea of individual lifetime memberships covering dependents, I suppose that’s something we as a board ought to take into consideration but I would like to see that position positively affirmed by multiple commenters rather than assume it has broad support just because no one outside the board has registered any objection to date. So please, if you love the idea, say so, Ditto if you hate the idea. Thanks.

     

    Jon

     

     

    On Tue, May 13, 2025 at 7:37AM Joseph Huberman <joseph....@orienteeringusa.org> wrote:

    Here is a slight correction to my comments on the changes to the Membership Policy.  

         (I said Junior Development Program instead of Youth Development Program)

     

    Here are the updates to the Membership Policy from the previous draft.

    ·        Youth is for those 25 and younger on Dec 31 (Similar to competition category nomenclature i.e. Y-25)

    o   We added an additional year for consistency with the Youth Development Program (YDP)

    Sandy Fillebrown

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    Jun 23, 2025, 2:23:14 PMJun 23
    to ClubNet, jon.to...@orienteeringusa.org
    I think including dependents on an individual life membership is a good idea, sending the message that OUSA values kids.  I would definitely have appreciated that benefit when my kids were younger.  I think the cutoff should be in line with whatever tax rules are these days.
    Sandy Fillebrown

    Ruth Bromer

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    Jun 23, 2025, 7:00:35 PMJun 23
    to Sandy Fillebrown, ClubNet, jon.to...@orienteeringusa.org
    If we are eliminating lifetime family memberships, then I think it is a good idea to include dependents with the same cutoff as regular family memberships. When our kids were young, the cutoff was 18.

    I think there is a possible fair way to keep lifetime family memberships. However, being $800 when lifetime individual memberships are $700 does not make sense.  The fee should go up to at least $900 to match the regular membership prices.  If the couple divorce or separate or whatever, then to keep their lifetime memberships,each would pay an additional $250.  They would then have paid the equivalent to lifetime individual memberships.  If one partner dies, then the one still living could keep it as long as they are alive.  It would not transition to anyone else, but they could share their membership with one other partner over 24 and if there are dependents under 25, then they would also be covered as part of the family.  I don't think that this idea was suggested yet.

    If we keep lifetime family memberships, then lifetime individual memberships should follow the same rules as regular individual memberships.

    Personally, I think membership prices should increase at least to $40 for individuals and $60 for families.  Then the lifetime memberships would be $800 and $1200, respectively.  I'm not sure how long lifetime memberships have been at the current prices, but regular memberships have been at their current prices for many years.  Anyone who competes in NRE's is getting quite a deal with the $4 or $5 discount per day.

    Ruth Bromer, BOK

    Andrea Schneider

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    Jun 23, 2025, 9:22:29 PMJun 23
    to ClubNet
    So an individual can have life membership with  all dependents covered, but then what about a family, does one person get individual with dependents and the partner is kind of like where, gets an individual annual, their own individual life time?
    Andrea

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    Joseph Huberman

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    Jun 24, 2025, 8:30:52 AMJun 24
    to Andrea Schneider, ClubNet
    Yes, that is the idea. Keeping track of a family is complex if there is a change in the family structure. Keeping the dependents on one person keeps it simple. Other individuals in the family over 25 can get a lifetime membership or annual memberships. 

    There is also discussion on a discount for a second over 25 individual lifetime membership fee for someone in the same household. 

    Is this fair to single parent households? That will be part of the discussion. 

    Currently income from lifetime Memberships goes into the endowment account. At 5% it is break even at $35/yr for an annual membership. 

    The draft policy proposal is still being developed and expected to be finalized in the next month or so. The board is still interested in hearing comments from the OUSA community. 

    Joseph Huberman
    Raleigh NC
    919-610-1788

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    Russell Pilcher

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    Jun 24, 2025, 2:16:15 PMJun 24
    to ClubNet, Jon Torrance, Evan Custer
    I concur with Evan Custer.  

    A "lifetime" individual membership is not and should not be a freebee for extended dependent family members.

    Although, I'd be interested in hearing alternative views.

    My Background:  As a gift, I purchased my son a lifetime membership when he turned 18 (he's 50 now).  I should have also purchased one for myself!  Instead, I've been paying yearly dues since the early 70's (who knew I'd live this long while still enjoying orienteering).

    Not a board member, 


    Russ Pilcher


    Tony Pinkham

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    Jun 24, 2025, 2:16:15 PMJun 24
    to Evan Custer, Jon Torrance, ClubNet
    Agreed. It is not good to cover dependents with individual lifetime memberships because each dependent later becomes an adult or there might be a divorce, remarriage, or death of the individual (or dependents). If the individual dies, do his or her dependents remain lifetime members? Do the dependents children become lifetime members? Can a lifetime member adopt lots of juniors to cover their membership costs...for life? To keep the administration of life memberships manageable, keep them for a single person. 

    Tony Pinkham
    MTHD

    GUY OLSEN

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    Jun 24, 2025, 2:16:15 PMJun 24
    to ClubNet, jon.to...@orienteeringusa.org
    IMO, it would be a HUGE mistake to completely eliminate coverage for dependents of life membership holders.  The subject of cutoff age, however is certainly worthy of discussion.

    Since orienteering defines juniors as orienteering-age 20 and under -- ie, born no earlier than the current year minus 20 -- that should be the MINIMUM.  Whether to extend it to older ages, possibly limited to students, or leaving it at the current limit of 25 should be decided by consensus.  I see no reason, however, to go older than 25.

    Whatever final age is decided, the new policy should ONLY cover future purchases of life membership.

    One question...
    When a dependent reaches the age when he/she is no longer covered, does their membership type simply revert to individual?

    Guy-O


    Adalia

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    Jun 24, 2025, 2:16:15 PMJun 24
    to Mike Minium, Kathleen Kerns, ClubNet, jon.to...@orienteeringusa.org
    As a young adult, I support being able to add dependents to an individual lifetime membership. Once the Board has decided on a plan, I intend to purchase a lifetime membership of some form because I would like to continue orienteering for the next 60 or 70 years of my life. With that being said, I have no clue what my future will look like; I may decide to have kids, I may not. If I do decide to have kids, an individual lifetime membership with dependents would make it easier to bring my kids into orienteering because encouraging our youth to take part in national orienteering is a huge step in the goals of OUSA “to promote the sport of orienteering”. As an avid orienteer myself, I would want my kids to be involved in national orienteering from a young age and having dependents included in a individual lifetime membership would go a long way to helping with that. Why should a decision I make when I am 18 years old affect what my kids can do in 15 or 20 years when I don’t even know if I will have kids or not?

    Adalia

    --
    Adalia Schafrath-Craig


    Joseph Huberman

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    Jun 24, 2025, 4:00:05 PMJun 24
    to Russell Pilcher, ClubNet, Jon Torrance, Evan Custer
    Just to clarify, the individual Life Member would also include their dependents only up until the age of 25 on Dec 31 of the current year.  The idea for this age was to cover dependents through college, but the school requirement was dropped. This particular age has not been decided yet.  Possibly it could go as low as 18.  In any case, whatever age is chosen, as a dependent they would not be able to vote, and would only get email communications, not the annual printed magazine.

    Once the dependent ages out, or if they wanted to be able to vote at the AGM before aging out, then they would need to purchase a membership on their own.  They could get a lifetime or register annually in any category appropriate for their age. (i.e. a 17 year old who wanted to be able to vote and receive the magazine could sign up as a Regular Individual Member paying the regular $35/year fee.)

    The purpose of this, in my opinion, is to encourage family participation at the national level and for the kids to be members of OUSA at an early age, so being an OUSA member just seems like the right thing to do.

    The current wording (not yet voted on) is such that if the Lifetime Member dies their dependents would continue to be non voting members until they aged out.  They would not inherit the lifetime membership.

    The bottom line is that we want to encourage youth participation and a sense of belonging to the OUSA community.

    Joseph
    ===========================
    Joseph Huberman
    OUSA BOD, VP Club Services


    John Pane

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    Jun 24, 2025, 5:17:31 PMJun 24
    to Joseph Huberman, Russell Pilcher, ClubNet, Jon Torrance, Evan Custer
    The policy could be written more clearly regarding the benefits to dependents lasting only until they reach a certain age. To be specific, it is ambiguous whether “the current year” refers to the year the lifetime membership is purchased, or the year when ongoing benefits are determined. It is not even clear whether benefits are evaluated only once at the time of purchase of a lifetime membership, or annually.

    I was against this policy until I realized that you intend the benefit to dependents to last only until they reach the age threshold. Now that this has been clarified I am in favor.

    John Pane


    Joseph Huberman

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    Jun 24, 2025, 6:07:09 PMJun 24
    to John Pane, Russell Pilcher, ClubNet, Jon Torrance, Evan Custer
    Does this make it clear?

    • The Lifetime Membership includes one person who is a Regular member and is the membership Administrator as well as that person’s dependents who are age 25 and under on December 31 each year.

    If not, what do you suggest to make the intended meaning clear?

    Joseph
    ===========================
    Joseph Huberman
    OUSA BOD, VP Club Services

    John Pane

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    Jun 24, 2025, 7:36:17 PMJun 24
    to Joseph Huberman, Russell Pilcher, ClubNet, Jon Torrance, Evan Custer
    That is better, thank you. 

    I offer this suggested phrasing for consideration:

    • The Lifetime Membership applies to one person who shall receive all the benefits of an Individual Regular Membership for life. 
      • The Lifetime Member's dependents shall receive Dependent Membership benefits each calendar year that they will be age 25 or under on December 31, even if the Lifetime Member is no longer living. Dependent Members do not receive a vote or print publications unless they obtain a membership that confers those benefits (e.g. Individual Regular, Youth Individual Regular, or Primary member of a Family Regular membership). 

    If you make use of this suggestion, the Family Membership description should probably be worded the same way. 

    John


    Joseph Huberman

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    Jun 24, 2025, 9:04:25 PMJun 24
    to Gord Hunter, ClubNet
    Gord Hunter <gor...@rogers.com> wrote:
    Is that true? One person buys a lifetime membership then all dependents ride on his/ her coattails at no extra cost until age 25?
    Gord

    Yes that's exactly the idea. 
    The only benefit from the coattails is the dependents get $2.5 off NREs they attend. 

    But they also belong to the OUSA community. 

    If they are active then we are achieving our goal! If they are not active it costs OUSA nothing. 

    Joseph Huberman
    Raleigh NC
    919-610-1788

    On Tue, Jun 24, 2025, 7:43 PM Gord Hunter <gor...@rogers.com> wrote:
    Is that true? One person buys a lifetime membership then all dependents ride on his/ her coattails at no extra cost until age 25?
    Gord

    Michael Avery

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    Jun 27, 2025, 1:37:00 PMJun 27
    to Joseph Huberman, John Pane, Russell Pilcher, ClubNet, Jon Torrance, Evan Custer
    That's clear to me.

    I still think that OUSA benefits for dependent children should only be extended beyond 18 if they are enrolled as a student and engaged in furthering their education.

    Mike Avery

    Sent from my Pixel 8

    Ing Uhlin

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    Jul 1, 2025, 3:06:07 PMJul 1
    to Michael Avery, Joseph Huberman, John Pane, Russell Pilcher, ClubNet, Jon Torrance, Evan Custer
    I think that the lifetime membership is an individual membership and no dependents (or family members) should be included. If so, get a family membership. 

    If youth or students are included, you give this benefit to those most likely already living in a family dedicated to orienteering. The below-25 crowds that are not in such a family, or have a similar sponsor, how do they get a similar benefit? How do they get encouraged to participate or sense a part of the community? (Should it not be the other way around, give to the have-nots?) 

    If you do go for including dependents, I think the upper limit should be 18 years old. 

    Best regards, 
    Ing Uhlin 

    Tori Campbell

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    Jul 1, 2025, 3:10:31 PMJul 1
    to ClubNet
    Some things to consider about dependents: 
    • most health insurance includes students up to age 25 on their parents' policies. Ditto for military benefits that are passed on to dependents.
    • having to track student status is an additional administrative burden. We have a part-time paid administrator; don't think we are looking to add to that role
    • most young adults getting themselves established in life post-high school are resource-poor in terms of time, money, and logistical support
    • OUSA formally defines "youth" as up to WUOC age, ie 25 and under
    • IOF follows this pattern - youth up to age 25 are eligible to attend the IOF Youth Leadership Academy
    -Tori



    --
    Tori Campbell
    First Vice President
    Orienteering USA

    Peter Goodwin

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    Jul 1, 2025, 4:00:46 PMJul 1
    to Ing Uhlin, Michael Avery, Joseph Huberman, John Pane, Russell Pilcher, ClubNet, Jon Torrance, Evan Custer
    Hello:

    I have been following this thread in a general way, but now I have a comment. It may not be appropriate, but will say it anyway.

    This whole discussion is about a reduction of the entry fee by $4.00. I would suggest people in that age group might go to 10 Ranking Event days which would save them $40.00. It would also cost OUSA $40.00 (but it would have these young people going to events). This $40.00 is a small fraction of the cost for going to that number of events because if that is a number that you are aiming for, you probably are flying somewhere. They may be camping out and not using a hotel, but that has its costs, too. 

    In that regard, I would suggest having the system easy to administrate and easy to understand. I will suggest that many of the suggestions that have been made here are valid. It may be that one just has to be picked and see how it flies. I do question whether an individual life membership should also bring along the children of that individual. At the same time, the $4.00 per day extra cost probably won't prevent a life member from bringing their children, given all the other travel-related costs. 

    Just my two cents.

    Peter Goodwin

    From: clu...@orienteeringusa.org <clu...@orienteeringusa.org> on behalf of Ing Uhlin <ing....@gmail.com>
    Sent: Friday, June 27, 2025 6:01 PM
    To: Michael Avery <maver...@gmail.com>
    Cc: Joseph Huberman <joseph....@orienteeringusa.org>; John Pane <jo...@pane.net>; Russell Pilcher <rp1...@sbcglobal.net>; ClubNet <clu...@orienteeringusa.org>; Jon Torrance <jon.to...@orienteeringusa.org>; Evan Custer <evanc...@gmail.com>
    Subject: Re: [OUSA-ClubNet] Membership Policy Draft
     

    Faye Doria

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    Jul 3, 2025, 10:34:15 AMJul 3
    to Tori Campbell, ClubNet
    If we include dependents on a lifetime individual membership (which is not something I support), I think it is cleaner to stop that coverage in the year they turn 18 or 19 (if we want to be sure they are through high school). 

    A junior/youth membership from 18 to age 20 is only $10 a year - certainly not a burden for anyone.  Especially not a burden if people are spending the time and money to compete in NRE's.  From 20 to 25, a membership is only $20 - again, not a significant amount.  I see no reason to extend a free membership for another 7 years - from 18 to 25.

    Many people stop competing in NRE's after high school due to other demands on their time.  Those who want to continue on their own membership now will receive their own annual publication, have to manage their own accounts, etc.  If they don't continue their OUSA membership, they can still be on the email newsletter list, since that is available to anyone, not just members.

    If we want simplicity, the sooner we have to stop tracking non-paying dependents, the easier it will be on everyone.

    Faye Doria

    Ruth Bromer

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    Jul 4, 2025, 3:21:24 PMJul 4
    to Ing Uhlin, Michael Avery, Joseph Huberman, John Pane, Russell Pilcher, ClubNet, Jon Torrance, Evan Custer
    Ing, think you missed the point about eliminating family lifetime memberships.

    Ruth Bromer 

    Ruth Bromer

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    Jul 4, 2025, 3:21:33 PMJul 4
    to Peter Goodwin, Ing Uhlin, Michael Avery, Joseph Huberman, John Pane, Russell Pilcher, ClubNet, Jon Torrance, Evan Custer
    Peter,

    The reason for this discussion is because family lifetime memberships are probably going to be eliminated.

    Also, anyone who has a lifetime membership would make sure that their dependents are covered one way or another. This discussion is a way to eliminate family lifetime memberships but still support dependents.

    Ruth Bromer 

    Marsha Holliday

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    Jul 4, 2025, 3:21:44 PMJul 4
    to Faye Doria, Tori Campbell, ClubNet
    Thanks for laying this out so clearly Faye.  I agree.  Tracking adult  dependants is a complication that will take more effort than the benefit it provides.

    I appreciate that OUSA opened up this discussion to get input from the clubs. 

    Marsha Holliday
    CROC

    Clare Durand

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    Jul 21, 2025, 10:18:14 PMJul 21
    to ClubNet
    The Board of Directors of Orienteering USA will meet on Monday, August 4th from 8:00-10:00 pm Eastern Time via Google Meet. The Membership policy that we have been discussing here is expected to be finalized and adopted at this meeting. Links to join the meeting can be found on the agenda. All are welcome.

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