At the 82nd ADEA Annual Session in Baltimore, Md., the ADEA House of Delegates voted to adopt an open membership plan that will offer membership to all dental, allied dental, and advanced dental education faculty, students, and administrators as well as corporate representatives within the organization's member institutions, at no charge.
"This open membership plan comes as a final step in completing the organization's transition from the American Association of Dental Schools (AADS) to the American Dental Education Association (ADEA), which began in 2000 with the goal of representing the entire academic dental community in the mission and strategic direction of the Association," stated Dr. Eric Hovland, ADEA 2005-2006 President. It will take effect on January 1, 2006.
Under the new open membership plan, individuals who are affiliated with a school or program that is an institutional member of ADEA will not pay individual dues. These individuals will simply need to activate membership online to participate in benefits. Individuals not affiliated with an ADEA institutional member will continue to pay the current dues of $125.
"Overall, this innovative plan serves as an opportunity to engage everyone in the challenges, concerns, and strategic mission of both academic dentistry and ADEA. Increased participation in ADEA's scholarship, networking and leadership opportunities will be available to more, and ADEA's power on Capitol Hill, within the Administration, and throughout the U.S. will be realized through increased grassroots advocacy.
Moreover, increased membership will position ADEA as THE key thought leader in dental and allied dental education and enable the Association to share knowledge even more widely," stated Dr. Frank Catalanotto, ADEA 2004-2005 President, whose leadership provided the impetus for this plan.
For more information about ADEA, visit the ADEA website at www.ADEA.org
