Alumni
What is An Alumni Member?
An Alumni Member is a special registration category for people who, for various reasons, decide to no longer provide emergency care or rescue services, but wish to continue their relationship with the National Ski Patrol.
The NSP created the Alumni Member category in 1977 as a way to facilitate contact with former members and keep them informed of national events and activities. Today, there are over 2,000 alumni and secondary alumni members affiliated with the NSP.
Why should you join?
By joining as an Alumni Member, you can continue your involvement with the largest winter rescue organization in the world and support the NSP on a new level. If you wish, you can continue to contribute to your patrol.
As an alumni member, you won't be required to fulfill any skill or educational requirements; however, you may decide to keep your instructorships current and serve as an instructor or in another capacity to local units of NSP.
Several ski areas have already incorporated alumni patrollers in their operations and taken advantage of their alumni's local knowledge and experience. Alumni often attend ski patrol PR events, help recruit new members, provide administrative help, give safety talks, participate in other community service activities, and are a valued force within NSP.
Regardless of the scope of your involvement, becoming an Alumni Member enables you to contribute to the success of ski patrolling at both the local and national level.
You can change back and forth from alumni to active patrolling by following patrol requirements.
Other Benefits
As an Alumni Member of the NSP, you will recieve:
- Continued service years and Member voting rights;
- A subscription to Ski Patrol Magazine;
- Access to some NSP Winter Catalog merchandise;
- Opportunities to participate in all NSP-sponsored events;
- You can easily change back and forth from alumni to active patrolling by following patrol requirements;
- Your membership dues may be tax deductible; and
- You may be listed with your home patrol on their secondary roster.
How Much Does It Cost?
Alumni dues are only $27 annually, $17 of which covers program administrative costs; the remaining $10 is returned to the division with which the Alumni Member is affiliated. For more info, please contact the national office.
Active members who are lifetime members keep that status upon changing their membership status to Alumni Member. Patrollers who wish to become lifetime Alumni Members can do so for a one-time fee of $550, which helps support the NSP endowment fund. Lifetime members receive a Lifetime Membership Pin and a walnut-framed certificate.
NSP Alumni Program Coordinator
To All,
As my term as the NSP Alumni Coordinator comes to an end, it is hard to believe that almost two years have gone by. In those two years, I have had the opportunity to interact with division, region and patrol Alumni advisers. I have also had the pleasure of working with a number of patrollers by answering their questions and providing Alumni membership information. Thank you for the many survey forms that have been completed.
From the surveys, I have learned that the Alumni are a great bunch of people who enjoy their relationships with other patrollers and the National Ski Patrol. Many keep their OEC credentials current and continue with their instructorships. Many answered in the survey that they would like to keep in touch and would attend National Ski Patrol Alumni functions. Some divisions have a very active Alumni Program, and others have yet to develop one.
The website has been a wonderful vehicle to get a great deal of information to patrollers and Alumni. The feedback from them provides new questions and answers. New information is added all the time, and is kept clear and understandable with the help of NSP Communications Director Candace Horgan. The website helps people understand the program and the possibilities that the NSP has to offer their members. I consider the Alumni website an interactive step in the right direction to keep our membership informed.
Coming soon on the website will be an Alumni Member Manual. Many people have been diligently working to provide an updated and comprehensive manual. Many thanks go to Alumni Don Cirkot of the Eastern Division, Liz Dodge of the Pacific Northwest Division, Craig Thornley of the Pacific Northwest Division, and Cheri Overton, Jen Miller and Tim White at the NSP office. I also wish to extend my appreciation to the many others that have read and provided feedback on this manual. This document will undoubtedly continually evolve as we embark on a year of changes.
The last two years have been a great experience. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as the National Ski Patrol Alumni Coordinator.
In sincere appreciation,
Josie D Elting
Willamette Backcountry Ski Patrol PO 38
How to Join?
Download this alumni form, fill it out, and send it back to the NSP, along with your payment.
Alumni Survey
Download this alumni survey, fill it out, and send it back to Josie Elting so she can increase the effectiveness of the alumni program.
Josie Elting
E-mail: imaginejosie@yahoo.com