Prospective Members should submit a letter of request from the institution’s President, CEO or equivalent to the Board Secretary. The letter of request should address the following:

• Identify the level of membership desired: Voting, Associate or Affiliate

• Provide a brief description of the organization as pertains to the level of membership desired (See Bylaw Qualifications for Membership)

• Include a statement of  commitment to ocean sciences

• Include detail on the institution’s level of engagement in any Ocean Leadership programs and activities (e.g., ocean drilling, ocean observing, Census of Marine Life, National Ocean Sciences Bowl, etc.) or similar activities

• Include the URLs to pertinent institutional websites (e.g., Graduate School of Oceanography website, Center for Environmental Studies website, etc.)

• Identify the point of contact and provide full snail mail, telephone and email information for application-related correspondence

Following receipt by Ocean Leadership, application materials from prospective members are forwarded to the Membership Committee for review. After a period of review, the Membership Committee makes an admission recommendation to the Voting Members, and Voting Members are asked to vote on the Committee’s admission recommendation. The full process from receipt of application materials through to your hearing from Ocean Leadership regarding an admission decision generally takes 6-8 weeks. Applicants are notified of an admission decision by the Board Secretary.

Approved applicants, regardless of membership level, are admitted provisionally from the date of notification through to the next scheduled Annual Meeting of the Members, generally in May of each year, during which all provisional Members are formally ratified as full Voting, Associate or Affiliate Members.

During the period of an institution’s provisional status, the provisional member has full access to the benefits of membership in Ocean Leadership, including participation in Members and Board of Trustees meetings. The only benefit that provisional Voting Members are excluded from is voting rights. These rights are conferred to provisional Voting Members following the aforementioned ratification at the Annual Meeting of Members.

The current annual dues for Ocean Leadership Members are:

Voting Members

• $13,500, with an initiation fee of $5,000

Associate Members

• $1,500, with an initiation fee of $1,500        

Affiliate Members (initiation fees are equal to the first year’s dues)

• Less than 50 employees - $1,000 per year

• 50-1,000 employees - $3,500 per year.

• More than 1,000 employees - $10,500 per year

Application materials and/or questions can be directed to:

Ms. Amy L. Castner
Board Secretary and Director of Board Relations
Consortium for Ocean Leadership
1201 New York Avenue, NW
Fourth Floor
Washington, DC  20005

202-787-1613