Benefits of getting involved in IPEd
IPEd achieves an enormous amount of work through its staff and volunteers. Apart from the board and Accreditation Board, we have seven branch committees, two programs, two working parties, five standing committees and a conference committee (see below for the full list), all of them made up of volunteers.
This is common in professional associations. For example, the Professional Standards Council published a report about contemporary professional associations that has this definition:
‘A professional association is usually a non-profit member organisation comprising volunteer-practitioners from that profession. Its task is to advance the interests of the public, its profession, and its members.’ (PDF, 2MB. P. 13)
That fits exactly what IPEd does: advances the interests of its profession. Even large, high-value industries like engineering rely on volunteers — the Engineers Australia website describes how they have 2000 volunteers contributing more than 100,000 hours of work to their mission.
The benefits of volunteering are many. If you’re a new member, it’s a great way to meet other members and find out more about IPEd. You can also discover more about other areas of editing across the industry, which otherwise might be difficult for you to access. You can make connections that lead to work. Because of the range of volunteering opportunities, you will improve your skills in many areas, from giving and receiving feedback (there’s nothing like being edited by editors!), to project management and leadership. Also, other volunteers are people who like to get things done; they’re inspiring to be around.
When you volunteer for IPEd, you contribute time plus the range of skills you already have. This may broadly include administration skills, communication skills and your professional expertise across a role on a committee or for the purposes of doing a specific task.
IPEd also has some opportunities for paid work, with these funds being generated by fees or grants. For example, in the accreditation scheme there are roles for Accredited Editors in assessing renewals (flat fee per renewal), assessing exam papers (flat fee per paper) and exam writing. These payments are covered by the fees for, respectively, renewal applications and exam registrations. In the Ambassadors Program, a grant has allowed ambassadors to be paid for their presentation time and travel expenses. Some IPEd roles include an honorarium in acknowledgement of the contribution, but this amount is not intended to constitute a payment for services, nor to reflect market-level rates.
Many other activities are undertaken voluntarily for the benefit of members and the profession in general. Since IPEd changed to a direct-membership model in 2016, we’ve been able to greatly expand our vision to advance the profession as a whole across Australia and New Zealand. This has been possible through the work of our volunteers. Join us!
Opportunities to volunteer with IPEd:
- Accessibility Initiative Working Party (AIWP)
- Accreditation Board (AB) (must be Accredited Editor or Distinguished Editor)
- Ambassadors Program
- Communication Standing Committee (CSC)
- Conference committee
- Mentoring Standing Committee
- Pay Rates Working Party (PRWP)
- Standing Committee on Academic Editing (SCAE)
- Standing Committee on Awards and Prizes (SCAP)
- Standing Committee on Professional Development (SCPD)
- Style Manual Standing Committee (SMSC)
If you want to know more, reply to communication@iped-editors.org and indicate which of these areas you’d like to contribute to. Your email will be passed on to the relevant committee chair.