Group Membership Types & Dues

ICA has a triple-tiered dues structure following the UN model for A, B, and C countries, based on the World Bank's indicators of Gross National Income. Residents of B-tier countries pay 30% of the A-tier price and residents of C-tier countries pay 15% of the A-tier price; prices are rounded to the nearest whole dollar amount. Your tier is determined by the country you currently live and not your country of origin.  

• Online Registration Available for Family Membership and Institutional Membership: Join Now
  
• All Other Group Membership Types (Association/Complimentary): Please email us to join at membership@icahdq.org
• The ICA membership term begins 1 October and ends 30 September, and is not prorated. 

Determine your tier: View ICA’s Country Tier Chart

*All membership types are required to select a minimum of one (1) division or interest group, each range from $3-$6.  The pricing above includes $3 towards the first division or interest group of your choosing.

** Division and Interest group membership are processed separately for Additional Family members (AFM) and Additional Institutional Members (AIMs) and are not included in the membership fee. The additonal members should contact membership to request an invoice each new membership term after the Point of Contact has renewed the Family/Institutional Membership (primary account).  During renewal: additional members are temporarily removed from their individual division/interest groups at the time the Point of Contact's primary account is updated for a new membership term. AFMs and AIMs are added back to their division/interest groups after contacting membership to request an invoice & completing payment for the new term's division/interest group dues. 

Family Memberships: are designed for families who are all scholars or practitioners in the field of communication research. Up to four family members may sign up for a Family membership. One family member is designated as the main membership holder. All journals are available online, free of charge, for all members to access. This membership type is not recommended for Students as any student listed on a Family membership would be subject to the Family member rates for conference registration which are traditionally substantially higher than the individual student member type rates).

Institutional Membership: A university department can join ICA as an Institutional Member (please note that libraries are ineligible for membership). The membership consists of one primary "Point of Contact" (typically the department chair) and additional institutional members in groups of five, ten or fifteen Additional Institutional Members.   Universities that do not pay or reimburse for individual faculty association memberships may take advantage of the Institutional Membership as a group membership. The Point of Contact is responsible for maintaining additional faculty to be associated with the membership through the online system. The department is billed for all members on one combined invoice. Each Additional Institutional Member is treated as a full member of ICA with individual privileges and their own unique member ID# and password. All receive their own online journal access including past issues, gain access to the members-only section of the website and enjoy a reduced rate for our annual conference.  We highly recommend Additional Institutional Members be limited to department faculty and should not include any students.  Any student listed on an institutional membership will be subject to the institutional member rates for membership dues and conference registration (which are substantially higher than the individual student membership type rates). Changing additional institutional members (seat holders) mid-term is allowable; however, if the person(s) being removed already registered for the annual ICA conference at the member discounted rate, a fee is applicable to the Institution for the difference between non-member and member rates to accommodate the replacement(s) also then being able to register at the member rate. To avoid this fee, we highly recommend that the seats are confirmed prior to conference registration opening each year. 

Institutional Members in Tiers B/C countries are eligible to apply for an Institutional Membership dues waiver. Learn more...

Association Membership: The membership consists of one primary contact, typically the Executive Director or President. The primary contact receives full ICA member benefits. The primary contact is provided a promotion code to distribute at their discretion, which reduces the annual conference registration fee for non(ICA)-members (typically used for their panelists) to the member discounted rate. These are generally limited to 5 uses, however more may be considered at the discretion of ICA.  Those granted the code are not active members of ICA; they do not have access to ICA member benefits with the exception of receiving the Tier A Regular Member discount for the annual ICA conference registration fee.

RENEWALS: To update the additional association members on your profile, please contact membership@icahdq.org upon completing your renewal. 

NEW Applications should include the list of the Board of Directors, a copy of the association's bylaws, and the association's statement of purpose. Member associations are invited to host one panel session during the annual ICA conference. The association contact person may add Additional Association Members (generally limited to 5 additional members, however more may be considered at the discretion of ICA) wishing to attend the conference to their membership roster by sending the individual's name and email address to membership@icahdq.org.  

To apply: please email an application packet containing the materials outlined below to Julie Arnold at membership@icahdq.org (preferably as a singular .pdf, please):

• a list of your Board of Directors
• a copy of your bylaws
• the statement of purpose of your organization
• the URL for your website, if applicable
• The name and email address of the Executive Director OR the highest ranking elected officer  (who shall be designated as  the point of contact /an Active Member of ICA and have full voting and participation rights as an individual. That individual will receive access to the Association’s publications)
• The names and emails of up to 5 members you wish to have added as "Additional Association Members" - these individuals are not ACTIVE ica members, they do not receive member benefits but would receive the member rate for ICA conference
• you might wish to include a statement on how your goals are consonant with those of ICA

Complimentary Institutional Membership: The complimentary university membership was created in 2004 by ICA to further promote the development of the relationship between ICA and universities around the world.  Universities from all over the world are eligible, although those located in Tier B or C countries, as identified by the United Nations, will be given priority. The specific university department applying for the complimentary membership should be a media or communication department or have a strong focus on these areas. Up to 3 awards may be granted annually.