MEMBERSHIP CENSUS
University of Texas at Austin
| DATE |
SPRING |
SUMMER |
FALL |
|
1964 |
50 |
||
|
1965 |
60 |
||
|
1966 |
|||
|
1967 |
169 |
||
|
1968 |
129 |
49 |
161 |
|
1969 |
97 |
125 |
|
|
1970 |
80 |
||
|
1971 |
42 |
||
|
1972 |
55 |
||
|
1973 |
47 |
55 |
|
|
1974 |
59 |
32 |
|
|
1975 |
43 |
59 |
|
|
1976 |
75 |
77 |
|
|
1977 |
69 |
60 |
78 |
|
1978 |
71 |
55 |
|
|
1979 |
69 |
85 |
100 |
|
1980 |
65 |
54 |
54 |
|
1981 |
32 |
37 |
68 |
|
1982 |
65 |
128 |
|
|
1983 |
93 |
||
|
1984 |
51 |
77 |
|
|
1985 |
90 |
79 |
|
|
1986 |
81 |
40 |
|
|
1987 |
|||
|
1988 |
73 |
||
|
1989 |
115 |
81 |
138 |
|
1990 |
184 |
196 |
|
|
1991 |
77 |
192 |
|
|
1992 |
149 |
||
|
1993 |
185 |
165 |
|
|
1994 |
158 |
125 |
|
|
1995 |
153 |
||
|
1996 |
111 |
||
|
1997 |
128 |
178 |
|
|
1998 |
192 |
||
|
1999 |
110 |
||
|
2000 |
|||
|
2001 |
16 |
||
|
2002 |
25 |
||
|
2003 |
|
10 |
|
|
2004 |
9 |
||
|
2005 |
22 |
||
| TOTALS |
2051 |
677 |
3088 |
|
AVERAGE / SEMESTER (Totals divided by number of years with membership data) |
93 |
62 |
93 |
Data Sources
Table 1 shows a summary by semester of all the years in which membership data exists. Most of the data (1967- 1988) was taken from membership rosters published in the dive club's postal newsletters. The earliest newsletter which I have that has a membership roster is October 1967. Therefore, at this time until earlier newsletters or records are uncovered, there is no printed data available for the years 1964 to 1966. However, in an interview with Gary Yantis, club founder, he recalls there being approximately 50 members in the club at the end of the first semester of 1964. The answer, shown below, to question #14 of that interview, shows his recollection of membership count at the end of the Spring 1964 semester.
| 14. After the first meeting of 40-50 people in Feb. 1964, how many people actually joined the club during that
Spring Semester? Do you know how many people were in the club during the summer and fall semesters of 1964? How
many were involved in the '65-'66 period? According to my notes, there were between 35-45 at the first meeting. I believe we wound up with 50 members that first semester. |
According to an interview with Jim McAfee,the 1964 club President, he estimated 50 - 60 members in the club by the end of the second year
| As I recall, we got up to 50 or 60 members that second year. We ran an inordinate amount of people through the courses [scuba training] and gave them a little certificate and everything. As far as I know, some of them are still diving. |
The 1999 through 2002 membership data was supplied from email responses from club officers.
There are semesters in which no membership data is shown. There are a variety of reasons for this:
1. No newsletter was published. The last mailed dive club newsletter was for May 1998. Since then, no newsletters have been mailed. A club web page and brief email newsletters to the membership have replaced the postal newsletter.
2. No membership data or membership roster were published that semester with the newsletter.
3. A newsletter may have been published with data but it has not been discovered at this time.
4. Some years, the club's membership may have been in a downturn and no response was received from officers for requested membership information.
5. No dues paid membership list posted to club's web page.
Hopefully, past and present members who have missing data will supply it for a more accurate historical census of the club's membership.
|
Table 1 above is a summary. |
|
Below is Table 2 which has the total data available. |
|
DATE |
SPRING |
SUMMER |
FALL |
|
1964 |
50(1) |
||
|
1965 |
50 - 60(2) |
||
|
1966 |
|||
|
Oct. 1967 |
169 |
||
|
Nov. 1967 |
99 |
||
|
1968 |
129 |
49 |
161 |
|
1969 |
97 |
125 |
|
|
1970 |
80 |
||
|
1971 |
42 |
||
|
1972 |
55 |
||
|
1973 |
47 |
55 |
|
|
1974 |
59 |
32 |
|
|
1975 |
43 |
59 |
|
|
1976 |
75 |
77 |
|
|
1977 |
69 |
60 |
78 |
|
1978 |
71 |
55 |
|
|
1979 |
69 |
85 |
100 |
|
1980 |
65 |
54 |
54 |
|
1981 |
32 |
37 |
68 |
|
1982 |
65 |
128 |
|
|
1983 |
93 |
||
|
1984 |
51 |
77 |
|
|
1985 |
90 |
79 |
|
|
1986 |
81 |
40 |
|
|
1987 |
|||
|
Oct. 1988 |
70 |
||
|
Nov.1988 |
73 |
||
|
March 1989 |
115 |
||
|
April 1989 |
84 |
||
|
May 1989 |
94 |
||
|
July 1989 |
81 |
||
|
August 1989 |
31 |
||
|
Oct. 1989 |
138 |
||
|
Feb. 1990 |
184 |
||
|
March 1990 |
164 |
||
|
May 1990 |
174 |
||
|
Oct. 1990 |
191 |
||
|
Nov. 1990 |
196 |
||
|
August 1991 |
77 |
||
|
Sept. 1991 |
192 |
||
|
1992 |
149 |
||
|
Feb. 1993 |
185 |
||
|
Sept. 1993 |
150 |
||
|
Oct. 1993 |
161 |
||
|
Nov. 1993 |
165 |
||
|
1994 |
158 |
125 |
|
|
1995 |
153 |
||
|
1996 |
111 |
||
|
March 1997 |
128 |
||
|
Oct. 1997 |
137 |
||
|
Nov. 1997 |
178 |
||
|
March 1998 |
192 |
||
|
April 1998 |
192 |
||
|
Dec. 1999 |
110(3) |
||
|
2000 |
|||
|
Nov. 2001 |
16(4) Dues Paid Only |
||
|
April 2002 |
25(5) Dues Paid Only |
||
|
Sept. 2003 |
10(6) Dues Paid Only |
||
|
Dec. 2004 |
9(7) Dues Paid Only |
||
|
April 2005 |
22(8) Dues Paid Only |
| (1) Spring 1964 membership estimate provided by Gary Yantis, 1964 Club Founder. (2) Fall 1965 membership estimate provided by Jim McAfee, 1964 Club President. (3) December 1999 membership count provided by Julie Higgins, 1999 Treasurer. (4 & 5) November 2001& April 2002 membership count provided by Leslie Hochman, 2001/2002 Treasurer. (6) September 2003 membership count provided by Faculty Sponsor Tim Kennedy. (7 & 8) December 2004 & April 2005 membership count provided by Dani Chevalier, 2005 President/2004 Treasurer. |
Membership Count Criteria
In Oct. 1967 and Nov. 1967, there were two membership rosters published. The Oct. roster was a tentative roster. It probably reflected membership for the Spring, Summer, and new members of the fall semester. The Nov.1967 roster was published to reflect an accurate count of membership for the Fall 1967 semester.
With the advent of the computer's use in preparing newsletters versus a typewriter cutting a stencil, several rosters were sometimes published in a semester. This is demonstrated several times starting in Oct. 1988 through April 1998. Because there was a fluid membership count during several semesters, for consistency, I used the highest count per semester to represent the membership count for the summary in Table 1.
As time went on in the club's history, a membership roster for the club became a representation of individuals associated with the dive club for whatever reason, versus a roster containing only dues paid members. The membership roster would show: dues paid members, honorary members, guests, friends, past officers and members, faculty, other dive organizations, and dive shops. In the membership rosters, it is impossible to determine just what group one person fits into over time. Within a semester, new members were added or deleted. Adjustments were made to the roster list if only one compete roster was published during a semester. Therefore in the roster totals,unless noted, all individuals associated with the club, even those not necessarily dues paid members, were included in the roster. Dive shops or diving organizations that were shown on the roster were deducted from the total count. The total count is intended to be reflective of the total numbers of individuals associated with the club.
General Observations
In Table 1, some simple number analysis was done. First, a total count of all members by semester was determined. As with our tradition school system which has the Fall, Spring, and Summer order of school seasons, the total Fall membership count has the greatest count (3088), followed by the Spring semester (2051), and lastly the Summer semester total (677). What is striking is that the total Fall count is 151% larger than the total Spring semester count and 456% larger than the total Summer count for semesters data is available.
These total semester counts for the Fall, Spring and Summer semesters have important implications for the officers of the club. The most important semesters for recruitment of new members would be Fall, Spring, and the Summer semester in that order. It is important for the officers to be well organized before the first meetings of the Fall and Spring semesters and to have quality entertainment for the first meetings of these all important semesters. Well publicized quality entertainment for the first meetings of the Fall and Spring semesters will be the crowd drawing card that helps insure a good membership count for the rest of the year and a carry through effect for the following year.
Lastly, average members per semester were computed for semesters data was available. The Fall semester had an average of 93; the Spring semester, 93 and the Summer semester had an average count of 62. The Fall semester average is really more representative of the typical average membership count in a semester (because there are more Fall semesters in which there is data) than the Spring semester average. The major differences between semesters become very apparent when the total semester count is examined. Clearly, the total Fall semester count dominates the membership census.
Obviously, the above data (collected from rosters, memories, email responses and includes dues paid and club associated individuals) has its flaws. The data is not complete; therefore, any type of calculations is not precise. Ideally, it would be nice to have the official Treasurer's records of only dues paid members for the decades the club has been in existence. Given the fluid nature of student population at the university, this is not possible. The important point to be gained from an examination of the data available is the general trends of membership over time and the relationship of one semesters membership count to another. From these trends, club officers will know where to apply their most efficient efforts in order to gain maximum club participation.
Data originally compiled by Paul Johnston, August 1999.
Revised April 18, 2005
Copyright - 2005 - Paul Johnston