Amplify the employee voice. Join the NOLS Employee Association!
Who can join the NEA? Graduates of an IC or ITC, HQ employees, location staff, and anyone who has drawn a paycheck from NOLS in the past three years, or who has signed a contract for future work, is eligible to join.
While any current employee at NOLS is welcome to join the NEA and support our work, we specifically represent the views of NOLS’ front-line employees, including HQ employees, location staff, and Wilderness Medicine / Field Faculty below the level of the Community Leaders Group.
WAYS TO JOIN
Why join the NEA?
If you care about NOLS, you should care about the NEA. Got an idea you want heard by the folks that make the big decisions? We are the conduit for bottom-up feedback at the school. Our efficacy is a direct function of the size of our membership.
Trouble joining?
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Membership FAQ
Who can join?
Graduates of an IC or ITC, current employees and anyone who has drawn a paycheck from NOLS in the past three years, or who has signed a contract for future work, is eligible to join.
Why do I have to pay dues?
The money we collect from members funds all of our operations: Flamingo Fund projects, visibility and recruitment projects, meeting supplies, and this website. We don't receive any direct funding from NOLS.
Even more importantly, a contribution is the means by which we differentiate members from non-members.
We think our dues are quite reasonable: only $20 per year. That's less than $2 a month. By means of comparison, Walmart Associates pay $60 each year in dues to their representative organization (O.U.R. Walmart).
Can I cancel my dues in the future?
Sure. You will be notified by an automatically generated email before your credit card is charged, and canceling is easy.
How does the NEA differ from a union?
All unions are Labor Organizations, but not all Labor Organizations are unions. The NEA is a Labor Organization, but not a union. Although some of our many roles, such as advocating for a sustainable level of compensation, overlap with some of the roles fulfilled by unions in other fields, there are important differences between the NEA and a union. For instance, NOLS employees are never compelled to join the NEA. In fact, the opposite is the case. Our influence is a direct function of the number of staff who voluntarily choose to demonstrate their support for our positions by paying $20 in annual dues.