No! ASCLD regular membership is open to all individuals whose major duties include management or direction within a crime laboratory, a branch crime laboratory, or crime laboratory system. This can include section managers, technical leaders, supervisors, quality management, program managers, etc.
Associate membership is open to all individuals who are employed by a crime laboratory, a branch crime laboratory, or a crime laboratory system who have demonstrated interest in career development into a management role. This may be demonstrated through completion of the ASCLD Leadership Academy Level 1, a comparable 40-hour leadership course, or completion of multiple leadership courses totaling 40 hours of instruction.
Academic Affiliate membership is open to all individuals who are Educators and/or Instructors of Forensic Science currently employed by an institution of Higher Learning or Public Law Enforcement Training Academy.
Membership provides a multitude of benefits including:
The application fee for membership is $150 for Regular members, $125 for Academic Affiliate and Associate members, and $75 for Retired members. Yearly dues are the same as the application fees for the respective categories of membership.
Your completed membership application will go to the Membership Committee for a thorough review and approval. If accepted, your name will be added to the new member candidate list.
The new member candidate list is published in the Crime Lab Minute 14 days prior to the first Board of Director’s Meeting each quarter. Members have an opportunity to notify ASCLD of any concerns before the Board of Directors vote on new members during their first meeting each quarter.
Associate or Academic Affiliate members in good standing who become eligible for Regular Membership must submit a new application and pay the application fee. The sponsorship forms can be waived as these forms are meant to be for applicants new to the organization.
Regular or Academic Affiliate members are eligible for Retired Membership if they are in good standing and they are no longer eligible for Regular or Academic Affiliate Membership. Reasons for this ineligibility may include changes in your current job such as: change in responsibility, retirement, promotion, and lapse in membership. Associate members are not eligible to transition directly to Retired Member. The goal is for Associate members to transition to Regular members.
Good standing is defined as someone who is current in their dues payment, without a break in annual payments, and has no outstanding ethical violations.
ASCLD relies heavily on the volunteer efforts of its membership. ASCLD currently has 12 standing committees where members can volunteer to assist with the valuable work of ASCLD.
The standing committees include:
Advocacy Committee
ASCLD advocacy is action taken to influence or produce systemic change to ensure fair treatment and social justice for forensic science and practitioners. Changes may be pursued in legislation, government policy, or the policies and practices of agencies that affect our profession.
ASCLD members are urged to form relationships with their congressional representative’s staff members, particularly if the representative is assigned to the House Judiciary Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee, House Appropriations Committee or Senate Appropriations Committee. This relationship will allow ASCLD to provide information to them on how legislation will affect crime laboratories.
Advocacy efforts of ASCLD are coordinated through the Advocacy Committee Chair. The Chair establishes regional points of contacts (POCs) that make up the Advocacy Committee. Each POC is assigned to oversee the distribution and collection of information to the ASCLD membership, spanning four to five states in their geographic region. These POCs also facilitate networking within the membership and ASCLD stakeholders to advance ASCLD’s mission.
Communications Committee
The Communications Committee is responsible for managing and facilitating the distribution of information among ASCLD members, board directors, committee members, and the public at large.
The Communications Committee also facilitates the business of other committees by presenting information management options that are necessary for these committees to achieve their objectives. In this regard, the Communications Committee plays a pivotal role in preparing for the annual symposium and recruiting new members on behalf of the Membership Committee.
Ethics and Bylaws Committee
The purpose of the Ethics and Bylaws Committee is to facilitate amendments of the ASCLD Bylaws in accordance with Article XII, Amendments of the Bylaws and Code of Ethics and to advise the Executive Committee and Board of Directors when the conduct of business conflicts with authority granted by the Bylaws. The committee also makes inquiries and acts upon violations to the Code of Ethics brought to the Board of Director’s attention. For convenience, the committee chair may divide the committee into two subcommittees, one for Bylaws and one for Ethics.
Finance Committee
The purpose of the Finance Committee is as follows:
Forensic Research Committee
The Forensic Research Committee (FRC) supports research and research-related activities to advance forensic science. The FRC Chair heads the committee which consists of research scientists, forensic science practitioners, and other interested parties.
Membership Committee
The purpose of the Membership Committee is to handle all ASCLD membership issues.
Duties and responsibilities
Member Resource Committee
This committee is responsible for developing resources for ASCLD members to utilize in their respective organizations/jurisdictions, as appropriate. The goal of this committee is to facilitate collaboration amongst laboratories by sharing information about existing practices. These resources can take the form of model policies, analytical and operational procedures, validation studies and other information that can assist members. The committee periodically provides drafts of model policies and other information to the Board of Directors for consideration.
Nominating & Awards Committee
The Nominating & Awards Committee handles issues related to the nomination and election of Board members, of candidates eligible for the Briggs White Award and of ASCLD scholarship opportunities.
Duties and responsibilities
Sponsorship Committee
ASCLD has a long-standing tradition of maintaining partnerships with companies that provide products and services to the forensic science community. Vendors utilize the ASCLD web format to be an effective means to access the community of crime laboratory directors and forensic science managers around the world. The sponsorship committee manages the various sponsorship programs that allow vendors to advertise on the website and CLM as well as the vendor exhibition booths at the annual ASCLD Symposium. The sponsorship committee will coordinate with the communication committee to publish advertisements on the ASCLD website and CLM.
Standards and Accreditation Initiatives Committee
This committee acts to advance ASCLD’s mission to promote, encourage, and maintain the highest standards of quality in forensic science.
Duties and Responsibilities
Symposium Planning Committee
The Symposium Planning Committee, composed of a Small Planning Group and Large Planning Group, is responsible for the planning and hosting of ASCLD’s Annual Symposium, including budgeting and record keeping. The Symposium Planning Chair heads this committee and works closely with the Sponsorship Committee and the Meeting Planner.
Training and Education Committee
It is the goal of the Training and Education Committee to develop training programs for members of the forensic science community and to act as a liaison between the ASCLD membership and various entities, which play a role in forensic science education.
The Training and Education Committee will oversee a group of instructors and maintain a curriculum for hosting the Leadership Academy.
Our Mission
The American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) is a nonprofit professional society of crime laboratory directors and forensic science managers dedicated to providing excellence in forensic science through leadership and innovation.
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Garner, NC 27529
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