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[[underline]] Future Year Prospectus [[/underline]]

[[underline]] Membership and Development. [[/underline]] The Resident Associate Program's membership, now at 51,000 with a renewal rate of 78%, will probably decrease slightly to 50,000 by FY 1985. It is anticipated that the current economy and the energy shortage will adversely affect both renewals and new membership growth. The Program will continue to organize innovative and educational Smithsonian-related learning opportunities for young people and adults through courses, lectures, seminars, workshops, and behind-the-scene tours. Special emphasis is being given to activities for black members, pupils from the core city public schools, and the handicapped. Improvements in membership registration and program planning are expected from an upgrading of the current computerized system. For the most part, classroom offerings are fully subscribed and there is a need for obtaining some additional and improved space. The Institution is considering ways to take care of this requirement.

The National Associate travel program will continue its mission of providing a solid membership benefit of educational travel, both foreign and domestic. The charter tours are expected to continue to be economically effective, but there is some concern about study tours aboard cruise ships during to the fuel shortage and the resultant increased cost of such travel. Domestic tours should remain strong both in content and demand through FY 1985.

In FY 1980, the regional events program of the National Associates enters its fifth tour season, providing associates and local museum members with Smithsonian-oriented educational experiences in their own museums around the nation. The objectives of the regional events activities over the next five years will be to computerize processing of registrations and membership services, to plan activities which are more closely linked with local populations and interests, to broaden public relations aspects of the area visitations and to increase the number of cities visited from seven to nine, reaching more than 200,000 households with over 200 specific events.

Through the selected studies program, the National Associates will continue to offer five-day seminars, each serving thirty participants, on subjects developed and taught by Smithsonian curatorial staff and other Washington area experts. Sixteen seminars per year are offered, with several of the more popular ones repeated to meet the demand from Associates across the nation. New formats are to be tested in FY 1980 and FY 1981, including larger seminar units and weekend seminars.

By the end of FY 1980, the contributing membership activities of the Institution should reach close to 5,500 members and produce a net income of approximately $195,000. Starting in FY 1980, the National Associates will begin to receive contributing membership information as a standard part of their renewal notices. It is estimated that this