Applying for membership
Organisations eligible to join the UK Federation include all educational and research institutions, and any commercial organisation which provides services to those sectors. This covers all colleges, universities and research council funded establishments, and includes Local Authorities with responsibility for the schools sector. Other publicly funded bodies are also eligible for membership, subject to support from the relevant authorities.
A request to join the UK Federation must be signed by a senior officer of the organisation, the Executive Liaison, who is authorised to bind the organisation to the UK Federation’s Rules of Membership. For schools, the Executive Liaison is a senior officer of the responsible Local Authority or Regional Broadband Consortium.
An example letter of application is provided, but please read all of the page you are currently looking at before sending in your letter of application.
The application must be in writing, on the organisation’s letterhead, and sent to the federation operator:
The application must contain the following information:
- The name and job title of the Executive Liaison, who is the signatory of the letter.
- The full name and postal address of the organisation.
- A statement that the organisation agrees to be bound by the federation’s Rules of Membership, as published on the federation website (http://ukfederation.org.uk/content/Documents/FedDocs).
- The name and contact details of one or more Management Liaisons authorised to make registration requests. In most cases, each Management Liaison will be an officer of the organisation itself, responsible to the Executive Liaison. This also applies where the organisation employs an outsourced provider.
If subsequent to joining the federation, an organisation requires further Management Liaisons to be authorised, a further letter giving names and contact details, signed by the Executive Liaison, should be sent to the above address.
Further considerations apply in the schools sector.
Additional requirements apply for organisations that intend to use an outsourced provider. This includes institutions which use Athens and wish to access federation services via the Athens gateway service.
If you have any queries or comments about this membership application procedure, please contact the UK Federation Helpdesk.