Application Requirement / Procedure

Membership is restricted to persons who maintain a keen interest in the objectives of the HKCS and having succeeded in satisfying the Membership Qualifying Examination requirements as may be prescribed by HKCS for a particular class of membership. There is no restriction upon the total number of members.

There are three different classes of membership under which a total of ten grades of memberships are defined. The Professional class of membership comprises the grades of Distinguished Fellow, Fellow, Full and Associate membership. The Technician class comprises the Practitioner grade of membership. The Other class comprises Graduate, Student, Honorary, Affiliate and Corporate grades of membership.

Fellow, Full, Associate and Practitioner members have the right to use the designatory letters Dinstinguished FHKCS, FHKCS, MHKCS, AHKCS and PHKCS respectively. There is no designatory letter for the other grades of membership.

Membership requirements are as follows:
1. FULL member and
2. ASSOCIATE member
3. There are several routes leading to FULL membership and ASSOCIATE membership, based on a combination of academic qualifications and relevant working experience. The Society Examination, or exemption from this examination basing on recognised academic/professional qualifications, are normal routes to Professional Membership. The following table shows the requirements for the various classes of membership

Note:

1. At the time of membership application, the applicant should be actively engaged in a professional capacity in the use and application of, or training of persons in, computers and the techniques related thereto.
2. Only post-qualification experience will be counted.
3. Relevant Computing Experience (Post-Qualification) will be counted.
4. Sales/marketing experience is not normally counted (even in the marketing of computer related products) unless the candidate can justify the level of professional knowledge and experience.

A FELLOW member shall be a FULL Member for at least one year. He has to hold senior responsible position and make significant contributions to the IT industry or the community. An applicant should submit the application duty signed by any two of the Distinguished Fellows or Council Members. The title of Fellow can only be conferred by unanimous decision of the Council.

A GRADUATE member shall be a person who satisfies the Membership Committee that he has already gained the required academic qualifications for admission to the Professional class of membership.

A PRACTITIONER member shall be a person who satisfies the Membership Committee that he either:

1. holds a Recognised Ordinary Diploma or Certificate in Computing or the equivalent thereof and has at least one year of practical experience in the operation of, the use and application of computers and the techniques related thereto; or
2. has passed such professional examinations as Recognised by the Council from time to time and has gained an appropriate period of practical experience in the operation of, the use and application of computers and the techniques related thereto;

AND that at the time of membership application he is actively engaged in a professional capacity in the operation of, the use and application of, or training of persons in, computers and the techniques related thereto.

A STUDENT member shall be a person who is over sixteen years of age at the time of membership application and who is studying full-time in one or more subjects which in the opinion of the Membership Committee are deemed to be related to the objects of the Society.

An HONORARY member shall be a person elected to this grade of membership by order of the Council in recognition of his contribution to the Society.

An AFFILIATE member shall be a person who satisfies the Membership Committee at the time of membership application that he is interested in furthering any of the objects of the Society.

A CORPORATE member shall be an organization, company, institute or society which satisfies the Membership Committee that it is actively engaged in manufacturing, distributing and/or the use of computer equipment and systems, or providing education/training in Computing, and is interested in furthering the objects of the Society.

Each Corporate member may nominate at any one time up to three individuals (the representatives) who are employees or directors of the Corporate member to represent the member. Nomination or change of representatives is subject to the approval of the Membership Committee.

The Council shall review the requirements for each class of membership from time to time and if deemed appropriate shall recommend changes as appropriate.

Application procedure:

1. Application for membership shall be made to the Membership Committee on the prescribed form provided by the Society. The Membership Committee shall be appointed by the Council for the purposes of approving or rejecting membership applications.
   Applications must submit documentary evidence of all relevant qualifications and working experience claimed.
2. Application for Full, Associate, Graduate or Practitioner membership requires a proposer and a seconder, one of who shall be a member in the Professional or Technician class of the Society's membership or equivalent class from another Recognised computer society. The proposer and seconder shall be contacted by the Membership Committee and requested to forward a confidential report in support of the application.
3. Application for Affiliate and Student Membership do not require a proposer nor a seconder. Application for Student Membership must be supported by an application form signed by an authorized representative of the educational institution in which the student is pursuing his studies and endorsed by the Official Chop.
4. Application for Corporate Membership do not require a proposer nor a seconder but must be supported by an application form signed by an authorized representative of the applicant organization and endorsed by the Corporate Seal.
5. Associate members, Affiliate members and Student members can apply for membership in other grades when they have attained the respective requirements and academic qualifications appropriate to such grades.

Any applicant who is aggrieved by the decision of the Membership Committee may appeal to the Council. An appeal must be in writing stating in full the grounds of the appeal and must be lodged with the Council within 14 days of receipt of the Committee's notification letter. The Council's decision on the appeal shall be final.