# Higher Education Institution (HEI) Memberships Those general members who manage, coordinate, or facilitate COIL or similar VE programs at their university or college are eligible to become HEI members. It does not matter whether their COIL program is small or large, new, or longstanding, or whether it is connected to an international relations office, to another administrative unit, or is formed around a group of COILing instructors. However, the applicant must have the authority to take on a coordinator’s role for COIL across the institution or within a program or school. They cannot simply be an instructor who is interested in COIL VE or who is offering their own COIL. After offering such memberships at no cost for three years, beginning on April 1, 2024, we now must ask institutional members to pay a yearly $250 fee. This is because our membership has increased to over 2600 members and we must expand our staff to better serve them. **After June 1, 2024, institutional members who have not paid their fee will remain listed in the directory but will lose the benefits listed below until their fee is paid.** **HEI members receive benefits not available to general members. These include:** - HEI members are listed in COIL Connect’s Directory on their own tabbed page. - This page can be personalized with photos and info about the HEI’s COIL program. - The HEI coordinator receives onsite contact emails from COIL Connect’s members. - Each HEI member can list up to thirty courses seeking partners. - Listed courses are visible on the HEI’s page and on the All Courses page. - HEI members can list jobs related to virtual exchange on the COILConnect Jobs page. - HEI members can post News items about VE events or initiatives at their institution. - HEI members will be able to participate in COIL Connect workshops at reduced cost. **The HEI Membership Process** Becoming a University/College Member is a five-step process which takes place within the COIL Connect HEI Dashboard. Each step should take 10-15 minutes to complete. We ask our HEI members to complete surveys and inventories, so that COIL practitioners can learn from this data how the field is developing. Nurturing insights into COIL’s growth is central to our mission. **The following are the five steps that you must complete:** 1. Complete the **HEI Information Form**: This form identifies and defines your Higher Education Institution and provides general background information. 2. Complete the **HEI COIL Survey**: This multi-question survey explores the challenges, assessment approaches, programmatic incentives, and rationales of each institution’s COIL initiative. 3. Complete the **HEI COIL Practices Inventory**: This multi-question inventory explores how COIL is practiced at your institution and serves to introduce your COIL Program to other members. If you are in the early stages of developing your COIL program and offered 2 or less COILs last year, you are not expected to take this inventory. 4. Personalize your **HEI directory page**: Introduce your projects and plans to COIL Connect members on this page. You can add descriptive text, and photos of your COIL Coordinator and institution. 5. Pay the $250 yearly **HEI membership fee** by wire transfer or credit card. You can also apply for a **[Fee Waiver,](https://coilconnect.org/fee_waivers)** if your COIL Initiative lacks resources to support us at this time.