Ten years of professional experience: The A&A Committee evaluating your application will count the years you have been in professional practice. Your educational experience is credited toward that time as follows: 

• 3 years for a baccalaureate degree in an IEEE-designated field
• 4 years if you hold a baccalaureate and masters degree
• 5 years if you hold a doctorate

Five years of significant performance: Many prospective applicants make the mistake of assuming that "significant performance" requires special awards, patents or other extremely sophisticated technical accomplishments; such is not the case. Substantial job responsibilities such as team leader, task supervisor, engineer in charge of a program or project, engineer or scientist performing research with some measure of success (papers), or faculty developing and teaching courses with research and publications, all are indications of significant performance well as the following:

1. Substantial engineering, responsibility or achievement
2. Publication of engineering or scientific papers, books or inventions
3. Technical direction or management of important scientific or engineering work with evidence of accomplishment
4. Recognized contributions to the welfare of the scientific or engineering profession
5. Development or furtherance of important scientific or engineering courses in a program on the "Reference List of Educational Programs"
6. Contributions equivalent to those of (A) to (E) above in areas such as technical editing, patent prosecution or patent law, provided these contributions serve to advance progress substantially in IEEE-designated fields.

The following are examples of significant performance that would serve to qualify an individual for elevation to Senior Member. In each case, we are assuming that three qualified references were provided:

Case 1. An applicant/nominee has a bachelor's degree and seven additional years of professional experience beyond graduation in an area encompassed by one of IEEE's technical Societies, which meets the requirement of ten years of professional experience. Significant performance can be demonstrated by describing substantial job responsibilities (e.g., team leader) for a period of at least five years. Result: All criteria are satisfied and the application is approved.

Case 2. Same as Case 1, except that the applicant/nominee worked in industry for one year following graduation with the bachelor's degree and then was a full-time graduate student for two years, obtaining a masters degree. The applicant demonstrates significant performance during another five years in industry. Result: Approved.

Case 3. An applicant/nominee has bachelor, masters, and doctoral degrees in an IEEE-designated field. Five years of significant performance in academia, industry, or government beyond the doctoral degree are demonstrated (e.g., a faculty member with five years beyond the doctorate and promotion to associate professor). Result: Approved.

Case 4. An applicant/nominee has no degree and has worked for many years in the electric industry as a technician. Ten years ago, he accepted an engineering level position and continued with it since that time. Included was a period of at least five years with demonstrated significant performance.
Result: Approved.

Case 5. An applicant/nominee retired some years ago and has not been active recently in the profession. Prior to retirement, the applicant/nominee had at least ten years of professional  experience, including five years of significant performance. Result: Approved.

REFERENCES

The applicant must also provide three references from IEEE members holding Senior Member, Fellow or Honorary Member grade. Your professional colleagues are your best source of these references. If you have difficulty in locating Senior Members or Fellows to serve as references, please contact your local Section or Chapter for assistance. For assistance in contacting your Section/Chapter Chair, email Denise Howard at senior-member@ieee.org.

You are responsible for contacting these references. Each reference must send a brief note of recommendation directly to IEEE, preferably using the Senior Member Reference Form. If the applicant is being nominated by a Senior Member or Fellow, only two references need be submitted other than the nominator.

Submittal of a reference form does not by itself constitute a nomination. In order for a nomination to be processed as such, the nomination section of the application form has to be filled in, with or without a nominating entity. However, if you wish your Section or Society to receive a rebate of $10 for each successful nomination as part of the Nominate a Senior Member Initiative, the Section or Society's name must be provided.