ACU membership
Regulations supporting the Royal Charter (including the Statutes)
Membership application
1. Membership is open to universities incorporated and situated in the commonwealth that meet the ACU’s eligibility requirements. The membership criteria includes a list of requirements for both full and associate membership. All applicants must read membership criteria ahead of applying.
2. Eligible universities must complete an online application, and upload the required supporting documentation as specified in Regulation 3.2 (i-iii).
3. If an application does not meet the ACU’s membership criteria, the membership operations team will email feedback to the university's main contact listed within ten working days from the application submission date.
Membership subscription fees
Renewals
4. Every member of the ACU must pay an annual subscription fee and will be emailed an invoice by 1 August.
5. Invoices must be paid in full within 30 days of receipt through bank transfer. The ACU’s payment information will be listed on the invoice. There is an option to pay with a credit card, however, bank transfer is the preferred method of payment.
6. Please note that the ACU does not offer instalment plans.
7. Annual subscription fees are calculated based on a formula related to the UN Human Development Index (HDI) and is divided into three groups: low, medium, and high. Each group has sub-groups, based on the university’s recurrent income as per its latest financial year. The UN HDI is updated annually. The ACU aims to keep the list of subscription fees for commonwealth countries as current as possible.
8. It is the responsibility of the member’s Executive Head/ designated ACU Ambassador to inform the ACU in writing by emailing membership@acu.ac.uk of any significant changes in income, with a copy of the university’s latest audited accounts. From time to time, the ACU reserves the right to request for a member’s latest audited accounts to ensure that fees bands are current. If a university does not agree with the allocation of the sub-group, this can be queried by emailing finance@acu.ac.uk with evidence showing recurrent income.
9. Membership fees are advertised at the point of application and are subject to an annual increase, typically in line with inflation.
New and rejoining members
10. New and rejoining members will be advised of their calculated annual subscription fee within ten working days of receipt of audited financial statements.
11. The ACU membership year runs from 1 August to 31 July. Subject to eligibility checks, if a new member application is approved, an invoice for the annual subscription fee will be issued for payment. ACU membership only becomes official once full payment of the subscription fee has been received, and upon receipt of written notification from the ACU. At this point, new members can begin accessing member benefits. This rule also applies to re-joining member universities.
12. New members who join from 1 July-31 December must pay a full annual subscription for the following year. A pro-rated subscription fee will be calculated for new members joining between 1 Jan – 31 Mar. For members who officially join between 1 Apr – 30 Jun, the ACU will honour the current year’s fees to last until the end of the following membership year. For example, if a new member pays their first subscription invoice in May 2023, their subscription will last until 31 July 2024.
Membership resignation
13. A member can resign from the ACU upon giving six months’ notice to the ACU’s Secretary General/ CEO by emailing a signed and dated letter to membership@acu.ac.uk. The letter must be signed by the vice-chancellor/ executive head of the university.
14. Before resigning, the member must pay all outstanding membership fees in full.
15. If a fully paid member does not wish to continue membership in the next ACU membership year, they must write to the ACU’s Secretary General/CEO on or before 1 February. Otherwise, membership will be automatically renewed from the 1 August of each year.
Lapsed membership
16. Annual subscription fees which are not received within two years of the invoice date will result in membership considered lapsed and all services will be suspended including, but not limited to, applications to grants, communities, networks, exclusive member events, and participation in ACU Measures.
17. To rejoin as a lapsed member, the member must pay all outstanding fees in addition to the current membership fee at the time of restoration and agree to paying for future annual subscriptions within 30 days of receipt of invoice in future.
18. If a member has not been active for a period of five years or more, the ACU will review the possibility of beginning a new membership cycle. For example, if a university was inactive in 2018 and had outstanding fees for 2017 and 2018, upon rejoining in 2023 or later, the membership team will evaluate the university's application and may consider waiving a portion of the past years' debt.
19. Please note that if a university has been inactive for more than three years, it must submit a new online application to the ACU. The application should include evidence of its latest audited income and expenditure/profit and loss account as well as the balance sheet.
Continuity of membership
20. The ACU does not provide breaks-in-membership, and therefore universities must officially resign with six months’ written notice as specified under ‘Membership Resignation’.
21. The ACU is unable to provide fee waivers unless there has been an exceptional circumstance, in which case, will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and subject to the approval by the governing Council.
ACU Ambassador role
22. All members must have at least one nominated Ambassador to act as the main contact for the ACU.
23. The ACU Ambassador is responsible for notifying the membership team at membership@acu.ac.uk of any key staff changes, including but not limited to, the Ambassador role, executive head, pro-vice chancellor for international.