6th March 2006, 03:36 PM
Well you'd pay your aspplication fee, and then ,if accepted, you'd start paying your ?8.30 a month.
I know its unpopular to say so - but the IFA is not a luxury. The only way that archaeologists pay and standards can be improved is by grouping together and making the case to the powers that be that out professional aspirations and skills need to be taken seriously. and this does take times. Things would be a lot worse if the IFA did not exist (e.g. for many years the IFA provided the only mechanism by which pay was increased and things have improved markedly since I started in the profession in the 80s...
Elsewhere on these threads some initiatives by the IFA have been posted, and I have put up some of the costs involved in running a national organisation.
If you don;t agree with me there is a cheaper option of the diggers forum as I mentioned.
Frankly IMO the situation is not going to improve whilst the majority in the discipline vote for the status quo by doing nothing, complain that organisations they don't belong to don't represent them or put most of their efforts into denigrating what is being done to improve conditions.
These things take time and money - no one else is going to do it for us.
I know its unpopular to say so - but the IFA is not a luxury. The only way that archaeologists pay and standards can be improved is by grouping together and making the case to the powers that be that out professional aspirations and skills need to be taken seriously. and this does take times. Things would be a lot worse if the IFA did not exist (e.g. for many years the IFA provided the only mechanism by which pay was increased and things have improved markedly since I started in the profession in the 80s...
Elsewhere on these threads some initiatives by the IFA have been posted, and I have put up some of the costs involved in running a national organisation.
If you don;t agree with me there is a cheaper option of the diggers forum as I mentioned.
Frankly IMO the situation is not going to improve whilst the majority in the discipline vote for the status quo by doing nothing, complain that organisations they don't belong to don't represent them or put most of their efforts into denigrating what is being done to improve conditions.
These things take time and money - no one else is going to do it for us.