Rules and process

1. ALT awards HLM to individuals whom ALT believes have, over time, made an exceptional contribution to the advancement of ALT's aims for the development of Learning Technology with impact in a regional, national or international context, through research, practice, policy-development, leadership, or a combination of these.

2. Eligibility. Any individual, whether or not they are a member, may be nominated for HLM.

3. Entitlement to nominate. Any individual member of ALT or employee of an ALT member organisation is entitled to make or support nominations for HLM.

4. Honorary Life Members (HLMs) of ALT have, for life, the rights of individual members, with the membership fee waived (for individual or certified membership as appropriate).

5. Normally not more than one award of honorary life membership will be made in any year. There will be a maximum of 12 active HLMs at any given time.

6. HLMs will be listed on the ALT website. On 30/04/21 the HLMs were Teresa MacKinnon, Frances Bell, Linda Creanor, Josie Fraser, David Hawkridge, Chris Jones, Diana Laurillard, Terry Mayes, Malcolm Read and Seb Schmoller.

7. The process will be managed by the Chief Executive of ALT.

8. It is a condition of the award that HLMs agree to abide by the rules of ALT. A call for nominations for HLM will be issued annually.

9. Nominations for HLM will be reviewed by a committee comprising:

   1. the President and Chair of ALT;

   2. two further members of the Board of Trustees (or exceptionally other members of ALT Assembly) as required to ensure that the committee has an appropriate breadth of experience (in relation to the nominations received) to come to a reasoned judgment. 

10. If any member of the review committee has an interest in the outcome of the process in respect of any of the nominees, he or she will stand down and be replaced.

11. The proceedings of the review committee will be confidential.

12. The remit of the review committee will be to:

    1. consider all nominations for HLM;

    2. decide which nominees have made an “exceptional contribution to the development of Learning Technology in a national or international context through research, practice, policy-development, or leadership, or a combination of these”;

    3. decide from amongst those which if any of the nominees to recommend for the award of HLM.

13. In forming their views the panel will consider all the evidence provided and may seek further evidence from the proposers. They may also use their own direct knowledge where relevant.

14. The Board of Trustees, or, exceptionally, the General Purposes Committee, will decide upon the recommendations of the review committee.

15. The decision of the Board of Trustees, or, exceptionally, the General Purposes Committee, will be final.

16. Nominations are made in accordance with ALT’s Privacy Policy https://www.alt.ac.uk/privacy-policy  

17. This process for awarding Honorary Life Membership will be reviewed from time to time and not less than 5 years from the previous review (last review 2020).