Join AST

AST's Mission

The Association for Software Testing (AST) is a nonprofit professional organization dedicated to advancing the understanding and practice of software testing. The AST serves a community of scholars, students, and software development practitioners by providing forums for discussion of all aspects of software testing through conferences, publications, training, web sites, and other services.

Why Join AST?

Often, those who are not yet members of the AST ask what value they will get by joining. It's difficult to answer this question briefly because individual members obtain different value from different aspects of membership – both tangible and intangible.

I wanted to take a moment to let folks know how great I think AST and BBST are. I have never joined any association (or wanted to) prior to AST. Everyone I have met that is associated with AST is has been great. I love working with people that are so talented, it makes me try harder just to keep up.

-- Elaine Conway

Tangible Benefits

* Benefit not available to Associate Members

Non-Tangible Benefits

AST was founded with the aim to better the state of software testing and the lives of testers through programs like the ones above, but also through less tangible ways like those below:

Professional Affiliation

AST members agree to a Code of Ethics, demonstrating support for principles shared by hundreds of other members around the world. Membership in any professional testing organization may help show prospective employers your affiliation to a community, but with the AST, it is the affiliation with these community ethics that demonstrates the members’ commitment to the advancement of testing as both thoughtful craft and technical discipline.

The AST is dedicated to improving the practice of software testing by framing it in the art and science of critical thinking. For example, how could commonly held beliefs and principles about software development change as they apply to projects in different contexts? Could it actually be cheaper to fix a bug later in the project lifecycle? By becoming an AST member, you show an affiliation with an organization devoted to the discussion of issues like this that recognize both the philosophy of testing and its practical grounding.

Professional Activism

The AST is working to better the working lives of testers. Our primary method to accomplish this is through our Special Interest Groups (SIGs). A SIG is a group of AST members who share a desire to pursue a specific, significant long-term activity in an area of interest to the Association.
Some examples of topics currently being pursued by SIGs include:

You can choose to make a difference in the future of the testing profession and in social issues that face our field (like in the SIGs above) by tackling the topics that mean the most to you. As a member of the AST, you can participate in these groups and help research, support, and advance causes that you believe are important to the field of testing. If topic of interest to you is not currently being addressed by a SIG, AST will help you form a SIG so that you can lead the charge in advancing your area of interest.

Community

With the AST, you are becoming a member of a community of testers who share many of your views about the most important challenges facing our field and who are interested in resolving (or at least improving upon) those challenges through collaboration, innovation, advancement and/or education at the individual, team, project, and field levels. To facilitate this, we offer an online social network with tools for discussion and networking, as well as groups on LinkedIn. Sometimes we face challenges that only other testers can understand, so the networking aspects of the AST allow you to find other testers to seek ideas and feedback for your thoughts.

If you attend our yearly conference, you’ll see that our membership includes some of the best-known, passionate thinkers and practitioners in the business, each of whom considers themselves as much a student as they are an expert. Ask them and they will tell you that they obtain value from even the smallest AST-sponsored workshops like the Workshop on Heuristic and Exploratory Techniques (WHET), the Workshop for the Teaching of Software Testing (WTST), and Software Testing in Financial Services (STiFS). Each of these small forums are known for their innovative discussions framed by a Creative Commons License to ensure that participants can collaborate and produce new content of value to the broader testing community without squabbling over who owns the content.

Join AST or Renew Your Membership

The annual membership dues of the AST are:

Associate Members cannot vote or hold positions on the Board of Directors and do not qualify for discounts to in-person events.

To qualify for a student membership rate, you must be a full-time student at an accredited post-secondary educational institution. Currently, student members cannot vote or hold positions on the Board of Directors.

 

Click here to join or here to renew your membership online. You may also update your profile online (You may need to request a password if this is your first visit to the 123signup membership management site).

 

Become a Life Member


AST, Life Member Logo

 

Life Membership Rates

  • Under Age 30: $1,275
  • Age 30-39: $1,035
  • Age 40-49: $850
  • Age 50-59: $635
  • Age 60+: $425

Associate Life Membership Rates

  • Under Age 30: $625
  • Age 30-39: $510
  • Age 40-49: $400
  • Age 50-59: $294
  • Age 60+: $195

Associate Members cannot vote or hold positions on the Board of Directors and do not qualify for discounts to in-person events.

 

Click here to become an AST Life Member online. You can also update your profile online (You may need to request a password if this is your first visit to the 123signup membership management site).

 

You may also Join or Renew by mail:

Mail a completed application form (PDF) with payment to:

The Association for Software Testing (AST)
1285 Douglas St.
Palm Bay, FL 32909


 

Become a Corporate Member or Sponsor


AST, Corporate Membership Program Logo