Applicants need approval from their institution which must be a HELOA institutional member.
Some of the many benefits included with your HELOA membership are:
- Build relationships with the many institutions involved in HELOA
- Share best practice with staff in similar positions
- Keep up to date with changes in the HE sector
- Get involved with training and development opportunities
- Attend group meetings
- Receive the fortnightly Bulletin.
There are two types of institutional membership: Full and Associate. The type of institutional membership will determine the HELOA benefits for individual membership. Please see Membership Benefits for further details.
Membership Fees
The membership year runs from 1st September – 31st August and five individual memberships are incorporated in the annual institutional membership fee. For additional members there is a cost of £43 per member which must be approved by the institution before application. Membership fees are a flat rate and therefore not pro rata based on joining time during the membership year; however, individual memberships can be transferred from one member to another within the same institution, at no extra cost. The HELOA Primary Contact for each institution should be able to advise on the current number of HELOA members and any implicated costs.
Please note there is no fee for Honorary Membership. This is obtained through a nomination process at the Annual General Meeting.
Apply for Individual Membership
To apply for HELOA membership, please complete the HELOA Individual Membership form and agree to the HELOA Privacy Notice.
Engagement with HELOA
Individual HELOA members can engage with HELOA in a variety of ways: Bulletin newsletters, group and national mailing lists, the HELOA website and through HELOA Group events, national events and through voluntary roles. See below for further details.
HELOA Groups
HELOA operates through a network of nine HELOA Groups covering the whole of the UK. It is these groups who communicate, plan, manage and deliver activities and services at a local level. Each group meets at least three times a year which all HELOA members are entitled to attend. To help understand how the groups are structured see the Groups Structure Chart.
HELOA full members have speaking rights at meetings and the right to hold office but are not entitled to vote at group meetings. The nominated HELOA primary contact for each institution holds these voting rights. The role of primary contact can be transferred to any suitable HELOA member within the institution. For further details on the role of the primary contact, please see the Primary Contact Role Descriptor for Full Members.
HELOA associate members have speaking rights at meetings. They may take on the role of primary contact for their institution (see the Primary Contact Role Descriptor for Associate Members) but they are not entitled to vote.
Individual HELOA members are subscribed to their local group mailing list (Jiscmail) where the group committee will share details on group meetings, training, events, HELOA group and UCAS vacancies and ways to get involved with HELOA. Members can be subscribed to more than one group, if they are located or work in a different group to where their institution is based. To facilitate this, contact the HELOA office.
National HELOA Events
There are a range of events run by the national training team each year: Professional Development Conferences, New Practitioners’ Conference, National Conference and webinars which are accessible to all individual members. See the training page for further details.
Members can also get involved with national training events by expressing an interest in supporting one of the conferences or by suggesting new speakers. To do this, complete the Expression of Interest/Ideas for HELOA Workshops form and the training team will assess how your session would potentially fit into the program and get in touch.
The Annual General meeting (AGM) is held each year, members are invited to attend and share their comments and questions, primary contacts canvas the opinion of their wider institutional members and vote and, in the absence of the primary contact another HELOA institutional member may act as proxy.
Keep up to date with what is happening at a national level through the Bulletin newsletter, social media, the HELOA website and HELOA training emails.
Roles within HELOA
Institutional Primary contact – Each institution nominates one primary contact, who will be the representative of all HELOA members within the institution. This is the main administrative contact for HELOA at the institution. Details of this role will be circulated within your institution. For further details on the role of the primary contact, please see the appropriate role descriptor.
Primary Contact Role Descriptor for Full Members
Primary Contact Role Descriptor for Associate Members
The role of primary contact can be transferred to another institutional member by completing the Primary Contact Form.
Charity Trustees – HELOA full members can stand for a charity trustee position as either a member of the executive committee as the UK Chair or UK Vice-Chair or, as part of the UK committee as a Group Chair. Elections for these positions are advertised in accordance with the HELOA Standing Orders through national and group emails.
Appointed Officers – There are many appointed officer roles who work at a national level to help support the UK committee in meeting the goals of the strategy. These include Finance Managers, Conference Managers, Partnerships Managers and Digital Communication Managers. Appointment of these positions is for full members only and is through an application and interview process, communicated through national emails.
Group Committees – In addition to the Group Chair, there are also group Vice-Chair positions, Group VC (Membership & Communications) and VC (Training & Partnerships). These are elected positions which are open to full HELOA members and are communicated through group emails.
Associate Member Representative -The Associate Member Representative role is designed to represent members from associate member institutions. This post will work closely with the UK VC (Membership & Administration).
UCAS Groups – HELOA currently has a UCAS Events Working Group and a UCAS Product Development Group. Both groups have elected HELOA representatives from each of the nine groups and key stakeholders from the UCAS team. The opportunity to become involved in these groups is for full HELOA members and is communicated through group emails.
For further details on roles within HELOA, see the Committee and Group pages of the website and
the UKC Structure and Group Structure charts.
Honorary Membership
Nominations for Honorary Membership are received in advance of the Annual General Meeting which normally takes place early in the calendar year. At the AGM, the nominations are considered by the membership.
Nominations for Honorary Membership should be for individuals who are no longer represented by institutional membership of the Association and are unlikely to be in the future, and therefore cannot be considered for HELOA membership, but have previously served to support the Association in achieving its aims and objectives.
Individuals who are nominated for Honorary Membership by either a Group or the UK Committee of the Association would normally fulfil one or more of the following:
- For long service having been a member of the Association for a considerable number of years and where their professional conduct has supported the aims of the Association;
- For exceptional contribution to the Association over a considerable number of years through their support either at group or national level, or both;
- For special circumstances.
Honorary Members will receive the HELOA Bulletin, can attend group meetings & events and attend AGM on invite from the HELOA Chair.
If you wish to nominate a HELOA member for Honorary Membership, please complete the Honorary Membership Nomination Form and include the reason for your nomination (no longer than 300 words).
Engagement with HELOA
Honorary HELOA members can engage with HELOA in a variety of ways: Bulletin newsletters, group and national mailing lists, the HELOA website and through HELOA Group and national events. See below for further details.
- Receive bi-weekly email Bulletin straight to your inbox
- Access to member-only social network platforms eg Facebook
- Access the HELOA Blog, Instagram, YouTube, Linked In and X
- Receive email updates from the HELOA UK Executive and Office
- Attend Group meetings and contribute to the Association
- Discounted member rate at National Conference, Professional Development Conferences and New Practitioners’ Conferences
- Opportunity to attend member-only Webinar
- Access to partner and sponsored session
- Attend the HELOA Annual General Meeting at the discretion of the UKC Chair