Membership Selection Process
Memberships are assessed based on two perspectives
Invitations issued with individual memberships the highest form of recognition in the academy are always addressed personally stating the member’s name. Invitations excluding an individual membership only contain the label/award the member has been honored with but is missing the personal invitation letter.
Individual achievements
Individual achievements are based on the character and experience of the individual. The Academy has selected a member based on multiple criteria related to his/her work and professional achievements. The individual is nominated for a lifelong membership to the academy. This type of assessment can result in both a lifetime membership and label/award certification based on specific achievements.
Specific achievements
Specific achievements are based on projects, a work of art, show, performance etc. This achievement is not necessarily tied to an individual and is usually limited to the extent and limitations of the work of art. It is limited to the state and shape situated the moment of its assessment by the academy members. This type of assessment can only result in a label/award certification and does not qualify for an individual lifetime membership.
The following membership recommendations are permitted:
Any individual if not directly or indirectly related to or associated with the academy can submit a recommendation. Available as of 2019.
The original and preferred recommendation via a sponsorship by one of our already existing members. This is known as a request while the other two options are referred to as a recommendation.
Assessments conducted and based on the participation in a subject that was already reviewed and successfully accepted. Subject to internal process.
Membership assessment procedure:
1. Entry
2. Board approval
3. Review & Assessment
4. Academy Board
Recommendation or internal request via sponsorship are received. Requests have priority over recommendations and are deemed to be more successful than recommendations.
The Academy Board has formally approved the request/recommendation based on formal requirements and completion status.
The request or recommendation is assessed by the academy committee, according to the book of guidelines and based on every and each label/award specifications as specified in the book of labels. Any failure to live up or meet the standards in the book of guidelines or book of labels during the review and assessment process will result in becoming disqualified. This also applies to failures resulted by the RTNworld Academy during an assessment process.
The review and assessment conducted during the process of evaluation needs to be independently and objectively collected and obtained. Third party sources are not accepted as part of the process.
The Academy Board receives the formal review and assessment conducted by independent members. The reviews conducted need to consider all guidelines and formal requirements and need to be conducted independently by at least 3 members. The circle of independent reviews is extended on at least one additional person every time the review subject is up for reassessment. The circle of members who conducts a review can be extended onto an unlimited number of individuals familiar with the book of guidelines. Members who conduct assessments and reviews cannot review the subject simultaneously.
Simultaneously conducted reviews will not be considered valid. All reviews conducted need to be aligned with the independence policy and fulfill all formal requirements as stated in the book of guidelines. No time limits apply to review assessments. Review assessments extending for a period of more than 2 years receive an additional guideline supervisor.
Review assessments that extend for more than 7 years receive an additional compliance officer only supervising the procedure. The same procedure is applicable to reviews conducted under 1 month. The Academy board is ensuring that the review is complying with formal requirements and free of errors. If the review contains errors or is inconsistent the board can decide to resubmit the review subject to a reassessment. There are no limitations on the number of reassessments.
5. Academy Board
Approval
The Academy board can only issue a membership approval when all guidelines and regulations have been respected according to the book of guidelines. The Academy board must ensure that all procedures comply with the independence policy and label/award guidelines. Failure to ensure that the review process has been conducted properly will lead to the resignation of the entire board as per academy guidelines. Failure to comply with the standards of the academy will lead to the resignation of the academy directors. In order to approve a new membership both academy directors need to sign the review completion letter finalizing the assessment procedure.
Rejection
1. Formal objections: errors in the procedure, inconsistency of review content. Formal objections lead to a reassessment of the review subject at point 3.
2. General objections: failure to meet standards and guidelines. Usually this leads to the disqualification of the review subject, in some exceptional cases a reassessment is conducted at point 3.
3. Constitutional objections: indications of misconduct or failure to meet the standards. Constitutional objections lead to the immediate lifelong disqualification of the review subject.
General information: The Academy board and/or Academy directors can only reject an invitation based on these three reasons. In all three cases the board must provide details on the rejection in a motivation letter only known to the circle of review processors and board members.
6. Invitation is created
7. Joining the academy
When the Academy Directors have signed the assessment, finalization letter the formal request to issue an invitation is sent to the committee who prepares all documents, certificates and labels. Until the 2019 invitations had to be sent out in the traditional silver envelope or handed out personally to the member. Since 2020 the Academy has adopted a new policy by both sending out traditional silver envelopes to new members and virtual silver envelopes. The invitation needs to contain a personal invitation letter from the academy directors, information about the academy its activities and projects, information about the distribution list and information about possible membership fees as well as information about labels/awards received. An invitation is only considered valid with these contents.
Once the invitation has been issued (not delivered) the individual has 14 days to either reject or accept the invitation. Invitations to accept labels/awards need to be rejected within the upcoming 28 days. By refusing or by failure to respond within the timeframe the individual will not be able to join the academy in the future or claim their label/award, no exceptions made. Once the individual has signed into the academy as a member the certificate is being issued by the Academy director. Members who have joined the academy are entitled to receive official invitations to award ceremonies and dinners.
Invitation validation period
Individual memberships
Individual memberships to the academy always contain an invitation code to be submitted when accepting your invitation and are valid for 14 days or until mentioned date of expiration in the letter. All invitation letters contain expiration dates. Failing to respond during the validation time will result in the inability to become a member and exempt you from receiving any labels/awards.
Labels & Awards memberships
Membership invitations based on specific achievements honored with labels/awards are valid for 31 days upon the issue date of the invitation. Failing to respond within this time will result in the inability to claim your label/award from the academy and exempt you from receiving further labels/awards and considered for an individual membership.
8. Licensing & Distribution list
Once a response to the invitation has been received the academy member is able to claim his certificates, labels/awards based on his/her license fee if applicable. This also entitles the member to sign up for the annual distribution list making a limited set of services and products available via the Academy website and to the community.
Independence and compliance note
Please note that the academy will not react on internal or external questions or statements regarding assessments. Please note that we expect compliance with all our standards and will exclude any individuals from receiving academy honors who try to influence members, individuals or board members.
