Projects Coordinator Report ============================ James Wilkinson (xx957) Tuesday June 11th, 1996 Go Helpers Menu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This menu has been revised (April) and now includes items for volunteer documents, links to other newsgroups/menus, upcoming events and more. Development in various ongoing issues (policies, etc.) will be reflected in this menu. VCTF Menu & Newsgroup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This menu (go vol-coord) was created in April. Currently the members of the VCTF include: xx957 James Wilkinson Chairperson xx412 Lisa Donnelly Staff Liaison xx306 S.C. Alder Staff Liaison ct246 Andrew Allan Coordinator of Training an956 Michael Mason Coordinator of Recognition aa966 Natalie Munro Board Representative The newsgroup is intended to improve VCTF discussions between meetings. Current discussions cover such topics as recruitment policies, xx accounts for volunteers and the NCF Picnic (July 27th). Recruitment ~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been and is presently an active area. Since the March report, internal postings made by the Projects Coordinator resulted in the recruitment of the following positions: Coordinator, Outreach Task Force Alana Boltwood ad097 Coordinator, Training Task Force Barry Alder ak221 Volunteer Coordinator of Recognition (VCTF) Michael Mason an956 Volunteer Coordinator of Recruitment Dominique Denommee xx666 Present recruitment includes: Coordinator Speakers Task Force Assistant Coordinator Helpdesk & Documentation TF Office volunteers Office Admin. TF Recruitment will be primarily within the NCF except that the Volunteer Centre of Ottawa-Carleton will receive a list of our present needs. Outreach Task Force Created ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This new group is chaired by Alana Boltwood (ad097) and had their first meeting on April 17th. Its mandate is "to go out into the National Capital Region community and recruit new members and content providers on-line." The members of this group have contributed many interesting ideas for recruiting new members/IP's and are almost ready to swing into action. For more information, or to join, see "go outreach." Training Task Force Created ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Barry Alder (ak221), a new volunteer, is chairing the Training Task Force. The mandate of this group is "to provide training to the members and organizations of the NCF to allow them to provide content in their areas of the NCF systems by utilizing the current technology and applications available through the NCF." For more information see 'go training'. New Volunteer Coordinator of Recognition ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The new Volunteer Coordinator of Recognition is veteran volunteer Michael Mason (an956) who assumed his position June 1st. Having experience with both the Great FreeNet Auction and the Development Committee, Michael makes a welcome addition to the VCTF! Michael is also currently working to develop the "go helpers" and "go vol-coord" menus in addition to his recognition duties. Welcome aboard, Michael! New Volunteer Coordinator of Recruitment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The new Volunteer Coordinator of Recruitment is Dominique Denommee (xx666). Until recently Dominique was Coordinator of our Translation Task Force and will still assist this group. But because she has found professional work, much of which involves translation, she decided to accept this open position on the VCTF. She brings all of her enthusiasm, energy and tremendous effort! Dominique will retire from her Coordinator status with Translation as of June 17th and will have her replacement in position for the same day. Welcome aboard, Dominique! Volunteer Policies - General ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These fundamental statements were accepted at the April 16th Board meeting. The two statements, Definition of a Volunteer and Volunteer Participation are currently seen in the "go helpers" menu (item 5, then item 2). Volunteer Policies - Operational ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Initially these policies were posted in the "go helpers" menu. After feedback from the various volunteers, they were removed and are being reviewed by the VCTF. At the last VCTF meeting volunteer involvement, job descriptions and recruitment were reviewed. Scheduled for the next are interviewing, background checks and acceptance/appointments. The results of these discussions will be posted for on-line feedback (ncf.admin.volunteer.discuss) from volunteers in general. Administration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aside from the new menus, files have begun to be kept in the office concerning volunteer registration, Volunteer of the Month, recruitment and other areas. Work on an off-line volunteer database has been performed by Volunteer Coordinator Andrew Allen (ct246) in a Labelmaster program format. This was in response to the need for volunteer records independent of the on-line systems. Meeting (June 17th) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A meeting will be held soon between the coordinators of the Outreach, Speakers, Helpdesk and Training Task Forces (along with the Office Administrator and Projects Coordinator). Discussion will focus on avoiding duplication of efforts and inter-task force cooperation. The meeting will provide a unique opportunity for the Task Force leaders to meet each other and become more familiar with the work of other groups. NCF Picnic ~~~~~~~~~~ As no members came forward this year, the VCTF will coordinate the NCF Picnic to be held on Saturday July 27th. Aside from booking the facilities and publicizing the event, the VCTF will check into such details as food and drinks (looking for donations), activities (solicited from the members and volunteers) and decorations (if needed). This will be a fun event geared towards all members. Families with children are especially encouraged! To see what is great plans are coming together, see "go picnic." Team-Building ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The March Volunteer Management Workshop brought staff, volunteers and board members together for team-building activities (games) and discussion on various volunteer issues (recruitment, etc.). Recently, conflict management guidelines were put forth by Andrew Allan (ct246) and these are currently being discussed in the VCTF. It is hoped that the final guidelines (to be posted for on-line discussion in ncf.admin.volunteer discuss) will be useful in addressing conflicts. The fall is being considered as a time for a large and fun team-building event (between the NCF Picnic and Christmas Party) although the type of event (dance-a-thon, trip, supper, etc.) is still being discussed. Recognition ~~~~~~~~~~~ Aside from our ongoing VOM, some form of volunteer recognition will occur at the NCF Picnic (yet to be determined). Planning will soon commence for a huge and exciting end of year Christmas Party to be held in December! -- James Wilkinson (xx957) Projects Coordinator / Coordonnateur des projets National Capital FreeNet / Libertel de la Capitale Nationale