MANAGEMENT
&
TRAINING

Many volunteers work with children or vulnerable adults. The urge to hug or reassure with a friendly arm around the shoulder is almost irresistible for volunteers. Many training programs for volunteers forbid touching. This seems to be unrealistic and unlikely. A better solution is to train volunteers (including practice sessions during training) on the appropriate forms of touch. Here are some hints to train volunteers on the "touchy" topics.

• Physical contact in which a parent might engage, tickling, horseplay of a physical nature, is not appropriate for volunteers.
• Adults should avoid being alone with a child or vulnerable adult. If a soccer coach wants to talk one-on-one they need to retreat away from the rest of the team (out of earshot), but in full view of children and other parents.
• Any private counseling with children is done in a room with door open and in a highly traveled area.
• Children who take a long time in bathrooms or locker rooms, can be urged to hurry by sending a couple of other children to fetch them, or two adults going to get them.
• Use high-five's, hand slaps, or handshakes to let children know physically that what they have done is good. No hugs!
• Avoid touching children unless they are injured, and then only if others are present.
• Do not take children alone in a car. Chaperones for dances or sponsors of school clubs often must wait with children for tardy parents. Do this in a public place where the volunteer and child can be seen by others.
• Never make sexual jokes or exchange personal information in front of children.
• Check with a school in your area to see what policies they have. Use those to guide the establishment of guidelines for volunteers in your program.

Busy volunteer offices are often in need of a good dictionary and the one on the shelf was printed in 1959! There is help online.

The Oxford English Dictionary (surely the English language's best!) is now available at http://www.oed.com. This is a twenty-volume tome! The dictionary is in the middle of a revision (its second in 116 years). The revision is expected to double the words. It will be complete in ten years.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (10th edition) is available at http://www.m-w.com.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (third edition) is available at http://www.dictionary.com.

The Oxford Dictionary has a steep price for subscribers, the other two sites are free.

Many organizations have plans (or have) produced an online version of their printed newsletter. There are several things you need to consider before producing that online publication. Here are a few:

• Create a home page that is less like the cover of the publication and more like a map that welcomes and guides visitors around the site.
• Edit articles to be half the size they are in print. For an example of this, visit the New York Times online site, and buy the newspaper the same day. The articles are the same, but much, much shorter.
• Be sure instructions to move around are clear and easy. Tell people they must point and click to open a different page. Do not assume all readers know how to do this.
• Print newsletters or magazines need graphics to break up text. Graphics on a Web site can slow the downloading time. Keep graphics to a minimum and given them a vertical alignment to fit with most Web browsers.
• Offer things at the online site not available in the print version. This could include such things as e-mail or Web links to sites mentioned in articles, chat rooms, an archive of issues from the past, or links to related sites. This makes reading the print and online site a "must do" for volunteers.
• Be sure the online version is a complement of the print version and not just a copy!

Washington State University offers a Volunteer Management Certification Program through the Internet. Individuals around the world can earn a certificate in managing or coordinating volunteers, without leaving home.

For more information, visit Volunteer Today's Portal site. Internet Sites You'll Love. Look for the Washington State University listing. There is a hot link to their Web sites.

The National Association of Volunteer Programs in Local Government (NAVPLG) is an association of administrators, coordinators and directors of volunteer programs in local government. Its purpose is to strengthen volunteer programs in local government through leadership, advocacy, networking and information exchange. NAAVPLG is an affiliate of the National Association of Counties and is seeking affiliate status with the National League of Cities.

Cost is $20 for individuals and $75 for group local government membership. An affiliate membership is $25 and is intended for those who are not local government members but may have an interest in the group. There is a quarterly newsletter, national network, and access to NACo's Volunteerism Project.

For more information contact Glenis Chapin, who is a member of the Executive Committee. She can be reached by phone at 503-588-7990. Be sure to mention you read about this in Volunteer Today.

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Copyright by Nancy Macduff.

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