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~ March 2006 ~ Topics

Managing Volunteers: Training Institute
Association for Volunteer Administration Is No More
Time: Where Does It Go?
Thinking About the Future

The Washington State University Volunteer Program Management Training Institute will be held November 7-10, 2006 in Kennewick, WA. This four day Institute is aimed at individuals who want to hone their skills in managing volunteers. It is primarily for those beginning work in volunteer management, or with a desire to refresh and re-energize their skills. Some work will be at the advanced level for participants with extensive experience.

The Institute presents information and interactive learning activities on:

• the various aspects of recruiting (planning, screening, position development, advertising, and volunteer recruiting teams;
  
• organizing a planned training program for volunteers;
  
• practicing management and supervision skills most effective with volunteers,
  
• strategies to evaluate volunteers and programs, and methods of recognition.

There will be special attention to such things as the changing nature of how people wish to volunteers.

Faculty members are experienced managers of volunteers, with University credentials. You can read more about the faculty at the website. For more information on the Volunteer Management Institute contact Susan Butts at the university.

This certificated program is also available through online instruction. For more information on that visit the Web site http://www.capps.wsu.edu/vmcp/.

Association for Volunteer Administration Is No More

On March 1, 2006 the Association for Volunteer Administration ceased to exist. The corporation was dissolved by its board of directors and an electronic vote of its membership. Monumental financial problems overtook the organization in the last 12 months. President Ellen Didimamoff, send this final communiqué to members via the listserv, CYBERVPM.

• Credentialing: Katie Campbell, Certified Volunteer Administrator (CVA), will continue managing the CVA program as a volunteer, and she is working with others in finalizing the details of preserving the CVA program. The exam will be offered May 24, and portfolios will be read and scored. All CVA committees are intact, and the Credentialing Council will retain control of the program. Current portfolios are being reviewed with the goal of finishing up scoring on the 2005 group by the end of March 2006. The CVA credential will be awarded to successful 2005 candidates under AVA's name before it legally dissolves. If you have questions, please contact Katie at ktquiraing@comcast.net.
• The Journal of Volunteer Administration: R. Dale Safrit, Ed.D., will serve as editor, and he is working out the details for continued publication. Dale can be reached at dale_safrit@ncsu.edu.
• Earned CEUs: For those who earned CEUs through attendance at the 2005 International Conference on Volunteer Administration, you will receive a certificate by mail from AVA in the next week or so.
• New Web Site: A new web site is being created for everyone interested in the field of volunteer resources management, (not just AVA members): http://www.vmweb.org. This website should be live in the next few weeks. Watch this web site for information on the formation of new groups for people in the field, as well as other information related to conferences, etc. Please inform your colleagues about this site. Note: Content will be removed from the AVA web site on March 1, 2006.
• CyberVPM: This Yahoo group will continue but will no longer be connected with AVA. Meghan Kaskoun has agreed to continue coordinating the schedule of moderators for now. If you are interested in being a volunteer moderator, please contact Meghan at MKASKOUN@cincinnatiarts.org.
• 2005 International Conference on Volunteer Administration: In a previous message, I wrote that there had been overspending related to this conference. Let me be clear in stating that the local planning committee, under the umbrella of the Florida Association of Volunteer Centers, was in no way responsible for this overspending. In fact, the committee stayed within the budget and produced a super conference!
• 2006 International Conference on Volunteer Administration: The conference for this year has been cancelled. Please watch the new web site, http://www.vmweb.org for conferences offered by other organizations this year. Unfortunately, pre-payments for the 2006 ICVA cannot be refunded, as AVA does not have the money to do so.

• Surveys conducted in 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995, 2003 show little difference in the number of hours Americans worked, on average.
• The amount of time women devout to housework has significantly declined since 1975. Women, however, still spend more time on housework than men do.
  
• Americans have as much free time as do people in other westernized countries. Europeans have between 31.5 to 45.5 hours of free time per week. Norway and Finland at the high end; Germany and France at the low end.
  
• Half of leisure time is spent in watching TV, 2.6 hours per day.

Thinking About the Future

Hard to think about the future when the present is driving you crazy? But, new programs and volunteers are in the future! Test your Future Consciousness. Do you operate now to impact what is going to happen in the years ahead?

Rate Your Future Consciousness Directions: Read the statements below. Rate your agreement with the statement on a scale from 1 (Never) to 5 (Always). Add your score. The higher the score, the higher your Future Consciousness.
	Never 1	2	3	4	Always 5
1. I have a have a habit of challenging beliefs about the future.
2. I am usually familiar with different visions of the future—in the sciences and humanities.
3. I enjoy brainstorming different views of the future.
4. I believe in my personal ability to impact the future.
5. Periodically I evaluate my life plans and goals and use my imagination to consider alternate possibilities.
6. I am interested in long-term trends that continue into the present.
7. I am willing to take calculated risks.
8. I am interested in the practices and techniques to enhance thinking skills, creativity, and imagination.
TOTALS