Area team
From AFSWiki
Groups of AFS chapters and individual volunteers in a defined geographic area are encouraged to organize and apply for an Area Team Charter. With approval from the National Council of AFS-USA, chartered Area Teams act on AFS-USA’s behalf to promote AFS in their geographic area in accordance with the policies, procedures and standards of AFS-USA. The volunteer leadership, mutual support, and economies of scale provided by Area Teams are valued as important benefits to AFS-USA. In order to become chartered Area Teams must meet the following criteria and fulfill the following responsibilities.
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Area Team Criteria
- Have a minimum of 2 chartered chapters
- Have a defined geography based on zip codes, to be determined by the area team volunteers , and subject to review and approval by the National Council
- Have a minimum of an AT Chair, AT Chair-Elect and AT Treasurer . (none of whom are from the same family or live in the same household)
- Host and send combined at least 40 program participants
- Ensure all chapters within the area team boundaries are chartered with AFS-USA
- Complete an annual area team report (formerly the Area Team Agreement)
- Participate in an Annual Review of performance and quality standards
- Submit report from the annual area team meeting
- Account for all local funds according to AFS-USA corporate financial requirements
Responsibilities of Area Teams
Administration
- Conduct annual area team meeting and election of Area Team Chair
- Provide representation to the National Volunteer Assembly
- Communicate and meet hosting and sending commitments
- Monitor use and reporting of co-support funds
- Provide a forum for communication among chapters, individual team volunteers, and the greater organization
- Fundraise within the area
- Manage public relations and marketing within the area
- Provide additional back-up, oversight, and coordination of participant and host family support
- Coordinate orientations for compliance and quality
- Complete an annual Area Team Agreement and Report of Cooperation and participate in an Annual Area Team Assessment process.
Hosting
- Coordinate, monitor, and communicate about the host family recruitment and participant placement process with chapters and area team volunteers as well as with assigned staff throughout each hosting cycle.
- Ensure that all host families are fully screened and that all host family paperowrk including the complete host family application, signed School Placement Acceptance Form (PAF), and references are sent to the Hosting Staff in the Regional Service Center prior to the students’ arrival.
- Provide support for participants and host families in conjunction with chapters and assigned staff, including the documentation of all monthly contacts throughout the program period.
Sending
- Coordinate, monitor, and communicate about recruitment and selection of outbound participants for departures (Year, Semester, Short Programs and Teacher Exchanges)with chapters, area team volunteers and assigned staff.
- Provide support to all outbound participants and their natural families throughout the application process and in conjunction with chapters and assigned staff during the program year.
Orientations
- Conduct or ensure that participants attend the following local orientations:
- Host Family Pre-Arrival Orientation
- Post-Arrival Orientation for hosted participants
- Mid-Year Orientation for hosted participants and host families. Note: The Mid-Year Orientation is optional, but encouraged.
- Pre-Return Orientation for hosted participants and host families
- Organize and implement the Arrival and End of Stay Orientations for hosted students
- Organize and implement Pre-Departure Orientations for sending participants in conjunction with the local chapters
- Conduct re-entry orientation for outbound participants returning to the area.
Please note: The number of participants required for hosting and sending orientations will be based on input from the Education and Quality Department. This is an area that is still being researched and a proposal will be developed Fall 2008.
Volunteer Development and Training
- Coordinate recruitment, selection, orientation, training and recognition of local team and Area Team volunteers.
- Plan, strategize, and facilitate new and existing chapter development within the area team. In the case of existing chapters, this should be done in conjunction with the current chapter volunteers.
- Plan fun for returnees, volunteers, and program participants
Communications and Community Development
- Create ongoing and active communication, support, and coordination of chapters and other local units existing within the area team.
- Provide active support of hosting and sending schools, and coordinate recruitment and development of new schools to support the expansion of program activity in the area.
- Promote connections and relationships with other organizations and stakeholders that will further the implementation of the mission of AFS.
AT Membership & Leadership
All active volunteers for AFS USA need to be registered. It is the responsibility of the Area Team to not knowingly allow individuals to participate in any AFS activity as volunteers without being registered.
Membership on the area team will be open to all registered volunteers who live within the defined geography of the team. All volunteers within the area team who have been registered for at least one month will have voting privileges and will elect the Area Team Chair.
The AT Chair will appoint or elect an AT Treasurer and a contact person for the primary functional areas of hosting, sending, support, and volunteer development. The role of these contact people is to be a resource for team volunteers, and also serve as a contact point for staff.
Rather than assign or elect a "contact person," as outlined above, area teams may choose to appoint and/or elect volunteers to fill one or more of the following leadership positions:
All Area Leadership members listed in the annual area team annual agreement and report of cooperation should understand that their roles are to train, lead and coordinate other volunteers in the Area, performing those functions outlined in the job descriptions for each position.
Area Leadership Team members should attend scheduled training for their positions and should recruit several other volunteers to assist them in their respective roles.
AT Elections & Term Limits
Volunteers interested in becoming Area Team Chairs must commit to four years of service. Chairs will be elected to serve for two years as the AT Chair-Elect and two years as the AT Chair. Once completing these four years of service, a volunteer must leave the chair position however s/he can be re-elected as Chair-elect after at least one year off. The AT Chair will serve as the first representative to the National Volunteer Assembly.
Area Teams who host and send more than 80 participants combined will be able to send more than one representative to the National Volunteer Assembly. Area Teams sending more than one representative to the National Volunteer Assembly will elect these additional delegates each year at the Area Team annual meeting.
Travel
Arrival and departure sites for hosted participants will be negotiated based on input from the Travel & Logistics Department. This is an area that is still being researched and a proposal will be developed Fall 2008.
Co-Support Funds
Area teams will be provided co-support funds based on the number of hosted and sent participants in their team. Accounting and reports of expenditures are required. As of Fall 2008, the current co-support funds are as follows:
- Hosting: $215 for Year Program and $190 for Semester Program
- Sending: $115 for Year Program, $95 for Semester Program, and $50 for Summer Programs
Access to National Funds
- The area team can draw on co-support payments from AFS-USA to sustain its efforts in providing programs. Co-support payments are termed as such in recognition that these amounts will likely only partially cover the actual costs of program and recruitment activities in the area team. Supplemental fund-raising activities conducted by the area or local teams may be necessary to meet the actual financial needs of planned activities
- Co-support payments will be calculated based on the National Co-Support Payment Calculation Sheet submitted as part of the Area Team Annual Agreement and Report of Cooperation, and will be disbursed quarterly upon receipt of the prior quarter’s three monthly financial reports. The participant numbers are determined by the area teams, in conjunction with the Hosting and Sending Department staff. The Field Finance Department is responsible for distributing area team funds, based on these numbers, but is not involved in the negotiations to set these numbers.
- The distribution of co-support funds is known as the 30/30/30/10 policy and the initial payment will be 30% of the total annual co-support funds minus any remaining funds in the primary bank account at the end of the previous year
- The maximum amount to be forwarded to an area team in any given year cannot exceed the committed amount (after adjustment - see adjustments to original commitment amount below) stipulated in the area team’s Annual Agreement
- Co-support payments for hosting and sending will only be issued upon completion and submission of complete paperwork for each host family and participant; and does not preclude incentives or payments for January year program students.
Area Team Agreement and Report of Cooperation
- (formerly the Area Team Agreement)
Annually, area teams must submit an Area Team Agreement and Report of Cooperation to the Volunteer Development Department providing the following information:
- Roster of area team leadership
- Roster of affiliated chapters
- Roster of individual volunteers who work with the area team but are not affiliated with any chapter
- Roster of any schools in the area team not affiliated with a chapter but which are served by the area team
- Commitment to host
- Commitment to send
- Reports of any area team funds raised and spent during the year
- Financial/legal area team documents as required by AFS-USA
- ZIP code list outlining the geographical boundaries of the area team
Teams will be provided with all information related to the above items currently in our system on an annual basis for review and update
Annual Area Team Assessment
Area teams will be evaluated annually using objective quality standards which reflect clear, articulated expectations in areas including but not limited to on-time placement, paperwork completion, liaison assignment, monthly contact documentation, orientation requirements, and volunteer registration and training. The annual review will also include data from the customer service evaluations.
All data will be reviewed and compared to a 3-year average to determine trends. If the review results trigger concern, a committee of the National Council, will make recommendations regarding next steps.
Administrative Oversight
- Area teams are expected to operate under the provisions of these criteria and responsibilities and under the terms of the Annual Agreement and Report of Cooperation to ensure program quality and continuity.
- The National Council may revoke the area team charter and dissolve the team if rules, standards, laws and/or regulations are not followed.
- An area team may choose to dissolve. All funds held in the name of AFS-USA belong to AFS-USA.
