January 12 2008 - AFS USA Organizational Study Update

From AFSWiki

Dear AFS-USA Volunteers and Staff:

As you may already know, the AFS-USA Organizational Study Team and M&C will be furnishing regular updates on the AFS-USA Organizational Study in effort to make its progress accessible and available to all. Please find below the latest information, which will be shared regularly from now until the conclusion of the study.

Staff Input to the Organizational Study

An important component of the Organizational Study is to gather input and feedback from our staff about our current volunteer and staff structure. Much like we did with our registered volunteers, an online survey went out to all staff in AFS-USA in November 2007.

In addition to the online survey, focus group discussions were held with the staff according to department. These focus group discussions have been completed for all departments in AFS-USA. Summary reports of these discussions are currently being written by the Training and Organizational Development Specialists which conducted the focus groups.

Volunteer Structure - Evaluation & Recommendation for Change

In terms of the AFS-USA Volunteer Structure, input has been received through the online survey, the focus group discussions from the National Leadership Summit in Chicago, and will be collected from the staff online surveys and focus group discussions as well.

The process for evaluating the data gathered from volunteers and staff on our current volunteer structure and making recommendations for change will be done through a committee of the National Council. This committee is focused on Volunteer Organization and Development and is comprised of volunteers and staff representing various departments and regions. As announced in the last update on the Organizational Study, this committee met in Baltimore on Sunday, December 9th, 2007. The goal of this meeting in Baltimore was to finalize a list of recommended changes to our current volunteer structure which will then be presented to the POC (Planning and Oversight Committee), who will then make the final decisions.

The participants at this meeting were:

• Judy Weyand – National Council Chair
• Damian Pisanelli – National Council Member – NW Region
• Mary Ann Offer – Volunteer, Great Lakes Region
• Sarah Yancey – Volunteer, Upper Midwest Region
• Sharon Held – Volunteer, Great Lakes Region
• Theresa Collignon – Vice President, Partnership Projects
• Kerry McCollum – Director, Human Resources and Training
• Jorge Castro – Regional Director, Central States Region
• Plinio Benavides – Regional Director, Eastern States Region
• Kristen Bates – Director, Volunteer Services & Process Improvement
• Julie Baker – IT Project Specialist
• Nancy Frazier – Manager, Volunteer Services
• Joanne Yokoyama-Martin – Specialist, Organizational Development
• Wendy Hyatt – Specialist, Training and Organizational

At this meeting the following recommendations to the Volunteer Structure were developed. These recommendations are:

• Annual assessment process of all volunteer units with data and input; intervention where needed by next volunteer level (i.e. Area Team assesses local units, Regional Council assess Area Team, National Council assess Regional Council). A key criterion of health is how the volunteer units integrate and deploy new volunteers.
• Look at participant volume by region and redefine boundaries to achieve better balance.
• Eliminate the zip code requirement of the entire USA needing to be covered by an Area Team.
• Define a process for handing development of AFS activity outside the Area Team boundary.
• Volunteers will have four levels of affiliation:

• Individual - a registered volunteer with either a regional and/or national affiliation;
• Independent chapters located outside the AT structure;
• Independent districts located outside the AT structure;
• Area Team within defined geography which could include individuals, chapters, and districts

• Clearly define rights and responsibilities of the volunteer structure:

Volume

Travel

Finances

Support

Orientation

Representation

• Focus organizational resources on developing units that will support the revised volunteer structure.

It is important to note, however, that this committee had only one day to meet therefore did not have the opportunity to fully vet and obtain full consensus on these recommendations. This note will be communicated to the POC.

POC Meeting - January 18-19, 2008 at the National Service Center in New York The members of the POC (Planning and Oversight Committee) will be meeting on January 18-19, 2008 in New York. The members of the POC are:

• Judy Weyand (National Council Chair)
• Krista Hawthorne (Eastern States Territory)
• Larilyn Carpenter (Great Lakes Territory)
• Mary Porterfield (Central States Territory)
• Damian Pisanelli (Western States Territory)
• Margaret Crotty (President, AFS-USA)
• Theresa Collignon (Vice President, Partnership Projects)
• Carl Moccia (Chief Financial Officer)
• Jorge Castro (Regional Director, Central States)
• Kristen Bates (Regional Director, Eastern States)
• Andy Smith (Eastern Participant Support Manager)
• Margaret Hunt (Vice President, Business Development)
• Kerry McCollum (Vice President of Human Resources, Training & Volunteer Services)

Jim Laden and Wendy Hyatt will be facilitating this two-day meeting in New York. Joanne Yokoyama-Martin, the Coordinator of the Organizational Study, will also be in attendance.

The purpose of this meeting is to review all the data and research gathered relating to the Organizational Study and make final decisions on the organizational structure. The decision-making process within the POC will be done by way of consensus. In the case that consensus cannot be reached, decisions will be made by the President of AFS-USA.

Copies of the agenda and background papers for this upcoming POC meeting will be made available to all volunteers and staff prior to the POC meeting. These documents will be posted on AFS Online and in the AFS-USA inbox this coming weekend.

Questions about the Organizational Study?

If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback about the AFS-USA Organizational Study, please do not hesitate to contact User:JYokoyama.

Thank you,

Your Org Study Planning Oversight Committee / Marketing & Communications Team