Final Video

It took me a few tries to get it right, but I finally got a take that sounded good and didn't have any mess-ups. Here it is:

So excited to have this finalized. I had some issues toward the end though. For instance, I wanted to include a run-through of our event approval form, but just recently my office has decided to go in a different direction with how we collect that information, so it was no longer relevant. The nice thing is that I can easily pop the new system in to this presentation, edit the script, and re-record the screen cast in order to include the new stuff. 

Another issue I ran across was not being able to include this on our website under the training resources just yet like I said I was going to do at the beginning. My office is about to undergo some major staffing changes and because of that, we are going to do more work on our website overall. I was asked to hold off on making major updates until that happens.

I learned a lot from doing this. First, I learned that creating a script and running through it multiple times with different people is so important. I tried to run through the module without a script and I failed miserably. I started working on the script about a week ago and ended up making 6 rounds of edits, all involving multiple people's input. This helped me to see the parts that didn't make sense, and also gave me the chance to get some fresh perspective. 

I also loved the opportunity to put some of my skills from the AHRD program to practical use with my job. I am looking forward to utilizing this training module for future volunteers. 

Script

Welcome to the JMU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Chapter Leader Training. If you are watching this video, it is because you have joined an alumni chapter leadership team, so first off I’d like to say thank you for your commitment to JMU and to your local chapter. We are excited to have you and look forward to you being on board.

Let’s go over our objectives for this training video. First, we’ll go over the mission vision and values of the alumni association, and how the chapters fit in to them based on their goals. Second, we’ll cover the resources provided by the Office of Alumni Relations. Third, we’ll walk through the areas of chapter administration, and lastly, we’ll cover the expectations we have for our chapter program and volunteers.

Let’s get started with the mission vision and values. What is our mission as the JMU Alumni Association? It is to engage alumni & cultivate involvement and investment in JMU. Our purpose as an office and organization is to help alumni stay connected in meaningful ways to the university and vice versa. Our vision is to be a leading Alumni Association that, through University, Student and Alumni engagement, is an essential partner to the advancement of the JMU Mission. Alumni are an active, thriving part of JMU and we want to ensure that the experience does not stop at Graduation.

We value Engagement, through keeping alumni connected to each other, current students, and the University.

Investment- through the support of JMU’s fundraising efforts.

Service, by providing opportunities for alumni to give back to their communities and to JMU.

And Collaboration, by working closely with other offices across campus to better serve the needs of our alumni.

What does this mean for you as a chapter? It means that you are engaging alumni in your areas through good quality events, fundraising efforts, and effective online communication. All of these things need to happen in conjunction with each other, and are of equal importance to the success and livelihood of your chapter.

But!

We also want you to make it your own. You all are the experts when it comes to living in in your areas and what events will work there. Whether it be a Nats game in DC,  a Golf Event in  Dallas, a casual get together in San Francisco, we recognize that each chapter is going to have its own flare. You know what kinds of events will work, so make it your own by putting your own local twist on these components.

Some ideas we’ve seen in the past are trivia nights, complete with JMU themed trivia. Service events such as the Big Event, JMU’s national day of service, Picnics at local sporting events, or a pool party hosted at someone’s home. The goal is to find the things that will bring out a variety of people and to work with alumni in your area to make them happen.

Our second topic involves the resources provided by the JMU Alumni Office. First of all, we have a staff person dedicated to you all- the Assistant Director for Alumni Chapters. They are here to assist with the recruitment of new leadership members, training of new/existing members, event planning, chapter maintenance and management, and team development. Basically, this person is your liaison to the University and will assist with your chapters’ needs. They are your lifeline and go to, so please do not ever hesitate to reach out to them with questions.

Additionally, there are some more specific items that are offered by the JMU Alumni Office. First, there is financial assistance. We keep your bank accounts, and can pay for almost anything out of them when you need us to. There is a form to fill out for these payments that can be found on our website, but you need to be sure to work with the Assistant Director for Alumni Chapters to ensure that your bank account is kept up to date and that you have funds to cover your chapter needs.

Second, we provide event assistance through our online registration system. Every event that happens in a chapter should have an event page on our website that we host and track registration through. These pages can be simple RSVP pages, or can take payments for events like a baseball game or anything requiring tickets. The third thing is marketing assistance, through the sending of emails to alumni in your area, facebook and other social media posts from the JMU Alumni Association main page, and creative marketing assistance as needed.  

Lastly, we provide training resources, such as this video you are watching now, conference calls, and our annual Madison Alumni Conference, aka MAC, that is held every June.

We want to ensure that you all have the right tools to make big things happen in your area. So please let us know if there are additional resources that you’d like to see. We’ll do our best to make it happen.

Our third topic is areas of chapter maintenance. These can be broken down in to three main areas. First is administration. This involves forming your team, by finding the right fit for each position, leading your team and managing expectations, keeping records of who is on board and communicating that back to the Assistant Director, maintaining a good budget and chapter finances through your programming, and understanding who all of your contacts are at JMU. For the most part, this areas is managed by the Chapter President who works directly with the Assistant Director on these issues.

The second area is communication- this involves sending email through your chapter gmail account, maintaining your email list through your listserv, updating and engaging people through your social media account and adhering to the communication guidelines of the Alumni Association and the University. This is typically handled by a communications chair, or by two people who tackle email and social media separately.

Lastly, there is the events area. These are the foundation of all chapters and the primary vehicle through which you will engage your alumni. This involves event planning, thinking through ideas that work and what specifically will work in your area, working with the event request timeline set forth by our office to ensure we can maximize your efforts and provide all the necessary resources in order for you all to have a successful event. Lastly, it involves submitting the event request form which is the first step to get your event approved by our office and registration pages up on our website. These items are handled by an event chair, or multiple event chairs who cover different areas such as service, social and athletics.  

Let’s take a quick look at the event planning timeline. It is available on our website, but it goes through the different types of events and how far in advance you need to start planning. As you can see, there are different timelines for each kind of event, but at the minimum, we require at least 3 weeks of advance notice for the most basic of events. Ideally, we have 6 weeks for all events, and want you to recognize that the farther out you plan, the better off your events will look to others. It does not display a positive image of the University to plan events last minute and have poor attendance. Planning in advance is the best way to ensure you have successful events in your area. 

Alright, we’ve come to our last topic which are the expectations we have for the chapters and chapter volunteers. First, we’d like you to adhere to the mission, vision, and values of the JMUAA. This means aligning your events to our overall goals to ensure what you are working on builds upon a larger goal for JMU. This means infusing your events with some information about JMU, whether it be updates about new buildings, programs, or staff, or trivia about the history. Incorporating a service component is always good too. Second, you and your chapter are to promote a positive image of the University through your events and communication efforts. This means not endorsing certain things on social media through the use of chapter pages, and being sure to separate your personal issues from any chapter communication efforts. We recognize that you are all individuals with your own opinions, but the chapter is a place for everyone and should remain that way. Third, we want you all to plan meaningful events that appeal to a wide array of constituents in your area. This means planning happy hours and family picnics, and working with our office to include all generations in your programming. Fourth, we want fundraising to be an active and thriving part of all chapters. All chapter leaders are asked to make a financial gift to the university (big or small!) and to participate in the chapter challenge, our annual fundraising competition. This is an area that we partner with the Office of Annual giving on as well. Lastly, this should be a fun and meaningful experience for you as a chapter leader. Please consider taking on a role that appeals to your personal and professional interests, and have FUN!

Alright so what did we cover? First we looked at the mission vision and values of the JMUAA, and the corresponding goals of the chapters. Second, we walked through the resources provided by the Alumni Office. Third, we did an overview of the areas of chapter maintenance and how they align with a volunteer position, and lastly we covered the expectations of chapters and the volunteer leaders.

We want to thank you for taking the time to go through this training, and for you commitment to taking on your new role. Be sure to look at the other resources provided on our website and reach out with any questions you may have. Thanks again… and as always GO DUUUKES!

Finalizing the module

I have been working on the online training module for our alumni chapter volunteers and I have been thinking a lot about how this will help provide a structure for how alumni volunteers are trained all across campus. One thing that has been brought to our attention recently is that there are alumni being engaged in volunteer opportunities all across campus, but no one is taking in to consideration how the university as a whole comes across when every office handles them in different ways. Ideally, there would be a dedicated staff person considering what each office was doing and trying to create consistencies across campus so that a volunteer could move seamlessly through different volunteer opportunities without having to learn new processes or procedures. 

This being said, I am still only in charge of one group of volunteers and the way that they are trained for the purposes of the Alumni Office. As I move forward, this training needs to be one of the best ones on campus so that volunteers are not attracted to other opportunities. I found a great online resources from The Community Toolbox about volunteer orientations. In the article, they say that in a volunteer orientation, you should cover:

• A description of your organization's programs, the community you serve, and your organization's relationships in the community.
• The structure of your organization, including an introduction to key staff members and an explanation of their roles.
• What is expected of the volunteers, including a general overview of the jobs they will be doing.
• A brief history of your organization. Help them understand your organization's mission, policies and main goals, as well as how the volunteer can contribute.
• An explanation of your organization's policies, rules, and procedures.
• A tour of the facilities. Make sure you show the volunteer offices, phones, rest rooms, parking, et cetera.
• The volunteer training schedule, if one exists.
• The volunteer evaluation and performance review system.
• Volunteer benefits. These may be tangible, such as free membership in a nearby gym or free coffee and doughnuts for breakfast. But the job also has more abstract benefits, such as personal growth or the opportunity to obtain new skills. For example, a group helping to build low-income housing may teach volunteers the basics of construction--a skill they will be able to use throughout their lives. A mentoring relationship might give the mentor the satisfaction of having helped a young person succeed in school, or having opened his protégé's eyes to new life possibilities.
• Emergency procedures, such as where to go in case of a storm, where to find the first aid kit, and related information, should always be explained.

 I think that most of these things that are applicable are covered in the training module that I have created. 

Online training tools

One thing I have become very appreciative of in my career is the prevalence of online resources for almost every program imaginable. Today, as I am working on my module, I realized that I did not know if Prezi could do animations or not. Instead of trying to figure this out on my own, I simply googled the question and came upon a youtube channel dedication to teaching people how to use different aspects of the program called Prezi School. The video walked me through exactly how to add animations to my presentation, which took all of about 3 minutes, versus me trying to figure it out on my own which would have taken much longer. In this way, I believe that having the skills to create these kinds of training videos is hugely important, because it allows you to make the learning process much easier for your learner. Additionally, these types of videos provide access to things that they wouldn't normally have access to- such as how to use a complicated program that was typically only taught in a class. This becomes so helpful when you're working with programs that have frequent updates- it allows you to pick and choose what you learn based on your own needs. 

Give Em the Pickle

I wanted to use a post to talk about the session that I teach through the JMU Training and Development Office called Give Em the Pickle. First off, this was a huge step for me- I've always wanted to lead one of these training sessions and last year was the first time I was able to do it. The content was pretty much already created, however, I got to make it my own by tailoring some of the slides and content based on my experiences. The topic is customer service, which is generally pretty applicable to most people at JMU since we all work with many different client bases. The T&D Office does a great job working with you to make sure you're comfortable as a volunteer facilitator, and even will create content for you if you need them to. This session is something purchased from a company, so I did not have the full liberty to completely change everything, but I was able to make some tweaks so that I was more comfortable with the session. What I love about facilitating training sessions is the opportunity to think on your feet and lead a group through a certain idea. Thankfully, I have a lot of experience with customer service and a lot of examples to share, however, I do find that it is still intimidating to stand in front of a group of strangers and talk through a concept. I am teaching this session again in a few weeks and need to practice so that I feel more comfortable with the content!

Reflection on HRD at work

I wanted to spend a little time thinking about the way that my view of work has changed since being in this program. I started at my job in November of 2011 and began the AHRD program in the spring of 2013. Since that time I have taken classes on instructional design, learning theories, consulting, and a handful of others and I have learned three main things that I can apply to my current job:

1. How applicable instructional design is for almost any job- I create a fair amount of training sessions/documents in my job, but the principles that I've learned will stay with me no matter what field I ended up in. Being able to create something that is visually appealing as well as effective at conveying information is important and will benefit me in work but also as I continue to present at conferences and put together presentations for work. Based on most conferences I've been to, most people do not consider instructional design when they are putting together their presentations.

2. Basing your work in theory makes it 100% stronger- I had never thought about theory before in relation to my work, but now I can't think of anything else when I am approaching ways to teach others. Being able to think about why something works, and the mental processes and methods that align with that reasoning has helped me to create better programs.

3. Consulting principles can be applied to almost anything- Since I've been in my job, I've been on two program reviews for JMU and have been so thankful for the consulting class I've taken in AHRD. Being able to conduct a performance analysis and create an intervention, or even just make suggestions based on what makes the most sense to fill the gap within the program is much more helpful than going in to these things without any knowledge of the process

I am very thankful for this program and what it has taught me so far.

Dual Coding

Dual coding relies on the idea that people perceive things visually and verbally. Almost everything we do/interact with stimulates us visually as well as verbally, and therefore both channels should be engaged when learning new information. There is a lot of information being conveyed through this module, and one way to prevent having too high of a cognitive load is to move some of the information to being processed verbally. As I start to build this module, I am thinking about what is actually being shown on the screen vs. what will be spoken verbally through the screencast. Here is an example:

A slide with information about communication strategies will be displayed with the following text:

Chapter Communications:

Listserv

Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)

JMUAA Emails

JMUAA Social Media

While these are on the screen, the learner will hear my voice saying the following text:

"There are many different strategies for communicating with your chapter. First there is your chapter listserv, which is comprised of a list of alumni who have indicted that they live within a 30 mile radius of your city. You can also use your social media channels to send out information about upcoming events, and share stories from other JMU sources. For example, the Alumni Association often posts stories about noteworthy alumni on their pages- you can share those with your constituents as well. In addition to your emails and social media, our office an provide nicely formatted emails, as well as courtesy posts via our social media about your events and programs."

This dual coding will convey more information and ensure that the learner is not overwhelmed.