Over the last five years, a cooperative effort by the Oregon Department of Education and Oregon State University Extension Family Community Leadership Program has trained over 500 volunteer coordinators in the "Building Bridges" curriculum. OSU faculty offers a statewide workshop that prepares volunteers to teach the volunteer management curriculum (Building Bridges).
Topics covered in the hands-on workshop include needs assessment, program design, marketing, application and interviewing, orientation and training, recognition, evaluation, risk management, record keeping, and resource development. While the training and many examples are geared toward volunteer situations in schools, the material is applicable to many other organizations that utilize volunteers.
This program has resulted in the development of a volunteer management teaching curriculum that can be used by any organization that utilizes volunteers. It is also an important part of the training program for master volunteers in the Family Community Leadership Program. Volunteers in schools are now more active in a variety of roles. They are now valued as partners and a resource to the school (teachers and principals). School volunteers are more than "room mothers," party coordinators, and field trip chaperones. Schools involve volunteers as educational resources (aides, fundraisers, and political advocates). The utilization of volunteers is limited only by the imagination of school districts. We have seen schools become more aware of potential risks and now have a functional risk management plan.
The volunteer training guide is designed to consider creative ways to include volunteers in the service delivery of programs. The guide is also helpful in the expansion or restructuring of an existing program. Even programs that have small numbers of volunteers would find the guide useful.
This effort has truly been a community partnership of volunteers and staff working together to help Oregonians. When volunteers are integrated into the organization, the rewards are great and all become stronger as salaried and volunteer staff prospers in a climate of mutual respect.