NMRT Board Member Final Report

1. Office Name: Member Services Director

2. Office Term (Date: Ex. 2002-2003): 2002-2003

3. Discuss/summarize your involvement with your committees this year:

Two chairs and one co-chair resigned during the appointment but replacements were found quickly. The Publicity committee needed a lot of guidance since it was a first time chair. The rest of the committee chairs were very competent so I only answered some questions and let the chairs take the lead.

4. Based on your year's experience in this office, what future directions do you see your office or NMRT needing to take this year or the following year?

The NMRT Webpage and the amount of work required needs to be addressed. How the Web committee handles the updates should be decided. Footnotes has also expanded to three online issues and one print issue a year. The committee workload should be monitored.

5. What tips or hints do you have that might help your successor carry out the duties of this office?

Some committee members do not know about NMRT-L or how to join. Make sure everyone gets on the list. Also, it is hard to judge when a chair needs extra guidance. By October Publicity, Mentoring, Resume Review, and Membership Program should have a plan in place for what they will be doing. If you don't receive any email communication from the chairs, find out if everything is okay. It takes time to get a committee working so don't wait until things need to happen within a few weeks to find out if the chair has a handle on everything.

6. Please address the role of the board member as coordinator. For example, with student outreach split among three committees reporting to three directors, somebody will need to take the initiative to make sure things are going smoothly. Another example would be projects between membership, alumni, and student outreach which need to be coordinated. How might activities such as this be handled by board members efficiently and smoothly? Your thoughts here will be most helpful for future boards.

The Web committee works with all the committees. The Member Services Director needs to be a spokesperson for the Web committee. Everyone needs to understand that changes take time. It is unrealistic to expect changes within 24 hours. At the same time if changes are not made in a timely manner, the Director needs to address the issue.

7. Date of report: July 15, 2003

8. Submitted by: Sally Gibson