NMRT Board Member Planning Report

1. Office Name: Shelly McCoy, Director of Outreach

2. Office Term (Date: Ex. 2002-2003): 2003-2005

3. How do you plan to help committees address the four NMRT goals? (If it does not apply, put N/A.)

            I plan to help Membership Promotions and Relations committee structure formal opportunities for NMRT Alumni members to still participate and know what is going on in NMRT and communicate to student chapters, thus offering a variety of leadership training and opportunities to help those approaching the end of their NMRT eligibility make the transition to future positions in the association and the profession. I plan to help MPR, Orientation, SASCO, and Student Reception Committees provide a wide variety of programs to assist, encourage, and educate those new to the profession to structure formal opportunities for involvement and/or training for professional association committee experiences on the national, state and local levels; and develop and implement ongoing programs for library school students which encourage professional involvement and networking. The Diversity committee helps with all of these goals by making sure what we do and who we are is diversified.

4. How do you plan to create a positive committee experience? What type of support do you plan to provide to chairs and committee members, and how often do you plan to provide such support?

I try to create a positive experience by staying in touch with committee chairs. Since I am copied on their committee e-mails, I try to answer any questions they ask and also ask questions of my own (If I don't understand something, probably some of the committee members do not as well). I try to stay in touch with the on at least a bi-weekly basis, or more if questions are asked of me. I also ask questions of the Pres. of NMRT when I cannot answer them. Otherwise, I will try to meet each committee chair(s) at Midwinter and offer my support for any program tasks that need done there or at Annual.

5. What future directions do you see your office or NMRT needing to take this year or the following year? What kind of strategies do you envision for addressing projects that affect committees outside of your supervision?

We have all been talking about having a NMRT alumni membership status, so I think the organization will go that direction as a way to branch out. I am also pleased that Membership Promotion and Relations will have the list of new members to ALA that are not members of NMRT, so that we can introduce ourselves to these members.

There is much overlap in committee work and in committees that need to work together. I think that as long as the committee members have the information needed: my e-mail, the other committee chairs names and contact info, then the committees will network with each other as needed. If I see something that will or should affect another committee, I can alert the chair to this and ask that this other committee be contacted. This has already happened in some of the initial introductions and goal planning for this year.

At this point, I am just disappointed with the fact that there is no link on our website under Outreach Director –so there is no description of this office. I have brought this up to Beth because there had to be a link at one time…

6. Date of report: 9/30/03

7. Submitted by: Shelly McCoy