1. Office Name: Outreach Director
2. Office Term (Date: Ex. 2005-2006): 2005-2006
3. How do you plan to help committees address the four NMRT goals?
As Outreach director, I
oversee the work of the Student and Student Chapter Outreach (SASCO); Student
Chapter of the Year Award; Student Reception; Membership Relations; Membership
Promotion, Diversity, and Recruitment (MPDR); and Liaison Coordination and
Support Committees. All of the Outreach committees directly address one or more
of the NMRT goals. I'd like to help the committees devise new projects that
further address these goals, as well as NMRT President Nadine Flores's
presidential theme, “Outreach: Blending our Past and Present to Forge Our
Future.”
The first goal of NMRT is
“to structure formal opportunities for involvement and/or training for
professional association committee experiences on the national, state, and
local levels.” All NMRT committees give members formal opportunities for
involvement on a national level. The Liaison program gives members the
opportunity to serve as liaisons to ALA division and roundtable committees, as
well as general ALA committees. SASCO helps provide support to ALA student
groups, both by keeping them apprised on upcoming NMRT activities and by
providing them with advice and assistance in planning their own programs. The
Membership Relations committee welcomes our new members and contacts people who
have expressed interest in NMRT; and the MPDR committee actively promotes NMRT
membership and recruits potential NMRT members.
The second NMRT goal is “to provide a wide variety of programs to assist, encourage, and educate people who are new to the profession.” Other than the Student Reception, the Outreach committees do not present any programs. However, Membership Relations, MPDR, and SASCO promote NMRT programs as important membership benefits, and all Outreach committees provide support as needed.
The third goal, “to offer a variety of leadership training and opportunities to help those approaching the end of their NMRT eligibility to make the transition to future positions in the Association and the profession,” is most directly addressed by the Liaison program. This is an opportunity that should be widely promoted, particularly to members who are nearing the end of their membership eligibility with NMRT, because serving as a liaison can open doors to committee appointments in other divisions and/or roundtables.
Finally, the fourth NMRT
goal, “to develop and implement ongoing programs for library school students
that encourage professional involvement and networking,” is addressed by the
SASCO, Student Chapter of the Year Award, and Student Reception committees, who
work directly with students. SASCO works closely with library school students
throughout the year to provide them with support and information about NMRT.
The Student Chapter of the Year award is presented annually to the ALA Student
Chapter that has made the most significant accomplishments, and the Student
Reception is held every year at ALA Annual to give students an opportunity to
network.
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 plan to stay in regular contact with all Outreach chairs, and I'd like to find ways to connect chairs of committees serving similar groups (i.e., SASCO, Student Reception, and Student Chapter of the Year Award; SASCO and Membership Promotion, Recruitment, and Diversity, etc.).
I will directly contact the committee chairs at least once a month to remind them that I'm here and that I'm available to help out. I will provide input or guidance to the committees whenever it's needed, but otherwise I will tend to be a silent observer and let the committee chairs lead their committees. I intend to be accessible to all committee chairs and committee members, but I feel that there is no need for me to micromanage the committees' activities. Part of providing committee chairs and committee members with a good leadership experience is to step back and allow them to lead!
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?
This is going to be an interesting year for the Outreach committees. The split-up of the former Membership Promotion and Relations committee will likely result in more activities being completed during this committee year. However, the new Membership Promotion, Diversity, and Recruitment committee should be re-evaluated at the end of the committee year to ensure that it is able to meet its charge. I am concerned that it may still be too broad for the committee members to successfully accomplish all of their goals and projects. I also want to ensure that the diversity aspect does not fall by the wayside.
There are several Outreach committees that have contacts with groups outside of NMRT. Student and Student Chapter Outreach has contacts at all accredited and unaccredited library schools, and Liaison Coordination and Support has liaisons throughout ALA. These groups should work with other committees that have events requiring publicity to get the word out about NMRT events. With the disbanding of the Publicity committee, the Executive Board needs to find ways to handle the tasks that normally fell under the Publicity umbrella.
6. Date of report: August
24, 2005
7. Submitted by: Nanette Donohue (nwargo@champaign.org)