In December 1996, I made the decision to commit time and energy to AFA. I wanted to be an engaged member of our association. This was not a hard commitment since I naturally enjoy getting involved and impacting an organization. I have valued organizing aspects of our Annual Meeting, serving as a committee chair and now as a board member. My thought is that most of our volunteers share similar feelings about their volunteer experience and with that in mind I would like to help you think about your involvement within AFA.

Why get involved? There are so many reasons for initially becoming involved. Some are simple: wanting to meet people, a mentor or colleague encouraged us to volunteer or perhaps we volunteered to develop professional skills. Some people don’t even ask "why" get involved, but rather "why not?"

I hope that you choose to become involved because you want to have a better AFA experience. Our December 2003 Membership Satisfaction Survey results determined that our members who volunteer are happier with their experience and are more committed to AFA. AFA can be more meaningful, easier to navigate and provide more "bang for your buck" if you are involved in some volunteer capacity.

Why stay involved? This may be a tougher question to answer. Once you've made friends or you've developed some skills to supplement your existing base, volunteers run the risk of feeling their experience has stalled or become stale. For those who have faithfully served AFA for a number of years, I would suggest that you allow yourself to be open to new volunteer experiences rather than continue in the same volunteer role.  

You may be at a crossroads wondering what you want your next volunteer experience to be. Some of the things for you to consider are:

• Am I happy in my current role?
• Could I see myself doing this for another year?
• Could I see myself supervising volunteers? Should I apply for a chair position?
• What do I see myself doing with AFA in the long term?
• Can I balance my commitment to work, personal life, and AFA?
• Can I devote the time necessary to AFA? (The greater the scope of the position, the more demanding the time commitment.)
• Has my volunteer experience been meaningful so far (and if not, PLEASE let us know)?
• Have I learned important skills? Can I learn more?

Asking these types of questions may help you determine your next step. There will be many opportunities for you to pursue a leadership role with AFA in the coming months. If you are interested in continuing in an appointed position such as a committee member or chair, you will need to fill out the Volunteer Involvement Form. There will be more information about this in the summer issue of Perspectives and the form will be available on the AFA website in mid-July. Please submit these forms in as soon as possible. You are encouraged to contact the people currently in the roles you are interested in to find out more about their responsibilities. I encourage you to use our online Leadership Directory or contact the Central Office to obtain contact information.

You may be interested in an elected position. These include the Executive Board and Regional Directors. You can get information about these positions on our website. We need people who are committed to the Vision and Strategic Plan of our association and who are willing to devote the time to make our profession better.

If you think that your time has passed or that it is someone else’s turn to lead AFA, I would challenge you to think again. We need long standing members of AFA to stay involved and contribute. It is my firm belief that in order for the Association to gain and maintain credibility with other higher education and interfraternal organizations our more seasoned members must lend their voice and energy to our volunteer and elected leadership positions. The knowledge-base these individuals bring to the table is invaluable. Their involvement in assessing the reality of the profession and creating a new strategic plan to meet the needs of our members will be the determining factor in the Association's success over the next 5 years. If you have been a member of AFA for 10 or more years, I strongly encourage you to consider running for an office.

When to take a break. At some point, we all need a break from volunteering. There are a lot of reasons: too busy, life changes, no longer interested, wrong positions, etc. Although our Association needs volunteers, it is more important that we have volunteers who will commit to the standards of the association and provide AFA with the time it takes weekly, monthly and throughout the year to fulfill their duties.

Take some time to reflect on the last six months. Have you been able to commit to AFA as much as you would have liked to? Have you been able to meet your deadlines? Are you invested in doing this for another year? Will your priorities shift? What are your professional plans? Have we provided you with a good experience (again, if your answer is no, then PLEASE tell us so we can address this)? How involved can you be in the future?

Conclusion. Thank you so much for taking the time to volunteer. You may have volunteered for many reasons. You may continue to help for those same reasons or for others. You may be evaluating if volunteering for AFA is still a priority. We hope it is. When the 2005 involvement form comes out next month, we will look for your submission. As nominations conclude on July 7, we hope to find a pool of great candidates to fill our elected positions. We are nothing without our volunteers.