Thank you for your active involvement within AFA this year. The time and talent that you share with the Association will help us all build a brighter future for the profession of fraternity/sorority advising and for the overall fraternal movement. This e-newsletter, The AFA Volunteer, is designed to accomplish a few things: provide you with resources to assist in your development as a fraternity/sorority professional and your development as an AFA volunteer; provide you with information about the Association to assist you in framing your volunteer projects and objectives; and recognize volunteers who model performance above and beyond the call of duty. Articles in past issues cover a variety of topics from managing and motivating individuals/groups to creativity and strategic planning and can all be found online.

To learn more about AFA's commitment to our volunteers, you can read past articles about the Volunteer Management Plan and The Volunteer Experience. The Association is extremely committed to evaluating and transforming the volunteer experience to best align our practices with our strategic goals for the future. We are excited to continue improving volunteers' experiences in 2008!

Personal Productivity
We know that your "paying job" can be very demanding and that you give of your "free time" to volunteer for the Association. There may be some days (or weeks!) when you feel like you just can't make it all fit. Volunteers attending the Volunteer Development Program at the recent Annual Meeting benefited from a presentation by Ryan King and Sue Kraft Fussell, from Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, about productivity, efficiency and effectiveness, and project management. The handouts from this program can be found on the Volunteer Resources webpage.

Another productivity resource that Anne Arseneau, Volunteer Coordinator, and Amanda Bureau, Director of Member Services, have found useful is David Allen's Getting Things Done method. We have purchased the books and many other supplemental tools, but you don't have to spend money to learn the "GTD" method. There are many free articles, newsletters, and podcasts online; we recommend starting with this podcast of David Allen explaining the basics of GTD.

Volunteer Announcements
Status Reports due January 31: Volunteer leaders' first quarterly Status Reports are due January 31^st. Executive Board Members, Regional Directors, Committee Chairs, Liaisons, Editors, and Workgroup Chairs should submit Status Reports to their volunteer supervisors. The Executive Board and staff are committed to reviewing all Status Reports and providing volunteers with the guidance, feedback, and support necessary to accomplish their goals.

AFA Promotion at Regional Conferences: With the student regional conferences occurring during the next couple of months, some of you may be considering promoting the project or initiative that you are working on for AFA. Each conference has various forums through which AFA can be present. Whether you want to speak at the professionals’ lunch, handout postcards, or put a flyer on an AFA display, please contact the Regional Director for that region so he/she can be aware of your plans and assist with your promotional efforts. The following RDs are coordinating the “AFA presence” at each of the conferences:

• MGCA – Bob Dudolski & Angel McAdams Prescott
• NGLA – Stacy Kraus
• SEIFC/SEPC – Jennifer Levering
• WRGLC – Caitlin Roberts

Please also copy Jennifer Jones, Vice President for Membership, on your communication to the RDs.

Volunteer Website: The Getting Involved section of the AFA website has a great deal of information for current and future volunteers. You can find position descriptions, handouts from volunteer training programs, articles from past issues of The AFA Volunteer, the 2008 Standard Operating Procedures Manual, the Association bylaws, and much more.

AFA Archives: If you inherited boxes of outdated information from your predecessor, you may find that you don't need most of it to carry out your volunteer responsibilities. Once you figure out what is necessary for you to keep on hand, please send any historical information to the AFA Archives. You can find instructions for doing so on page 12 of the Standard Operating Procedures Manual.

• January 31st
• April 24th
• July 31st
• October 31st

These quarterly status reports are due directly to your supervisor (whether that person is a board member, staff member, or the Annual Meeting Chair). You should use the form that is Appendix H of AFA Standard Operating Procedures Manual (p. 35).

What happens to the quarterly status report after you submit it? Feedback is key! Your supervisor receives your quarterly status report in time for an upcoming Executive Board conference call or in-person meeting. The status of all committees, workgroups and AFA projects are addressed through these scheduled board conversations. Each supervisor is then responsible for providing you with any feedback on your status report – especially as it relates to your work fitting into the AFA “big picture.”

Some committees may be submitting monthly reports to supervisors (more frequently than quarterly). If this is the case with your particular reporting, please be sure to check with your supervisor to see how he/she wants you to merge the reports to avoid double paperwork! Remember that the quarterly reports will be read by more people than monthly reports and should be more broad in focus (i.e. address the status of ALL your projects/goals for the year, not just those things you have worked on lately).

Quarterly status reports are intended to provide you with a feedback loop and help keep your group moving forward with its important work. The Association is committed to making sure your volunteer experience is productive and meaningful to both the organization and to you!

Volunteer of the Month - Emily Perlow
Emily Perlow, Associate Director of Student Activities & Greek Life Programs at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, is a great example of a volunteer who used her volunteer role to learn a new skill. As part of the Technology Committee, she created a Flash presentation to help members learn more about the various resources and services on the AFA website. Emily had no experience with this technology prior to taking on this project, but she jumped in and learned how to use this software that she can now use in many other settings. Look for this Flash presentation on the AFA website in the near future. Emily also serves as the chair of the EBI Committee. Thank you, Emily!

Please contact the Central Office to recommend a Volunteer of the Month.