Dear PSD
Volunteer,
The
Partnership Center, which oversees the District Volunteer Program, has switched
to a new software company for our online database
management. This new system makes it easier
for you to search for and be notified of volunteer
opportunities at your school, as well as update your user information and log
hours! Were very excited about this
new program, and hope that you will find it much easier to use!
We wanted to
get some very important information out to you regarding the new program.
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The new
software program (VMS) uses an email address as the User ID.
If you
entered an email address into our old program, that email address was converted
as your User ID in the new system.
(PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU CHANGED
EMAIL ADDRESSES, BUT DID NOT UPDATE THE VOLUNTEER SOFTWARE YOUR OLD EMAIL ADDRESS WAS
CONVERTED.)
If you
did not have an email address entered into the system, a new User ID was created for you.
It will look like this: Volunteer gwashington@psd.org.
Your password was converted as
such: first initial, last name, year of
birth. For example: gwashington1789.
For
those of you who might share an email address (husband/wife/family), the system
only allows one email address to be entered.
In this case, the family member occurring first, in alphabetical order
by first name, will be converted using your email address; the other will be
created with a new email address as indicated above.
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The new
program requires that you go into your record, at least once a year.
This
can be to verify that your contact information is correct, check opportunities,
log volunteer hours, etc.
If a
record is not accessed within the school year, the record will be deleted from
the system and re-registration will be necessary for future volunteering.
This
will help to ensure that we keep an accurate volunteer database with current
volunteers in place.
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We
highly suggest everyone go into their record and look at the My Preferences page.
This is
where you can enter in your preferences for volunteer opportunities.
When
opportunities come up at the school, they are entered into the system and you
can be notified (by email/phone) that there is a need.
There
is also a Help document, which can be accessed once you log on.
Its a
great reference tool to learn the new system!
Following
are excerpts from the online Help, which might be helpful to you now!
Q:
How do I let someone know about the volunteer opportunities I am interested in?
A: When you or your volunteer coordinator
registered you, your school
preferences and your
opportunity type preferences were specified. VMS uses those preferences when new
opportunities are created and likewise, uses them to keep you informed about related
opportunities. If you want to add/edit your preferences you can do so through the My Preferences page.
Q: How do I find out about volunteer opportunities?
A: You can find out about opportunities
through VMS by viewing your relevant opportunities, again based on your
preferences that you input. If you
learn about a volunteer opportunity through a school contact, it should appear
on your available opportunities page, if it fits with your specified
preferences. If you do not see an
opportunity on your Available Opportunities page you should contact your
volunteer coordinator to ask that they add your name to the volunteer list.
Q: When can I log my time for an opportunity that I worked?
A: After an opportunity is over you can
log your hours. You may also receive a
thank you and reminder from your opportunity coordinator to log your hours if
you have not already done so. If you
are participating in a recurring opportunity, then you can log your time after
the first occurrence of the opportunity.
Q: What if there is no specific opportunity for me to sign-up for or
log my time towards, but I worked as a volunteer anyway?
A: You can, and should log your hours as
a 'generic'
opportunity, which
means that VMS will attribute your hours to your school, but not to a specific
opportunity or event. You can type a
comment to let the coordinator know what you spent your time doing.
Updating
Your Profile
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An
account was created for you by EZVolunteer when you originally
registered to volunteer.
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You can
access your personal details by logging into the My Account area on the
district's website www.psdschools.org.
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You
will log in using your email address and your password. If you need assistance with this, please
contact the Partnership Center (490-3208).
If you did not create your own
password, then EZVolunteer automatically created one for you when you were
registered in the system, and sent to you with details about logging in.
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You can
update your account information and user details by clicking on the My User Information page once you login.
Your volunteer details, which includes data specific to your role as a
volunteer can be updated from the My Volunteer
Information page.
Logging
Your Hours
There are
two ways to log your hours in VMS.
Either as hours for a 'specific' volunteer opportunity or event, or as a
'generic' opportunity, if no opportunity is registered in the system.
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Specific
Opportunities/Events
You can track specific volunteer
opportunities by logging into My Account and clicking on Log Time/Cancel.
On this page you will see a list of opportunities that you have
been matched to at your preferred schools.
If an opportunity coordinator has been assigned to this
opportunity, then you can click on their name and send them an email
directly.
If you click on an opportunity that
you participated in then you will have the chance to log your hours.
VMS will not allow you to log time
for an opportunity that has not occurred yet.
If the opportunity recurs over
several days or weeks, then you can log your time for each different occurrence
of the opportunity, and return to the opportunity to add more hours until all
the occurrence have been completed.
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Generic
Opportunities/Events
A generic opportunity is how you log
hours for time you spent volunteering on any event, other than a Specific
opportunity.
To log time for a generic opportunity
you must first pick the school where you volunteered and then type in your
hours and any comments you may have about your volunteer experience.
Glossary
Accepted/Pending - Volunteer Status when you have indicated you can attend a
volunteer event, but before the opportunity coordinator has confirmed your
participation.
Available Opportunities - The specific opportunities that
you can volunteer to participate in.
Current Opportunities - Opportunities to which you have
been matched and confirmed to participate.
Generic Opportunity - An opportunity where you log hours if you do not
find a specific opportunity that you worked on.
Matched/Confirmed - You are matched to a volunteer opportunity when you
have "accepted" and the opportunity coordinator has
"confirmed" you to participate in an opportunity. If the coordinator knows their volunteers
well, some times they will/can match you to an opportunity without you having
to accept. Matched opportunities appear
on your Current Opportunities list on the Log
Time/Cancel page.
My Account - The module of EZCommunicator where you as a volunteer can
login and view your personal details, preferences and select to participate in
specific opportunities, as well as log hours for opportunities where you
volunteered.
Opportunity Status - The status
of an opportunity can be NEW, IN PROCESS, COMPLETED, CANCELED or CLOSED.
Opportunity Types - Opportunity
types are a way to categorize volunteer opportunities and help you be
particular about the opportunities you want to work on.
Notified - Volunteer status for a future opportunity that you can participate in
by accepting and then being matched by VMS or the opportunity coordinator.
Recurring Opportunities - A recurring opportunity is a volunteer
opportunity that you participate in on more than one occasion. While each occurrence could be listed as a
separate volunteer opportunity, VMS gives your coordinator a way to define a
recurring series of occurrences, and for volunteers to be matched to all
occurrences, at once. In addition, you
can log time for each occurrence through the same opportunity.
Registered v. Preferred Schools - A registered school is the primary
school you select to volunteer. This is
the school where you completed your registration form, and probably where you
child goes to school. You can update
your registered school as your child graduates from elementary to middle
school. Preferred schools are any other
campuses or locations that you also are willing to volunteer your time.
|
Your "registered school" should
always be on your "preferred schools" list. |
Volunteer Status - The different statuses of a volunteer with regard to a
specific opportunity. Volunteer Status
can be either NOTIFIED, ACCEPTED/PENDING, MATCHED, or THANKED
We realize
this is a lot of information...
If at any
time you need assistance; trying to log on, forgotten password, logging hours,
changing your profile, etc., you may contact your schools Volunteer
Coordinator.
If you do
not know who your Volunteer Coordinator is or need further assistance, please
contact, Cyndi Gile at the Partnership Center 490-3208, cynthiag@psdschools.org.
We want to help make the transition to the new program as easy as
possible!