BLUEWATER
(As of October 22, 2001)
The official
Chapter policy for encouraging member participation includes a system for
tracking time volunteered in support of Chapter activities and for recognizing
such effort.
The
Volunteer Incentive Program encourages members to volunteer their time in
support of various Chapter activities by recognizing such support in a tangible
way. In order to track and reward such
efforts, volunteers will record their donated time on time sheets, get them
verified and save the verified time sheets for eventual turn-in for various
rewards. This method is similar to the
“green stamps” of days gone by (see below).
There
are several ways members can volunteer their time:
-
Elected Officer (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer,
National Director)
- Elected
Director at Large
-
Appointed Officer (Office Manager, Chief Mechanical Officer, Ticket
Agent, Program Chairman, Insurance Manager and others as determined by the
Board of Directors)
-
Assistant to an elected or appointed officer
-
As-needed for specific events (events planning, train and ground support
crews, etc.)
-
Ticket order processing and other administrative tasks at Chapter office
or elsewhere.
-
Work at the Saginaw roundhouse (car repair/renovation, roundhouse structure
maintenance, roundhouse cleanup, car cleaning, etc.) or elsewhere in support of
restoration/maintenance/operation of Chapter-owned or –controlled cars (does
not apply to members performing work on their own cars for which they are
contractually responsible).
Some
of these jobs, by their very nature, consume a great deal of time (often at
home), others less so. For the purpose
of simplicity, a certain amount of volunteer hours are pre-assigned for various
elected/appointed offices that have year-round responsibilities; these approximate the average number of hours
donated by a member while performing the duties of that position. All jobs other than those with pre-assigned hours
need to be verified by the supervisor in charge or a Chapter officer. The hours credited for various jobs are
further explained below.
The
Chapter has supervisors in elected officers and in all officers with annual
appointments, such as office administration, ticket processing, insurance, car
leasing, mechanical, property, food service, newsletter, events planning,
souvenirs and excursion train operations.
A
generic time sheet is used to track and verify donated hours. It has spaces for the member's name, the area
in which they worked, the number of hours (whole hours only) worked during a
specific period and a supervisor's/Chapter officer's signature. The burden is on the members to document
their volunteer time, get the sheets verified and accumulate these sheets
toward eventual turn-in for rewards.
A very
important point: members must check with
the appropriate supervisor before starting an activity for which they expect to
accumulate verified hours. Members
volunteering their time will be directed to the areas where the Chapter has a
current need.
Due to
the many variables involved, it is not practical to credit volunteers for time
traveled to/from a Chapter point of effort, even though this can be significant
for some people.
The
credited hours will not expire, but can be accumulated indefinitely like the
“green stamps” of old. Like the stamps,
the volunteers will have to safeguard their verified time sheets, as the
Chapter will not retain copies.
Volunteer
hours have no monetary or other value and do not constitute a claim or right of
action against the Chapter. The systems
for tracking and rewarding volunteer time are subject to revision by the Board
of Directors at any time, as necessary to meet Chapter needs.
(As of October 22, 2001)
Elected Chapter officials
will be credited with annual volunteer hours as follows (pro-rated for partial
years served):
President – 325 hours
Vice President – 300 hours
Secretary – 300 hours
Treasurer – 300 hours
National Director – 100
hours
Director at Large – 36 hours
Appointed Chapter official (annual
appointments) will be credited with annual volunteer hours as follows
(pro-rated for partial years served):
Archivist/Historian – 60
hours
Car Host Manager – 60 hours
Chief Mechanical Officer –
500 hours
Chief Videographer – 70
hours
Events Committee Chairman –
50 hours
Finance Committee Chairman –
50 hours
Food Service Manager – 100
hours
General Counsel – 60 hours
Insurance Manager – 60 hours
Lease Manager – 60 hours
Librarian – 60 hours
Membership Chairman – 100
hours
Newsletter Editor – 60 hours
Personnel Manager – 120
hours
Program Chairman – 70 hours
Sergeant at Arms – 36 hours
Souvenir Manager – 100 hours
Ticket Agent – 600 hours
Various as-needed positions:
Trip/Event Chairs and other personnel
will be credited with volunteer hours for time donated in support of various
activities as follows:
[“Excursion” is defined
as: 1)
an operation using Chapter cars or cars leased for the occasion, or
2) an operation using a chartered Amtrak
or VIA trainset on a special schedule.
An “overnight excursion” includes one or more nights at the
destination.]
-
Trip Chair,
one-day excursions, per operation (includes Saturday & Sunday excursions,
with or without side trips) – 120 hours
-
Trip Chair,
overnight excursions, per operation (one or more nights out, with lodging) –
160 hours
-
Working Train Crew Members, per day (all functions, includes bus/boat
escorts)
– 12 hours
-
Excursion Train
Ground Support Crew (day of trip) – 12 hours
[“Package trip” is defined
as a tour of one or more days including bulk purchase of motor coach, boat,
airline, Amtrak, VIA Rail or other public passenger carrier tickets plus
lodging, meals and other elements as particular to a given trip. Any lodging will be at double occupancy.]
-
Trip Chair,
one-day package trips (including bus, public rail/tourist rail operations, etc.
and multiple operations of same trip in a given year) – 120 hours
-
Trip Chair,
multi-day package trips (including air, bus, public/tourist rail operations,
lodging, etc.) – 160 hours
-
Trip escort,
one-day package trips (including bus, public rail/tourist rail operations, etc.
and multiple operations of same trip in a given year) – 12 hours
-
Trip escort,
multi-day package trips, per day (including air, bus, public/tourist rail
operations, lodging, etc.) – 12 hours
All other Chapter member
volunteers will be credited with volunteer hours according to their time
sheets. The supervisor of the activity
will approve hours in question:
-
Assistants to officers
by the officers in question (e.g. Treasurer, CMO)
-
Other volunteers
by the officer responsible for that activity
The Board of Directors may
reduce a volunteer’s credited hours if it determines that those hours were
inflated by the supervisor/official in question.
(As of October 22, 2001)
Chapter
Volunteers may exchange credited hours at any time as follows:
Rebate of Chapter portion of
individual membership dues (all classes) – 15 hours
Rebate of Chapter portion of
family membership dues (all classes) – 20 hours
Any T-shirt in current
souvenir stock – 25 hours
Any sweat shirt in current
souvenir stock – 30 hours
Any coffee mug in current
souvenir stock – 25 hours
Any Chapter-produced video
tape in current souvenir stock – 25 hours
Adult/child Coach ticket,
same-day excursion, face value less than $50 – 100 hours
Adult/child Coach ticket,
same-day excursion, face value $50 to $100 – 200 hours
Adult/child Coach ticket,
same-day excursion, face value greater than $100 – 300 hours
Adult/child premium seating
(as available) ticket, same-day excursion, face value less than $100 – 400
hours
Adult/child premium seating
(as available) ticket, same-day excursion, face value $100 or greater – 500
hours
Adult/child Coach ticket, overnight
excursion, including lowest priced level of lodging (double occupancy) – 800
hours
Adult/child premium seating
(as available) ticket, overnight excursion, including lowest priced level of
lodging (double occupancy) – 1,000 hours
Adult/child Coach ticket,
package trip, face value $50 or less – 200 hours
Adult/child Coach ticket,
package trip, face value over $50 to $100 – 300 hours
Adult/child Coach ticket,
package trip, face value over $100 to $250 – 500 hours
Adult/child Coach ticket, package trip, face
value over $250 to $500 – 800 hours
(As of October 22, 2001)
VOLUNTEER WORK
AREA:________________________________________
VOLUNTEER HOURS WORKED (WHOLE HOURS
ONLY):____________
DATES(S) WORK
PERFORMED:____________________________________
________________
____________________________
Date Signature of
Volunteer
________________
____________________________
Date
Signature of Area Supervisor or
Chapter
Officer
NOTE:
VOLUNTEERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PREPARATION, VERIFICATION AND
SAFEGUARDING OF THEIR TIME SHEETS; THE
CHAPTER WILL NOT RETAIN COPIES.