Peer responses 11/5/2023

HSE 304 CRITICAL THINKING WK 3 Responses

Think of your responses in terms of a contribution to a dialogue, not a writing exercise or a chat room.  Elaborate a single idea and keep your post short but concise as if you were holding a conversation with your classmate(s).   Incorporate what you have learned from the weekly reading material and from your own real-world experiences.  Don’t forget to use proper APA citations and references whenever necessary. Discussion must contain a response of at least 100 words.

Kevin:   Establishing a volunteer program entail establishing fair standards for volunteers, clearly stating the purpose and objectives of the volunteer program, involving paid staff in its design, putting in place a structure to house it and integrate it into the organization, designating leadership positions for the program, creating job descriptions for volunteer tasks, and creating supports and systems to encourage citizen participation and volunteer program management.

    Setting and sharing reasonable expectations is the first step to putting the volunteer program on solid ground. Any organization's leadership that considers introducing volunteers or enlists their help needs to have reasonable expectations about the potential benefits and challenges that come with working with unpaid labor.

    A well-thought-out volunteer program also makes better use of paid staff time possible. Highly skilled service providers can focus on jobs and responsibilities that best suit their experience and background by having volunteers take on routine duties. Volunteers enable organizations to accomplish more with the resources at their disposal.

    An organization must integrate the volunteer program with its organizational structure in order to fully recognize and reap the benefits of volunteerism.

     There must be a well-known, visible leader for the volunteer program. The creation and staffing of a role with overall accountability for volunteer leadership, management, and representation benefits all program functions.

    A good volunteer program should create career ladders for volunteers, a series of roles that lead to more chances for individuals to advance personally within the volunteer program.

     The job description is a crucial component of an effective volunteer program. It serves as the main means of enlisting volunteers, comforting staff members, and attending to the needs of the organization and its clients. The information in the job description serves as the foundation for all of the key volunteer management procedures, including recruiting, interviewing, placing, supervising, training, and evaluating.

    The organization should set up orientation sessions for both new hires and volunteers that cover a range of subjects, including the agency's general goals and specific missions, as well as its customs, values, and clientele. They should also cover operating guidelines, policies, and standards governing volunteerism, as well as the roles and interactions between paid and unpaid staff.

Reference

Connors, T. D. (2011). The Volunteer management handbook: leadership strategies for success (2nd ed.). Wiley Professional Development (P&T).

Quentin:    Logistics are always going to be a vital part of any volunteer program. It will definitely be addressed in the mission planning phase. Logistics includes things like movement, mission, housing, funding, and roles. The organization must first address and confirm what it expects from its volunteer program. This means establishing a clear mission statement for the volunteers. This also includes what shortcomings or challenges that may be faced by the volunteers like injuries or sicknesses. There must be a medical plan as well.

            Funding is a key element when planning a volunteer assisted mission. Funding is crucial to providing the volunteers with the proper safety equipment needed to accomplish a certain mission. Things like gloves, safety goggles and reflective vests may be needed for example. Funding also directly affects the housing and feeding of volunteers. There must be adequate housing and meals for volunteers.  There are federal and state regulations that mandate living space and meal requirements for volunteers.

            Establishing leadership is definitely one of the most vital components to volunteer mission success. There must be clear leadership established. This gives both paid staff and volunteer staff a definite point of contact for questions about logistics and mission key points. The main leadership position is called the Manager of Volunteer Resources. This can be an official appointment or an additional duty that is energized only when volunteers are present. Depending on the number of volunteers there may be other volunteer leadership roles established to ensure mission accomplishment.

Connors, T. D. (2012).  The Volunteer Management Handbook: Leadership Strategies for Success. Wiley. 

Textbook : Connors, T. D. (2012).  The Volunteer Management Handbook: Leadership Strategies for Success. Wiley.

Rubric Below

1. Critical Thinking Exercise Rubric

Critical Thinking Exercises will be graded using the following criteria:

Criteria	8 points	16 points	24 points
Main Topic Relevance	Discussion post did not address the main topic.	Discussion post partially addressed the main topic.	Discussion post addressed the main topic.
Criteria	4 points	8 points	12 points
Main Topic Critical Thinking	Main points were poorly developed ideas which showed little or no evidence of critical thinking.	Main points were apparent with some supporting details provided that demonstrated some critical thinking.	Main points were well developed with substantial, relevant supporting details that demonstrated critical thinking.
Criteria	4 points	8 points
Main Topic Timeliness	Created new Discussion Topic after initial due date.	Created new Discussion Topic on or before initial due date.
Criteria	2 points	4 points	6 points	8 points	10 points
Main Topic Post Length	Less than 100 words.	100-149 words.	150-199 words.	200-249 words.	250+ words.
Criteria	8 points	16 points
Peer Response Engagement / Topic Relevance	Dialog with one peer was relevant to the topic.	Dialog with two peers were relevant to the topic.
Criteria	2 points	4 points	6 points
Peer Response Length	No dialog with peers met the required word length of 100+ words.	Dialog with one peer met the required word length of 100+ words.	Dialog with two peers met the required word length of 100+ words.
Criteria	4 Points	8 Points	12 Points
APA Style: In-Text Citations and References	APA style was used with frequent and significant errors. In-text citations do not conform to APA style AND/OR references are not cited correctly AND/OR there is no accuracy between in-text citations and the references.	APA style was used with some errors. Some in-text citations conform to APA style AND/OR some references are cited correctly AND/OR there is some accuracy between in-text citations and the references.	APA style was mostly used accurately and consistently. Most or all in-text citations conform to APA style. Most or all references are cited correctly. There is accuracy between in-text citations and the references.
Criteria	4 points	8 points	12 points
Overall Mechanics / Professionalism	Critical Thinking Exercise posts contained many APA, grammatical, spelling, capitalization, and/or punctuation errors, demonstrating a lack of professionalism. (6 or more errors)	Critical Thinking Exercise posts contained some APA, grammatical, spelling, capitalization, and/or punctuation errors, distracting from professionalism. (3 to 5 errors)	Critical Thinking Exercise posts were written in a professional manner using APA guidelines and were mostly free of grammatical, spelling, capitalization, or punctuation errors. (Less than 3 errors)