The NER VOA is expanding its workforce to better accomplish the mission set forth in the Venturing SOP. This will provide more leadership opportunities for youth and adult volunteers, divide our workload amongst more hands, and encourage consistent volunteer involvement without incurring burnout.
We've developed this structure as an alternative to a traditional committee structure, as we believe it will show true servant leadership in putting all hands to work. Each of these new seats is open to youth or adult volunteers, and each holds a one-year renewable term. To keep our talent in the Councils & Areas, these positions may remain empty and are identified simply as an idea team. Our goal is to provide as many applicable opportunities as possible, while putting the needs of our Council and Area VOAs first.
Interested in joining the team? Email NERVE Advisor Christine at christine.luczka@gmail.com.
The VOA Mission Statement and Duties are included below for quick reference.
Appointment & Terms of Office
Appointing Subsidiary VOA Members (Source- VSOP, 2013)
All subsidiary NER youth positions to support the Region Venturing Officers’ Association will be appointed by the Region Venturing President with the approval of the Region Volunteer Advisor and the youth’s Council Scout executive. Subsidiary youth positions serve at the Region Venturing President’s pleasure.
All subsidiary NER adult volunteer positions shall be appointed by the Region Volunteer Advisor, be approved by the Region Venturing Staff Advisor and the candidate’s local Council Scout Executive, and serve at the Region Volunteer Advisor’s pleasure.
Appointment Process: Subsidiary NER VOA Members
The Region Vice Presidents (VP) and Region Associate Advisors (AA) will identify individual candidates to fill the functions under their respective leadership.
The Region Venturing President appoints youth to serve in subsidiary positions on the Region VOA with approval from the respective Region Vice President, Region Associate Advisor, and Region Volunteer Advisor.
The Region Volunteer Advisor appoints adults to serve in subsidiary positions on the Region VOA with approval from the respective Region Vice President, Region Associate Advisor, and Region Venturing President. Adults appointed to the NER VOA also require approval from the Region Staff Advisor.
The Region Venturing Volunteer Advisor acquires approvals from the individual youth or adult candidate’s Council Scout executive.
Appointment Process: Developing Teams
Each NER VOA Chair or Youth Chair has the ability to form teams to carry out specific tasks or gain assistance in completing their responsibilities.
Team members (e.x. Membership Team, Training Team, Website Team) are asked to serve by their respective Chair, and approved by their respective NER VOA VP, NER VOA AA, NER VOA President & NER VOA Advisor.?
Team members (e.x. Membership Team, Training Team, Website Team) are appointed as noted above.
Informal Appointment
Removal Process (Source- VSOP, 2013)
Any youth or adult may resign from office. The Region Venturing President or Advisor may also remove any appointed youth or adult from office at any time
Due to the short time frame of the Venturing youth officers or other adult volunteers, not completing assigned work in an acceptable time manner, or exhibiting behaviors inconsistent with the Scout Oath & Scout Law are grounds for removal.
With recommendations from the VOA Leadership, the Region Venturing Key 3 are the only leaders with removal authority. The Region Venturing Key 3 includes the Region Venturing President, Region Volunteer Advisor, and the Region Staff Advisor. Council Scout Executives will be notified if any member of their Council is removed from a Region Venturing office.
Job Descriptions
Admin Team:
NER VOA Area Operations Chair
This chair will be responsible for ensuring the continued development of VOAs within the Region, Areas, & local Councils.
Serve as a subsidiary member of the NER VOA and report to the NER VOA VP-Admin
Provide leadership, support, and solutions to Areas for creating & stabilizing Area & Council VOAs
Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for infrastructure development throughout the Region and provide regular reports to the VP-Admin.
NER VOA Awards and Recognitions Chair
This chair will be responsible for maintaining accurate & up-to-date Venturing awards and recognition details for the Region, Areas and local Councils, and developing materials to promote Venturing awards.
Serve as a subsidiary member of the NER VOA and report to the NER VOA VP-Admin
Serve as a knowledge & promotional base for current Awards information, resources, and enquiries.
Develop and deliver a package of basic information for core Scouting & Venturing awards, special interest awards, and where current information resources can be found.
Provide regular web articles re: Awards initiatives and announcements of awards presented.
Develop and deliver initiative(s) to encourage the presentation of youth achievement awards for presentation at Region, Area, and Council VOA events.
Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Awards throughout the Region and provide regular reports to the NER VOA.
NER VOA Membership Chair
This chair will be responsible for maintaining accurate & up-to-date Venturing membership records, awareness of National BSA recruiting initiatives and information, and developing/delivering membership plans to curb loss.
Serve as a subsidiary member of the NER VOA and report to the NER VOA VP-Admin
Serve as a knowledge & promotional base for membership & recruiting enquiries.
Develop and deliver a communication package promoting the National BSA Membership initiatives
Provide regular web articles re: National Membership initiatives and NERVE membership initiative results.
Develop NERVE initiative(s) for membership development for delivery to AVOA and VOA meetings, events and via other media.
Develop and distribute a membership tool kit (ideas and resources) for Councils & Crews to use.
Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for NERVE Membership and provide regular reports to the NER VOA.
NER VOA Alumni Chair
This chair is responsible for providing awareness and engagement opportunities to the NERVE Alumni.
Serve as a subsidiary member of the NER VOA and report to the NER VOA VP-Admin
Develop and maintain a NERVE Alumni register, including position(s) attained and updated contact information.
Develop a communication plan to promote and engage interested Alumni in Region and Area Initiatives and events.
Develop and maintain a list of potential Alumni engagement opportunities
Develop a communication process and provide regular Region and Area information / news to registered Alumni.
Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Alumni engagement and provide regular reports to the NER VOA.
Program Team:
NER VOA Training Chair
This chair is responsible for leading the Training Team, which consists of an Internal VOA Training Chair and External VOA Training Chair. The NERVE Training Team is responsible for maintaining and updating a database of training materials and events, and planning/running NER VOA Training events and continuining learning opportunities.
Serve as a subsidiary member of the NER VOA and report to the NER VOA VP-Program.
Serves as a NER VOA representative on NER Training Committee
Plan, promote, execute, and evaluate the NER VOA Annual Training Conference (VIA Internal VOA Training Chair)
Provide a year-round VOA training curriculum; researching and promoting training courses that can enable Venturer’s growth (Via Internal Training Chair)
Promote Venturing training events through a various set of communication tools so that they reach as many potential participants as possible.
Develop a calendar that includes all the training opportunities with links to each training events detailed information.
Encourage the Area’s to promote the events to the Venturer’s from each of the councils that they represent
Internal VOA Training Chair
This chair will be responsible for the Planning, Promotion, Execution and Evaluation of the NER Annual Planning Conference.
Serve as a subsidiary member of the NER VOA and report to the NER VOA VP-Program.
Plan, promote, execute, and evaluate the NER VOA Annual Training Conference
Provide a year-round VOA training curriculum; researching and promoting training courses that can enable Venturer’s growth
External VOA Training Chair
This chair will be responsible for maintaining a knowledge base and database of Venturing news, training materials, and events.
Serve as a subsidiary member of the NER VOA and report to the NER VOA VP-Program.
Promote Venturing training events through a various set of communication tools so that they reach as many potential participants as possible.
Develop a calendar that includes all the training opportunities with links to each training events detailed information.
Encourage the Area’s to promote the events to the Venturer’s from each of the councils that they represent
Outdoor Adventure Chair
This chair will be responsible for encouraging the development of outdoor program and participation, as well as the development, execution, and evaluation of a region-wide program event.
Serve as a subsidiary member of the NER VOA and report to the NER VOA VP-Program.
Assist in promoting Area and Council program events
Develop, execute, and evaluate a region-wide program event.
Communications Team:
NER VOA Website Chair
This chair will be responsible for developing, updating, and improving the NERVE website.
Serves as a subsidiary member of the NER VOA and report to the NER VOA VP-Communication.
Improve and maintain the NERVE Website
(Temporary) Main duties are to lead a “task force” (i.e., non-gold-loop wearing individuals) of both youth and adults who are skilled in the areas of website and content management in the take down, backup and restoration of a new, improved Region Website. Project is to adhere to the goals and aims of the region. Upon completion of the project the task force is to be disbanded.
(Permanent) Maintains, updates, backs up, and constantly improves the Region website content and design using the most up to date knowledge.
Support the Areas at large by providing a space for their own web presence on the region website.
The Website chair may be asked to educate areas on how to manage their own individual pages.
The Website chair may be asked to assist in the education of website management for areas, but is not responsible for individual Areas’ websites.
NER VOA Photography Chair
This chair will be responsible for producing digital photography content for the NER VOA.
Serves as a subsidiary member of the NER VOA and report to the NER VOA VP-Communication.
Produce raw video and photography content for use in venturing publications, social media, website, and marketing materials.
Not responsible for marketing materials, just raw content
All publications will be approved by the VP-Communication & AA-Communication.
If at all possible. the Photography Chair should be able to travel to multiple venturing events per year around the region to create content.
Liaisons
Liaisons represent a specific group with a relationship to the Venturing program at the region level and provide recommendations or support in the best interest of both Venturing and their respective teams. Example: Sea Scouting, Order of the Arrow, etc.
Insignia
Volunteers and national youth representatives who serve at the national, regional, and area level wear gold shoulder loops. This includes members appointed to the NER VOA as President, Vice President, Volunteer Advisor, Associate Advisor, and subsidiary youth & adult positions.
A national youth representative is defined as: The national Chief of the Order of the Arrow, the national Venturing President, and other youth who represent the youth membership of the Boy Scouts of America to the National Executive Board, the National Staff or to their Region.
The loops identify the wearer’s primary registered position in Scouting, and may be switched out based on the current role served. Position patches should match the shoulder loop worn, and, as a representative of a larger entity, those who wear gold shoulder loops should not wear Unit numbers.
At the conclusion of a volunteer’s service in such a position, the gold shoulder loops are removed and replaced by the proper shoulder loop representing their current status in the program.
For the purposes of this NER VOA expansion, those appointed to the subsidiary VOA positions of Chair or Youth Chair will wear gold loops to act as a representative of the NER VOA to the NER. Other individuals may be appointed to serve task forces or teams through Chairs and Youth Chairs and those individuals will not serve as representatives of the NER VOA to the NER and will wear instead the loops of their primary registration.
VOA Chairs and Youth Chairs will wear the “Regional VOA Member” position patch as well as the “Regional Venturing Officers’ Association” shoulder patch.
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The VOA Mission Statement and Duties are included below for quick reference:
VOA Mission Statement (Source - VSOP, 2013)
The mission of the national Venturing cabinet, NER VOA and area VOAs is to promote and support the Venturing program, utilizing a standard organizational structure that enables local councils to grow membership by advancing leadership opportunities through communication, program, and administration.
Duties of the RVOA (Source - VSOP, 2013)
Maintain a positive image of the Venturing program within the Region.
Strive to fulfill the mission statement within the VSOP.
Act as an example VOA for AVOAs within their region.
Provide direct support to each area in better developing their VOA and improving Venturing within each area.
Admin VP / AA - Area Operations Team
Provide training or orientation to help develop the newly selected RVOA & AVOA youth officers that will provide each Area with the knowledge & resources to effectively work with their councils.
Program VP / AA - Training Team
Understand the strengths, weaknesses, and future plans of each Area VOA and focus resources on helping them improve.
President & Advisor
Maintain at least monthly contact with each Area VOA.
President & Advisor
Encourage networking among each area within the Region.
President & Advisor
Conduct at least quarterly VOA meetings or conference calls.
President & Advisor