Volunteer assignment:

Volunteer Management

 

PEOI is growing almost exclusively with the help of volunteers. In 2003, PEOI received 500 expressions of interest from an extremely varied audience. Almost all new volunteers require guidance. There are approximately a dozen projects on which volunteers may work on. Most tasks are already described in one of the "Volunteers Needed" tasks. Because all the tasks are virtual, volunteers are likely to feel be in a vacuum. They need someone to talk to in order to feel that the are not dealing strictly with a machine, and that their work is recognized and useful. In some projects, materials or additional information must also be sent to new volunteers.

Persons involved in volunteer management must provide the necessary coaching and motivation for the volunteers under their care to be as productive as they wish. The volunteer manager must be a highly outgoing and communicative individual. For most projects a knowledge of the subject matter or language are also necessary. As a leader of a group, the volunteer manager should demonstrated professionalism, have maturity and inspire respect. In practically all projects, volunteer managers do not need to write text, collect data, design materials or do other work, except for checking production quality, occasional editing and some proofreading. An ability to elegate work is essential, as is a talent for finding and utilizing volunteers' best capabilities. Attention to details and prompt follow-up are important.

To carry out the coaching task, a volunteer manager must be thoroughly familiar with the volunteer tasks of the project he/she is supervising, the procedures to use, the location of the needed information, and the state of the work in progress. In addition, it is also useful to have a general understanding of other projects and the process of development of PEOI entire organization. Finally, he/she must be interacting with other volunteer managers, share in a common vision, and report any problem or new idea pointed out to them by volunteers.

The projects for which volunteer managers are needed:
- English as a second language
- French as a foreign language
- German as a foreign language
- Vocational course design
- Health care curriculum development
- IT curriculum development
- Curriculum of other fields

Please bring your skills to help millions of disadvantaged students all over the world, who do not have access to traditional education because of where they live, time constraints or insufficient income. Thank you for your interest.

All tasks can be carried out from home on your own computer and at your own time. Volunteers can join in forum discussions of issues of common interest. Registration is necessary to carry out all tasks and to participate in a forum.

For more details, please write a short message indicating the project you are interested in supervising, attach a recent resume demonstrating your ability to carry out the task, and email to John Petroff listed in contact information.