Volunteer Teachers

DMS General
#1

Where is the discussion on how we get people to volunteer to teach since we won’t be able to pay honorariums on as many classes?

I see tons of flippant posts saying back in my day no one took an honorarium, which is great, but either you are telling us to get off your lawn, which means no one will teach, or you are missing the fact that today is not back in the day. Today we have a culture where people EXPECT honorarium, if we are to get away from that, what is the path?

We need woodshop safety classes taught, if they are taught, then … Yet we turn around and harrass the chair who taught them so often we never had anyone waiting for a class. I’ve seen multiple people so bold as to imply (imply is a pretty soft word here) that his teaching is the main reason we have a cash flow problem. Now we have no classes on the calendar. If the woodshop closes because no one is teaching basic safety makerspace closes, how many members sign up and stay on mainly because of woodshop?

When we do have an honest, adult conversation about how we get volunteers to teach and actually make them feel appreciated and honored? Put all the ill will aside and discuss a path forward. How much would a monthly dinner for volunteer teachers cost? A lot less than 1 honorarium payment each. How much would it cost to put a picture of our volunteer teachers on a large thank you wall in Makerspace? How much would it cost to have a yearly awards dinner where we honor all those who have taught and give out a trophy to the top 3 volunteer teachers? There are a truly unending number of ways to show appreciation to our teachers but instead we decide to bicker…

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Woodshop/Honorarium discussionary?
#2

Dinner is a good idea.

A month of free membership is an excellent one. A huge section of teachers take hinorium for themselves to the extent necessary to pay their dues. Data seems to support that too just going off the Quickbooks.

Special FREE storage areas or bins for teachers

A shirt

A raffle for prizes or even money

Here’s the problem. The goal post what can and can’t be afforded keeps being moved. Nobody knows the lay of the land so even having a discussion about what we should and shouldn’t be doing can only be done in the mist. The Meetup Teacher Coalition was even told to hit the brakes until it was blessed by the BoD. Rumors are flying all over what the new honorarium packages will be, so many of the empty days on the calendar are a reflection of people waiting and watching before they decide what to do. The recent exodus of chairs and hearing the $50 either/or proposal was rejected doesn’t send a lot of confidence

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#3

As of today, what is the honorarium for required and non-required classes that meet the requirements?

#4

Last I heard it was going to be a $25/25 but it has been 10 minutes and there is still not a BoD agenda item up so who knows. I don’t think the comittees even have their numbers yet of how many slots they’ll be allowed

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#5

Thank you for posting this. I absolutely agree with the notion of honoring and recognizing our volunteer teachers (within the boundaries of an eventual budget of course). I like the idea of a ‘Teacher wall’ and perhaps a Teacher of the Month award as voted on by the students/members (details TBD). Perhaps that teacher could be additionally recognized in some way.

Speaking for myself as a member, I am less concerned about what has happened in the past with teacher honorariums. I am MUCH more interested in reinvesting in ‘the volunteer mindset’ while operating within the boundaries of a sustainable (albeit smaller, regulated version) of the honorarium program.

But this is not a discussion about honorarium. It’s about getting all of us back on the path toward a unified vision for the Dallas Makerspace, and to do that we absolutely need to recognize, honor and support our volunteers (teachers, HA’s, Moderators, expansion leads, spreadsheet weed-sifters, data analysts, Chairs, Vice-Chairs, and dare I say it?..Officers and Directors).

I like the idea of a crowdsourced recognition approach. Perhaps a HAAS-generated award? A CNC’d plaque for meritorious service? The possibilities for this at DMS are seemingly endless. I’m excited by the idea.

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#6

Let’s try to keep today positive if at all possible. I would much prefer constructive ideas for recognizing teachers today as a first step.

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#7

THANK YOU! This is the kind of post I hope and expect to see from our BOD. This makes me want to volunteer to push this effort. What do you feel are the next steps?
Do we need a BOD agenda item to set a budget for volunteer recognition? Maybe $500 a quarter not to be spent in monetary rewards. This is not honorarium, I don’t want to see us giving a $50 gift certificate, I think the idea of an awards banquet, or a dinner, t-shirts, trophies, etc… is all better at showing appreciation.
My wife works in non-profit and I am happy to pick her brain about how they recruit and recognize their volunteers.

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#8

I didn’t mean it negatively. I just mean we don’t know our budget for this and all recognitions will cost somebody something. Can you spitball us a general idea of what we have to work out of? Like, motivate teachers with 2k or less kinda thing? I’d like this to be productive too. At this point all and sundry know I’m passionate about the education wing of the space. If you give us a framework I’m actually hoping we can get some motions on the agenda.

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#9

Should we create a “Volunteer Recognition” group at DMS? We can have monthly meetings and a budget with the goal of inspiring volunteerism. If nothing else it shows DMS values and appreciates our volunteers and is putting effort towards recognition.

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#10

Another set of possible ideas…

special parking spot for recognized volunteers/honorariumless teachers

Credits for recruiting other members (ala $5 like uber does)

Scholarships for outside learning (hey! You teach big heapum laser. Here’s a book/video/other course etc. To expand ya)

Harry Potter style house points system (honorarium free classes gets you points. sign ups who listed that comittee as their recruiter is points. Spot checks like cleanest/prettiest area gets points. Volunteers can log their hours and credit to comittee of choice to get points too.

Winning comittee members get some kind of prize like six flags tickets or a bonus put into their comittees account)

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#11

The O&D team would very much like to engage in these fulfilling endeavors. These are great ideas!

We (BoD) have had (and will have) to make some very hard, high profile decisions which will not sit well with everybody. We will do our best to remain above the fray, but we are also volunteers, makers, creatives, and yes…human beings.

Now…back to the topic at hand.

We also could see if some portion of Committee funds (a very small fractional percentage) could be used for teacher recognition programs. Perhaps in the longer term, when revenue stabilizes and can be confidently maintained, a general fund allotment could be considered.

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#12

Group might be a dirty word lol. @Scott_Blevins is there a reason not to make the establishment of a Volunteer Coordnation and Recognition Comittee an agenda item for the upcoming BoD?

EDIT…I’m guessing in current financial climate we wouldn’t have a stipend YET but it would make us eligible to self fund with classes

#13

The more ideas the better!

#14

You have every right and ability to propose such an option. :slight_smile: i hope you do.

#15

When I joined I took the tour. The tour guide (sorry I can’t remember who, maybe @Adam_Oas?) put it this way: “teach one class a month and your dues are covered.”

Instead of limitless payment for “volunteering,” why not use that as the rule - if you teach in a given month (and meet the Honorarium requirements), your dues are covered. If you want to teach more you can get reimbursed for your supplies. Heck maybe even reimburse teachers for mileage, although that’s deductible on your 1040 if you itemize and included in the standard deduction if you don’t.

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#16

10 4. I’ve never birthed a comittee so wasn’t sure what the rules were for it :rofl:

#17

It may come in some form that is not a formal Committee. This proposal by Ryan and you (et.al. recently) will likely be guided by the hand of several who have various views on the ‘scope’ and ‘approach’ for carrying out Teacher/Volunteer recognition.

There will be some sausage making involved, but it’s absolutely the right thing to do IMHO as a member.

#18

I think this has to be pushed, and I think a recognized group would be best, but if not, maybe a SIG under PR? Either way I will work on a BOD proposal as I think inspiring and recognizing volunteers will end up saving much more money and putting DMS back on the right path than any other measures.

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#19

I love the idea of reserved parking, it is FREE, it can be re-assigned each month, we can make our own sign for it. These are the kind of small token ideas that actually make people feel appreciated.

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#20

I will write up an initial draft of a BOD motion and PM it to you, we can team up on this.

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