Building Accountability in Your Volunteer Staff
Ashley Barnes, M.S., Justin Dorough, Lauren Hall, Dan Mecham, B.S., Amanda Pfeffer, M.S., Hilary Schmitt,
Natasha Skaggs, Susan Vavra, B.S., CVA
Student Counseling HelpLine - Texas A&M University - Student Counseling Service
College Station, TX
Over the years the Student Counseling HelpLine has developed policies and incentives that have successfully built accountability in our volunteers. As with many volunteer programs, the HelpLine has sometimes struggled with keeping our volunteers invested and personally accountable for the program's success. There are many ways we accomplish creating ownership, several of which will be discussed by current HelpLine volunteers.
The first way we create accountability is by clearly stating our expectations. This begins before the training and continues throughout a volunteer's tenure on the HelpLine. For example, one expectation is to attend a weekly supervision meeting in which the volunteers process their calls. If a volunteer does not meet this expectation, he or she is not allowed to work a shift. Such consequences create accountability and therefore improve how the program functions.
Another way accountability is built is through recognition, done both publicly and privately. Recognition ranges from dinner at the Director's home to individualized thank you cards sent during Volunteer Appreciation Week. High priority is placed on making each volunteer feel valued and appreciated. Various other ways of acknowledging our volunteers will also be discussed.
Lastly we will discuss how including volunteers in both decision making and training creates ownership in the program. The decision can be as small as what soft drinks to stock in our refrigerator to as large as whether or not to invite a problem caller to no longer use our services. Volunteers are also encouraged to provide feedback throughout the training of new volunteers and have a voice in whether or not the trainees' skill levels meet the standards to be accepted for work on the HelpLine.
The Student Counseling HelpLine is sponsored and supervised by the Student Counseling Service at Texas A&M
University. The HelpLine provides crisis intervention, support, information, and referrals for a campus of
approximately 45,000 students, those concerned about these students, and community residents. It is staffed by a
dedicated and diverse group of undergraduate, graduate, and former students of Texas A&M University.
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