guide to volunteer and advanced training hours for...

Guide to Volunteer and Advanced Training

Hours for TMN-COT

Using Texas Master Naturalist Volunteer

Management System (VMS) Compiled by Peggy and Pete Romfh 01/15/17

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Hours Tracking Process Summary

1. Define new users and user profiles in VMS [and links to existing TPWD users] (done by COT Admin)

2. Log on to VMS portal and use EDIT MY PROFILE to update password, contact information, and other profile information. [see p. 3 and pp. 5-6]

• VMS Portal: txmn.org/tmn-hours-entry/

• Portal Link from www.tmn-cot.org/ and click on VMS login

3. Learn about volunteer and advanced training opportunities (ongoing process) and VOLUNTEER or TRAIN!! Document your time. [see p. 4]

4. Review and understand TMN COT activities codes (AKA opportunities) to use as a reference when entering hours for volunteer or advance training activities. [see p. 4]

5. Log on to VMS portal and use REPORT MY SERVICE to submit volunteer hours (opportunity type, date, hours, and description of service or advanced training). [see pp. 5 – 18]

6. Log on to VMS portal and use VIEW MY LOG BOOK to review accuracy of entries, edit past unapproved entries, or review total hours accumulated by specified date range. [see pp. 5-6 and 9-21]

Glossary AT = Advanced Training

COT = Cradle of Texas

TMN = Texas Master Naturalist

VT = Volunteer Time; AKA Service Hours

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WHY HOURS ARE TRACKED

1. Chapter

management

- Info to COT and state TMN about where members

are volunteering and total volunteer hours

- Info as to who the active members are and who is

eligible for certification or award levels

2. Training

documentation

- Documents initial training hours and topics

3. Initial certification - Tracks who has met requirements of 40 hrs VT and 8

hrs AT [in addition to initial training]

4. Re-certification - Tracks who has met annual requirements of 40 hrs VT

and 8 hrs AT and is eligible for annual re-certification

and pin

5. Awards - Tracks who has met lifetime VT hours of 250, 400,

1000, 2500, 4000, 5000, 10,000, 15,000, or 20,000 and

is eligible for recognition and special dragonfly pins

6. State TMN - Provides data for annual reports and recoup of federal

dollars ($23/hr. for most activities)

Est. Time/Week: 5 – 15 min.

Time must be entered within 45

days of volunteering or training!!!

You may not enter dates in the future. If you haven’t

yet volunteered for the event, don’t report the time.

2. Edit/Update Profile

Logon to VMS Portal. Select EDIT MY PROFILE

Step 1 Waivers and Agreements:

◦ Background Check

Must check YES.

Driver’s license number , state, and legal name must be provided..

◦ Media Waiver: OK to be photographed during activities

◦ Alternative Workforce Waiver: Hold harmless clause for state TPWD

Step 2 Login and Personal Information

◦ Login: already assigned; DO NOT CHANGE.

◦ Password: OK to change; make sure you save it!!

◦ Personal information: name, birth date and gender. Enter or update for any changes.

◦ Address: Enter or update for any changes.

◦ Contact information: phone, email, best time to contact. Enter or update for any changes.

◦ Note – any time your personal information changes, edit your profile again.

Step 3 Languages, Work History & Experience, and Emergency Contact Information

◦ Languages: (optional) enter any other language than English you can speak.

◦ Work History & Experiences: (optional) enter work history, reference information and license, certifications, or skills

◦ Emergency Contact Information: enter name, phone and relationship of primary and secondary emergency contacts.

Step 4: Ethnic Background

◦ Select ethnicity from drop-down box.

Step 5: Digital Signature

◦ Select [Accept and Finish] to approve your profile entries.

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3. Learn about Volunteer and/or Training Opportunities

During initial training

From COT web site partner information and calendar http://www.tmn-

cot.org

At general meetings

From other COT members

From other resources on web or community (requires pre-approval)

Then volunteer or attend training.

Keep track of your hours until you can enter them into VMS.

Enter into VMS ASAP – don’t wait until the 45 day deadline!

You have 45 days to get hours entered into VMS.

Log ‘em or Lose ‘em!

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4. Identify Opportunity Code Category to Match

Your Volunteer Hrs or Training

See separate handout for details and examples.

See also COT web calendar. Codes have been identified for all common

activities.

Summary of most-often used codes:

◦ AT: I received Training [see p. 7]

◦ CB: Chapter Business [see p. 8]

◦ FR: Field Research/Citizen Science [see pp. 9 – 10]

◦ IT: Initial Training (used by interns only) p. 11

◦ PO: Public Outreach [see pp. 12-14]

◦ RM: Managing Natural Resources [see pp. 15-16]

◦ TR: I Trained Others [see pp. 17-18]

NOTE: Other codes may be added for special projects.

5. Log on to VMS Portal

Go to www.tmn-cot.org/ and select VMS login.

Or go to txmn.org/tmn-hours-entry/

If you currently report time to TPWD (e.g. Sea Center Texas, use your

current TPWD UserID and Password.

If you are a new user, you will have a defined VMS user ID that MUST

NOT BE CHANGED:

e.g Kelly Doe UserID will be: Cradle-KDoe

If you are a new user, you will have a starting password provided to you

that you may change in the user profile section

e.g. Kelly Doe starting PSW may be: CradleKelly7

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5. VMS Dashboard Screen

Menu icons/buttons used will be

◦ Report my Service

◦ View my Log Book

◦ Edit My Profile

When you are in REPORT BY SERVICE or VIEW MY LOG BOOK or

EDIT MY PROFILE, there will always be a link that says RETURN TO

DASHBOARD.

[Your Name]

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Report Your Service or Training

Hours – AT: I Received Training

Select opportunity type from drop-down list.

If you select AT: I Received Training (Advanced Training) TMN AT

Report Hours

◦ Enter Service Date or select from Calendar Icon

◦ How many hours was the training?: e.g. 2.0

◦ Describe your service or training: e.g. COT meeting: Monarch

presentation

◦ Select OK to accept entry

◦ Note – travel hours to and from the training site MAY NOT be included in the

total hours

◦ Note – if you attend a multi-day series of workshops, each day must be entered

separately. However, if there are multiple classes or workshops on the same day

you may report total time spent during the day. Optionally, you may enter each

workshop within a day separately.

◦ Note – in the description field, provide name of organization providing the

training and the topic and the location for non-COT events.

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Report Your Service or Training Hours –

CB: Chapter Meetings and Admin

If you select CB: Chapter Meetings and Admin (Chapter Admin) TMN

Admin Report Hours


◦ How many hours did you volunteer?: e.g. 1.0

◦ Select type of Chapter Administration from drop-down box, e.g.

Chapter Meeting that most closely matches what you did

◦ Describe your service or training: e.g. COT Chapter meeting March

◦ (opt.) What was the total number of miles you drove round trip?


◦ Note – travel hours to and from the Chapter meeting site or other chapter

Admin site may be added to the volunteer hours but travel hours CANNOT

EXCEED the volunteer hours, e.g. 1.0 hrs volunteering for chapter business and

1.25 hrs travel time may only be reported as 2.0 hrs of total volunteer effort.

◦ Note – description field is somewhat redundant to the Chapter Admin

drop-down box, but is required to allow the opportunity for data

reporting

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Hours – FR: Field Research

If you select FR: Field research/Citizen Science (Service Project) TMN Field Research Hours

◦ Note – this is the only opportunity type that allows accumulated hours for a date range to be entered. We suggest that entries are grouped for no more than one week at a time.

◦ Enter Start Date for Volunteer Service or select from Calendar Icon

◦ Enter End Date for Volunteer Service or select from Calendar Icon

◦ How many hours did you volunteer?: e.g. 5.0 [note – total up the hours volunteered over the date range you listed.

◦ Describe your research e.g. Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC): Freeport

◦ (Opt.) What was the total number of miles you drove round trip? e.g. 100 miles


◦ Note – for field research conducted in the field, the actual hours in the field plus travel time may be reported. Travel hours to and from the field research site may be added to the volunteer hours but travel hours CANNOT EXCEED the volunteer hours, e.g. 0.75 hrs volunteering on a field research project and 1.0 hrs travel time may only be reported as 1.5 hrs of total volunteer effort.

◦ Note – for Citizen Science projects to count, there is a requirement that the research/observations MUST BE reported to the sponsoring organization (such as Audubon) and the data or photos published.

◦ Note - For projects that involve reporting with species photographs and demographic data to organizations such as wildflower.org, field time is generally not counted as it often occurs at the same time as a volunteer activity or a personal photo outing. A maximum of 15 min./reported photo may be reported in VMS. An exception is made when the field collection of specimens is part of, for example, a defined USFWS project. In which case the field time is also counted.

◦ Note – field research projects not listed on the COT VMS Activity Code sheet must be pre-approved before hours can be reported.

◦ Note – for home/backyard citizen science projects such as the Cornell Backyard Bird Count, a maximum of 2 hours/week may be reported.

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Hours – FR: Field Research

FR: Field Research Time Entry Screen

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Hours – Initial Training

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If you select Initial Training: TMN Initial Training Hours

• Enter Service Date or select from Calendar Icon

• How many hours was the training?: e.g. 2.0

• (opt.)What did you think of the training? Choose response

from drop-down list.

• Describe your training: e.g. “Entomology presentation, AgriLife” ;

e.g. “Gulf/Dunes Field Trip, Quintana”

• Note - A separate entry must be made for the a.m. presentation

and the p.m. field trip.

• Note - The training director will announce the hours that are

allowed for training sessions. Travel may not be included in initial

training hours.

• Note - Once Initial Training is completed, this opportunity will be

removed from the intern’s opportunity options.


Hours – PO: Public Outreach

If you select PO: Public Outreach (Service Project) TMN Report

Hours


◦ How many hours did you Volunteer ?: e.g. 2.0

◦ Describe your service or training: e.g. GCBO: Spring Fling at

Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary or TMN-COT: Festival of Lights,

Lake Jackson

◦ (opt.) What was the total number of miles you drove round

trip?

◦ Note – the next 3 questions may only be answered once per event. An

answer of Yes to any of them will prompt a sub-set of additional questions

for which data must be provided. Do not answer these 3 questions unless

you are assigned to report the data for the event.

◦ Do you have impact data to add to the opportunity?

◦ Do you have new acreage to report?

◦ Do you have new trail miles to report?


◦ Note – travel hours to and from the volunteer event may be added to the

volunteer hours but travel hours CANNOT EXCEED the volunteer hours,

e.g. 1.0 hrs volunteering and 1.25 hrs travel time may only be reported as

2.0 hrs of total volunteer effort.

◦ Note – if you volunteer at Sea Center Texas and want to report your

volunteer hours to TMN-COT instead of to Sea Center, you MUST report the

hours using a separate Public Outreach opportunity code that will be

defined for you by the COT Admin VMS team. It will show up in your

opportunity code drop-down list as

PO SCT for TMN Hours (Service Project )

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Hours – PO: Public Outreach

PO: Public Outreach Time Entry Screen

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Opportunity Impact questions – do not answer unless

assigned to do so

Report Your Service or Training Hours –

RM: Managing Natural Resources

If you select RM: Managing Natural Resource Areas and Wildlife

(Service Project) TMN Report Hours



◦ Describe your service or training: e.g. Brazos Bend State Park:

Habitat maintenance and removal of invasive species

◦ (opt.) What was the total number of miles you drove round

trip?

◦ Note – the next 3 questions should only be answered by one person per

event. The entry should be made by the Team leader.

◦ Do you have impact data to add to the opportunity?

◦ Do you have new acreage to report?

◦ Do you have new trail miles to report?


◦ Note – travel hours to and from the volunteer event may be added to the

volunteer hours but travel hours CANNOT EXCEED the volunteer hours, e.g.

1.0 hrs volunteering and 1.25 hrs travel time may only be reported as 2.0

hrs of total volunteer effort.

◦ Note – if you volunteer doing wetlands restoration at a Texas Coastal

Watershed Program site (TCWP), you MUST report the hours using a

separate Resource Management opportunity code that will be defined for

you by the COT Admin VMS team. It will show up in your opportunity code

drop-down list as

RM: TCWP Projects (Service Project)

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Hours – RM: Managing Natural

Resources

RM: Managing Natural Resources

Time Entry Screen

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Hours – TR: I Trained Others

This code is used to report training that you presented to a group of people. It includes presentations to both TMN and Outside Groups

Outside groups would include teaching at DEEP as well as in a classroom.

Training that you Received or Attended should be reported under the Advanced Training (AT) or Initial training (IT) codes.

If you select TR: I Trained Others (Service Project) TMN Report Hours



◦ Describe your service or training: e.g. USFWS: DEEP – microscopes/pond life or COT: Presentation about bats, Nov. General meeting

◦ (opt.) What was the total number of miles you drove round trip?


◦ Note – travel hours to and from the volunteer event may be added to the volunteer hours but travel hours CANNOT EXCEED the volunteer hours, e.g. 1.0 hrs volunteering and 1.25 hrs travel time may only be reported as 2.0 hrs of total volunteer effort.

◦ Note – if you prepare and present a Nature Notes, or other informative talk for the COT general meeting, up to 2 hours TR: I trained others time may be reported for the preparation and presentation.

◦ Note - If you prepare and present a 1 hour (or longer) presentation, up to two(2) hours of TR: time per class hour may be reported for developing the class material in addition to the time spent presenting the class. Thus a one hour presentation at a TMN meeting may be reported as up to three(3) hours total.

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Hours – TR: I Trained Others

TR: I Trained Others Entry Screen

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Formal training presentations also

require one person to report the

Impact Statistics for the event.

Since this is a captive audience,

more accurate statistics should be

available. Do not report unless

assigned to do so.

6. View Your Log Book Transaction

History

Logon to VMS Portal. Select VIEW MY LOG BOOK.

Select date range you wish to review, e.g.

◦ Review recently entered date to look for missing or inaccurate data.

◦ Review total volunteer or advanced training hours accumulated year-to-date.

◦ Review total volunteer or advanced training hours accumulated life-to-date.

Review Report – Key columns

◦ Note – report is organized by Opportunity categories and then by dates within each category.

◦ Column - Cradle of Texas Master Naturalist: contains date or date range for the entry that you reported.

◦ Column - Approval Status: will say “Yes, Approved” if the COT timekeeper has reviewed and approved; will say “Not Yet Approved” if the COT timekeeper has not yet reviewed or approved the entry.

◦ Column - AT Hours (for the AT opportunity) or TMN Hours: (for the volunteer service opportunities) will show the number of hours you reported for that opportunity and date.

◦ Column – Service Performed: will show the description you entered for the entry.

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To Edit an Unapproved Log Entry

◦ Select box to the left of the unapproved entry

◦ Scroll to the bottom left of your log book report. Click on Edit Selected Record.

◦ You will be redirected to the Report my Service screen for that record, where you can edit any incorrect information. Click on OK to save the updated record.

To Delete an Unapproved Log Entry

◦ Select box to the left of the unapproved entry (as above).

◦ Scroll to the bottom right of your log book report. Click on Delete Selected Record(s).

Note – if the date, hours, or description was entered in error, use the Edit function to correct the entry.

Note – if the opportunity category was entered wrong, delete the incorrect entry and create a new entry in Report my Service with the correct information.


History

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History

Scrollbar – note that there are scroll bars on the side and the bottom of

the records which can be used to see additional fields.

Log Book Summary

◦ Note that there is a summary report at the bottom of the log book

transaction history. CAUTION: the summary date is calculated for the date

range you entered when selecting the report.

◦ For Year-to-date data, enter Jan. 1 of current year as start date and

today’s date of current year as end date.

◦ For Life-to-date data, enter Jan. 1 of year you started in TMN as start

date and today’s date of current year as end date.

◦ Hours Summary (at bottom of detail list)

Opportunity Type data (Advanced Training, Chapter

Administration, Service Project) represents the number of entries

for each of these categories, NOT the number of hours.

TMN Hours: represents the total hours for the date range

selected.

Admin Activity: represents the number of entries for each of the

sub-topics selected in the Chapter Business opportunity code.

AT Hours: represents the total hours for the date range selected.

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