FARMHOUSE
QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK
(From recent Inside FH newsletters)
Chapter Visits
- "I've just taken over as chapter president and will be at the Leadership Academy. Our past president said something about an RAC program and that we'll be getting two visits next spring from International. Could you help explain this?"
- "At Conclave, you mentioned that every chapter would receive a consultation visit one semester and a targeted visit from Trent the opposite semester. Could you provide that schedule?"
QUESTION OF THE WEEK? --- "I've just taken over as chapter president and will be at the Leadership Academy. Our past president said something about an RAC program and that we'll be getting two visits next spring from International. Could you help explain this?"
* RESPONSE --- This fall FarmHouse International launched a new volunteer program called Regional Advisory Councils. Each chapter is placed in a geographic region. Currently we have 30 alumni volunteers who have each committed to serve as a "mentor" for one of our 30 chapters and colonies. Coupled with this new initiative is a plan for each chapter to receive a consultation visit and a targeted programming visit this 2002-03 school year. We realize that in this first year logistically it may be difficult for every chapter to get the two visits, but we're going to shoot for that.
- The targeted programming visits are designed to focus on whatever specific needs the chapter/association identify as needing help with (might be strategic planning, recruitment, officer transition programs, pledge education, spiritual development, total membership education, conflict resolution, motivation, finance, association development, retreat coordination, etc.). Earlier this fall each chapter identified what topic you wanted for targeted programming visits. New presidents will get a chance to review what we have listed for your chapter at the Academy and possibly modify the topic area if need be. The consultant may be in for a couple hours or a couple of days, depending on needs/type of support requested.
- The consultation program will be set up similar to past years (although we're encouraging consultants to keep reports to 3-4 pages). The consultant will meet with each of the new officers, advisors, association leaders, campus officials, housemoms, etc., learning about your programs, listening, sharing ideas and serving as a resource. Plan for 36-48 hours for their visits.
- The RAC members will be checking in with you at least once a month (via e-mail and/or phone) to see how the chapter is doing, serve as a resource to bounce things off of, provide feedback, etc. All of the men who have volunteered have significant experience as a chapter leader, advisor and/or association leader. The RACs are not intended to take the place of chapter advisors or associations, but instead help supplement their support efforts. We see this as a great way to provide another "mentor" to each chapter, someone to turn to for advice and suggestions on how you can tackle challenges and further improve our chapters and associations. In most cases, your RAC contact will also be visiting you for 1 of your 2 visits. However, for a few chapters this year it didn't work out that way.
An ad-hoc committee of the International Board is currently working on some of the mechanics of the program (mission for program, responsibilities, etc.) to present at the Academy.
In the future, we'd like to plan for chapters to receive the consultation visit one semester and the targeted programming visit the next. However, many chapters are scheduled for both visits this spring, since only 11 visits took place this fall.
Attached is a list of the men who'll be making visits to each chapter in the Spring 2003 as well as an address contact page for them. During the holiday break, chapter presidents should email or call the FarmHouse men assigned to visit your chapter to help get the visits scheduled. Plan to spread out the visit to maximize the impact they'll have on your chapter.
Feel free to call (800-722-1905) or email (Jim@FarmHouse.org) if you have questions about the RAC program or visits. - JG
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK? --- "At Conclave, you mentioned that every chapter would receive a consultation visit one semester and a targeted visit from Trent the opposite semester. Could you provide that schedule?"
RESPONSE -- The goal for Consultation Visits is to have half our chapters receive a Consultation Visit in the Fall and the other half in the Spring Semester by our Regional Advisory Council (RAC) volunteers. On the opposite semester our educational leadership consultant, Trent Niemeier, will be visiting your chapter for a Targeted Visit.
Our goal is to have all Consultation Visits for the Fall completed by October 18th, ensuring that your chapter has time to review the report and implement any suggestions from your RAC volunteer. As we work on establishing this new schedule, we are aware that some of our chapters will receive back-to-back (Spring'04-Fall'04) Consultation Visits. This will only be for this one time as we establish this new visitation schedule.
Many of our RAC members have already set up their Fall Consultation Visits and others will be setting them up in the next week. We encourage each chapter president to be in contact with their RAC member by the end of next week. Please contact Director of Chapter Services Jonathan Hawley (Jonathan@FarmHouse.org - 800-722-1905) if you have questions regarding the consultation/chapter support visit program.
Fall '04 Consultation Visits (will be made by Regional Advisory Council volunteer consultants and International Board members):
Alberta - TBA
Iowa State - Clark Hanson - clhanson@itctel.com
Kansas State - Craig Harris - charris@heartland.net
Kentucky - Chad Harris - chadharris@uwalumni.com
Minnesota - Ty Henderson - thenderson@bus.wisc.edu
Missouri - Andy Malin - andy.malin@genmills.com
Nebraska - Yancy Wright - manrunning@yahoo.com
North Dakota State - Jason Medders - jason.medders@ndsu.nodak.edu
Oklahoma State - Brad Montgomery - montgomery_bc@yahoo.com
Purdue - Garry Weston - garry.weston@bhsi.com
South Dakota State - Ron Vaske - rvaske@lindquist.com
Texas A&M - Tim Becker - TBecker@Altergroup.com
Texas Tech - Josh Long - jlong@zeus.chapel1.com
Troy State - David Davis - david.davis@jqh.com
Western Kentucky - Andy Armbruster - AArmbruster@ffa.org
Wisconsin-Platteville - Chris Janssen - chris@janssenecom.com
Guelph - Kelly Boles - kjboles@telusplanet.net
Fall '04 Targeted Visits (conducted by Trent Niemeier - Trent@FarmHouse.org) - in order of when he will visit:
August 2004 - Arkansas; Mississippi State; Auburn
September 2004 - Tennessee; Illinois State; North Carolina State; Clemson
October 2004 - Washington State; Idaho; Arizona State expansion group; International Board Meeting; Guelph colony (tentative); FFA Convention
November 2004 - New Mexico State; Texas A&M; Michigan State; Illinois; Thanksgiving
December 2004 - Colorado State
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