The Georgia Master Composter Program is both an adult environmental education course and an Extension volunteer program addressing the growing demand for composting education across the state of Georgia. The 9-week program includes lectures by experts, hands-on learning, and field trips and differs from traditional master Extension programs…

State volunteer forums can be an invaluable resource for providing opportunities for volunteer training on positive youth development. Some western states have experienced decreasing attendance and have questioned the practicality of hosting such forums. In this article, we showcase successes that one western state has experienced as a result of…

North Carolina State University has incorporated many aspects of volunteer program administration and reporting into an on-line solution that integrates impact reporting into daily program management. The Extension Master Gardener Intranet automates many of the administrative tasks associated with volunteer management, increasing efficiency, and…

Points out that successful telephone hotlines for children share several common denominators, including a pro-family philosophy, the use of highly trained volunteers, a sensitivity to cultural and language differences, and other administrative and legal factors. Advocates the establishment of a national children's help line. (BB)

Details a demonstration project which was developed to train older adult volunteers as mental health paraprofessionals for nursing homes. Discusses the effectiveness of the program for residents, as well as benefits to the staff. Includes details of recruitment, training and supervision of volunteers, services they provide, and problems…

Describes a training program that can provide volunteer child advocates with effective techniques for organizing, assessing, and gathering data on relevant public policy; educating others; winning public officials to their aims; and evaluating how enacted legislation affects children. (Author/HOD)

An advising program in the James Madison University (Virginia) psychology department recruits and trains students to provide basic information about majors, careers, field opportunities, and graduate schools to their peers. The work of the 20 volunteers, who serve 900 students, is coordinated by a faculty member. Each peer advisor serves on a…

Discusses the development of a national accreditation scheme for volunteer assessors in the expeditions section of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award program for young people. Stages of accreditation include wild country experience, introductory learning and preparation, accreditation weekend, and induction assessments. Performance criteria are…

Describes a nutrition education program for the elderly in which 22 older adults were recruited and trained as peer educators to create interest in nutrition and serve as liaisons between peers and sound sources of nutrition information. Participants (N=933) reported that sessions were interesting and provided useful information. (Author/JAC)

This report describes an educational program designed to utilize community volunteers to relieve school staff of nonprofessional duties, to reinforce the instruction of teaching staff with volunteers trained for particular service, to offer individual help to children to stimulate their interest, to enrich the educational program by making…

An organized volunteer program for parents and community members can be a valuable form of instructional and administrative support for schools as financial resources decline. The rationale for establishing such a parent/community program should be thoroughly probed, and possible constraints should be identified at the outset. Support from the…

This study identified easily available nonprofessional resources for screening and identifying individuals with disabilities in India's rural areas, evaluated the efficacy of the resources, and identified community resources to facilitate long-term social self-management of individuals with disabilities. National Service Scheme volunteers from two…

Presenting a year-by-year account, this paper describes the origin and 10-year development of the Howard Street Tutoring Program, an after-school volunteer-staffed tutoring program in a poor Chicago, Illinois, neighborhood. The paper presents a selective history of the program, designed to assist second- and third-grade children who needed help in…

A project was conducted to add computer-assisted instruction to a one-to-one adult literacy program conducted in public libraries in Bradford and Wyoming Counties of Pennsylvania. During the project, software was selected for literacy instruction in reading, mathematics, grammar, spelling, and English as a second language. Laubach Way to Reading…

The Kansas Volunteer Tutor Utilization (KV-TUTOR) project was undertaken to explore some of the possibilities of using volunteer tutors in adult basic education (ABE) programs. A volunteer structure was developed at 16 local ABE programs throughout the state. KV-TUTOR actively promoted these volunteer systems by contacting (through letters, phone…