New Policy – Compensation and Incentives
The PTSA Board is responsible for providing good governance for the Society. This means that the Board sets and administers policies to guide the organization’s work. Recently, the board evaluated the Society’s code of conduct and conflict of interest policies. These policies outline the expectations for PTSA volunteers.
Volunteer Responsibilities
Elected Board members are responsible for directing all of our Society’s activities. They also oversee the work of committees in specific areas, like advocacy or education. Committees carry out the work to achieve the Society’s strategic goals. Board members may be members of, and actively participate in the work completed by, any committee.
Board and committee members are all PTSA members who commit their time in a volunteer capacity. This means that a PTSA member may not be paid for holding a particular board or committee position; however, it does not prevent a PTSA volunteer for receiving compensation for serving the Society in other capacities.
Compensation for Services
The updated policy outlines when a PTSA board or committee member may receive honorariums or incentives. The types of compensated services will be added to a list based on things like available budget, the extent of commitment required, and the need for hard to recruit incentives. Work is still in progress to develop this list but it will include honorariums for authoring continuing education modules and speaking at a PTSA education event, for example. The board will review the list regularly and when new compensated services are added, the membership will be notified to allow for equal opportunity to express interest. This currently happens during the call for board nominees and committee volunteers each year in the summer.
Eligibility for Awards and Prizes
The new policy also clarifies the conditions under which PTSA volunteers may be eligible to enter contests or win awards and prizes facilitated by PTSA. No volunteer board or committee member shall be excluded from receiving awards or prizes unless they have a role in setting eligibility criteria, or administering the award/prize. When awards/prizes will be granted based on the decision of a selection committee, such as the professionalism award or poster contest, the committee members will be appointed prior to submissions being accepted. If a committee member is deemed to have a potential conflict of interest in fulfilling their role, they will be replaced with a new member.
What do you think of this new policy? Will it help the board govern the Society in alignment with our organization’s values? Share you feedback in the comments below.