CVA: Your International Professional Credential from 17th IAVE World Conference

Presentations made at Workshop 1 at the 17th IAVE Conference on "CVA: Your International Professional Credential"  by Nancy Gaston Association for Volunteer administration (AVA), USA

I. What is a profession?
The group will look at definitions of a profession and then share their own ideas and understandings with one another in pairs, and then with the whole group. Included will be these elements:
A. A set of competencies-things practitioners in this profession can do
B. A statement of ethical practice or a code of ethics
C. A membership association
D. A body of literature
E. A credential

II. What is a professional credential?
We will explore reasons for attaining a professional credential: What it means to the individual, to the employer, and to the profession as a whole. Included will be:
A. Helping practitioners demonstrate their competence
B. Providing employers with a standard and with expectations of what a practitioner should be able to do.
C. Helping all those working in the field of volunteer resources management with an understanding of the knowledge and skills needed.

III. What are the core competencies in volunteer administration?
Through examples from their own programs and experiences, the group members will gain an understanding of the core or basic competencies identified through research by the Association for Volunteer Administration:
A. Commitment to the Profession
B. Planning and Conceptual Design
C. Resource Development and Management
D. Accountability
E. Responsiveness

IV. How does one demonstrate and document these competencies through the AVA Credentialing

Program and become a CVA (Certified in Volunteer Administration)?
A. The application process
B. The Tool Kit and Reading List
C. The portfolio-its contents and the standards for evaluating it
D. The examination-its format, content, timing, and where it can be taken

V. My Philosophy of Volunteerism
Through the sharing of some key words, the group members will begin to form personal statements of philosophy of volunteerism and volunteer administration.

VI. Questions and Discussion

VII. Concluding Comments
Presenter: Nancy A. Gaston is a Certified Volunteer Administrator and has served AVA as the Vice President for Professional Development as well as in many other capacities. She was the chair of the Assessment Readers who evaluate the portfolios submitted in the CVA process. Ms Gaston has worked in the field for almost 20 years in such positions as the Executive Director of a volunteer-staffed crisis line, a Volunteer Center, and a Volunteer Chore Service through which volunteers did tasks for frail elderly persons so that they could remain in their own homes. She was also the director of volunteer service for a religious congregation. Ms Gaston does consulting and training locally, nationally andinternationally.