SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/49194
The Annual Volunteering America Report for 2011 notes that Americans volunteer 8.1 billion hours! The Report was released this year by the Corporation for National and Community Service. STMA has nearly 200 people volunteering on 22 committees, and they give many hours of service to the association. The charge for each commit- tee differs, but the results are very much alike. "Committees help guide the programs and the services that are important to our members, says CEO Kim Heck. "The ideas and feedback provided by these volunteers help to ensure that our staff is meeting the needs of our membership." STMA's committee size averages 10 to 15 peo- ple, and virtually every committee meets via con- ference call. STMA's Awards Committee historically held a physical meeting to judge the Field of the Year and MiLB Sports Turf Manager of the Year awards. That process was re-engi- neered to an online system, so that committee now uses conference calls to complete its work. Depending upon the committee's charges for the year, they may meet via phone as few as twice during the year, or as frequently as twice a month for several months. These calls offer a great opportunity to meet and learn from each other while helping STMA. Appointments are for one year beginning on March 1. In 2010, STMA created a forum at its annual STMA gets its share of 8.1 billon hours • Conference: (Conference Education, Exhibi- tion, and Tours subcommittees) To develop all content, sessions, workshops and off-site venues, and select speakers and moderators for the next year's conference that will make it a "must at- tend" event for members and nonmembers; to recommend strategies that will drive attendance to the exhibition and will add value to exhibitors. • Commercial Membership: To recommend specific strategies to grow commercial member- ship and to develop benefits and value for our commercial members. • Editorial: To insure that the STMA maga- zine contains information relevant to the sports turf manager; to provide ideas and contacts for articles for publication. • Environmental: To develop environmental strategies that position STMA and its members as leaders in environmental stewardship and the re- lated health and safety issues that impact fans and players. • Ethics: To provide a fair and unbiased council to investigate claims of ethics violations, determine if the claim has merit, and shepherd the appeals process. (This Committee is called into operation only if there is an ethics violation claim). • Finance & Audit: To provide oversight of conference for that year's committee members to attend, meet each other in person and continue any dialogue on projects. STMA is again holding that forum in Long Beach on Wednesday, January 11, 5:45-6:45 p.m. All current committee mem- bers will receive an invitation to attend. Please consider committee service. Sign up using the form below or via www.STMA.org, even if you are currently serving on a committee. The deadline to volunteer for a committee is January 31. President Mike Goatley will be making the committee appointments by March 1. Here is a short overview of the purpose of each committee: • Awards: To judge the association's awards program applicants selecting the Field of the Year winners and the Minor League Baseball Sports Turf Manager of the Year; to develop strategies to enhance the programs. • Bylaws: To develop association bylaws, which are fair and enforceable, and clearly define the expectations for membership, governance processes and board of directors' service. • Certification: To develop strategies to grow the number of certified members; to consistently monitor the program and recommend enhance- ments to ensure that the program is the top achievement for sports turf managers. • Chapter Relations: To create a chapter structure that is beneficial locally and nationally; to financially assist chapters with their adminis- trative, operations and educational efforts; to fa- cilitate the sharing of best practices. www.stma.org SportsTurf 43 the STMA's financial resources by reporting infor- mation to the Board of Directors. • Historical: To preserve the history of the as- sociation and the profession. • Information Outreach: To develop educa- tional and informational opportunities for mem- bers to enhance their personal and professional development. • International: To position STMA as a global leader in sports facility management and make STMA the 'go-to' resource for those who work in- ternationally in the industry. • Membership: To develop initiatives to drive membership growth and retention; to recom- mend programs that add value for each member. • Past President's Advisory Council: To ad- vise the STMA Board on issues pertaining to the past, present and future of STMA. (Limited to STMA Past Presidents) • Scholarship: To judge the recipients of the SAFE Scholarships, the Terry Mellor Educational Grant and the Gary Vanden Berg Internship Grant; to develop strategies to enhance these programs. • Student Challenge: To develop the annual student challenge exam questions, answer key, and protocols; assist in proctoring the exam as needed. • Technical Standards: To help determine standards and best management practices needed in the profession and to guide the work of the ASTM on developing sports field and facil- ity standards. • Website: To insure that the STMA website contains information relevant to members, prospects and the green industry in an easily ac- cessible and consumable format. STMA also has a Nominating Committee that is appointed directly by the Nominating Commit- tee Chair. The chair is always the Immediate Past President, as defined by the Bylaws. Thus, Troy Smith, CSFM, will assume that role for 2012. ■