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Regular City Council Meeting <br />Monday, August 22, 2016 <br />Page 25 <br />c. Volunteer Program Update <br />Volunteer Coordinator Kelly O'Brien reiterated the city's pride in being the first <br />municipal recipient of the Service Enterprise Award. Ms. O'Brien's presentation <br />including a review of highlights of the award and the process itself, involving key <br />elements and best practices involved. Ms. O'Brien opined this would bring Rose- <br />ville's volunteer engagement to the next level throughout all levels and areas of <br />the organization, includin� identifying new tools and strategies for creatin� a cul- <br />ture of volunteerism. <br />Ms. O'Brien noted some of the impacts already being seen with recognition of the <br />city by outside entities; and reviewed some of the areas where the volunteer pro- <br />gram continued to grow involving not only Roseville residents and businesses, but <br />also area and statewide volunteer involvement as the community-at-large recog- <br />nized the work being done in the city. <br />Ms. O'Brien cited several examples of how coordination of volunteers allowed <br />for a partnering culture and identified local programs to serve special needs and <br />achieve community involvement. Ms. O'Brien recognized the volunteers in- <br />volved in local Playground Builds from outside the community, and involvement <br />of area college students in scheduling volunteer time with the city as well as serv- <br />ing as a way to recognize and welcome new students into the community who lat- <br />er serve as ambassadors for Roseville. <br />Ms. O'Brien noted that with development of the volunteer database, this fall she <br />would continue to work on a survey of volunteers, with the assistance of a volun- <br />teer retired engineer with that expertise, as this tool was used to track and access <br />applicable volunteer data. Ms. O'Brien noted the assistance with that volunteer <br />survey by another volunteer with a PhD in program evaluation. <br />Ms. O'Brien noted numbers available in tracking volunteers via database didn't <br />capture the entire picture, but still provided an enviable picture of the volunteer <br />hours recorded in the city that took on duties that would otherwise require staff <br />time and effort. On the other side, Ms. O'Brien noted increases in staff time to <br />train and supervise volunteers, depending on the project and their experience; as <br />well as in expressing appreciation to those volunteers and encouraging their per- <br />severance. <br />Ms. O'Brien spoke in support of a Volunteer Coordinator position as the central <br />point to establish a user-friendly way for people to engage rather than being <br />bounced from one department to another; and allowing a match of skills to needs. <br />Ms. O'Brien alerted the City Council to the future need for increased training of <br />staff and volunteers to support those successful partnerships. As far as impacts to <br />staff, Ms. O'Brien opined that if staff was going to continue taking on and sup- <br />