Date of Award

1997

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Human Service Management

First Advisor

Betty LeMasters

Second Advisor

Gareth Gardiner

Third Advisor

Joseph K. Lonigro

Abstract

This thesis will investigate the need for a training manual to assist in preparing not-for-profit agency volunteers to become effective board members.

In 1996, a presidential initiative was launched in which the general American public was encouraged to actively become involved in local not-for-profit agencies. Because of this call for volunteers, an influx of people are likely to become non-profit agency board members. Many of these new board members may not have previous board experience. As a result, an increased need to train and orient new board members will develop.

Providing sufficient board training can be a time-consuming endeavor. Today's volunteer board member is less likely to have an abundance of free-time to devote to training sessions, orientation workshops, or other conventional approaches commonly used in adult education. However, each board member needs to become a productive member of the non-profit board as quickly as possible.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the premise that a board service training manual can provide sufficient educational information to train new board members to become contributing board members in a relatively short period of time.

A board service manual was written for this study. Three individuals with varying amounts of experience with not-for-profit boards participated in the study. The subjects read the manual and were administered a 25-statement, Likert format-questionnaire for the purpose of measuring their responses to questions related to the manual's contents and its value as an educational tool. Data were analyzed by comparison of responses and by a one-way analysis of variance.

Results of the analysis provided strong indications to suggest that the hypothesis be accepted, and to conclude that, within this sample pool, a manual is an effective means of educating new board members.

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