New York State Parks Corps members enrolled in the National Direct grant have a longer chain of supervision:
On-Site Supervisor: Your go-to contact for issues or questions pertaining to lodging, position responsibilities, daily activities, coworkers, travel, and time log approval.
SCA NYSPC Program Coordinator Zachary Russell: If you feel uncomfortable bringing something up with your PARKS/DEC supervisor, have issues with your supervisor/workplace, or need assistance with SCA administrative responsibilities/ trainings, contact Zachary.
SCA NYSPC Program Manager Joel Rake-Marona: If you feel uncomfortable bringing something up with the above two contacts, reach out to Elizabeth Young or Joel Rake-Marona.
SCA National Direct Program Manager Chris-Michael Tena: For any issues stemming from the National Direct Program, enrollment, compensation, or reporting, contact Program Manager Chris-Michael Tena.
Each week, the Program Coordinator will send out the "Monday Member Minutes," a long-form update covering the SCA, AmeriCorps, and the Parks Corps. Please monitor your personal and PARKS-provided (if applicable) emails for these each week. There is often event notifications, event sign-ups, and alerts about service opportunities around the state!
Every other week, the Program Coordinator will offer "Bi-Weekly Office Hours" via Zoom. These are dedicated time slots for Parks Corps members to address and questions or concerns.
In addition, the Program Coordinator will be conducting three official check-ins: a virtual meeting in the early spring, an in-person meeting in the summer, and another virtual meeting in the early fall.
The SCA NYSPC program schedule includes SCA NYSPC mandatory trainings/events, SCA NYSPC optional trainings/events, and trainings/events facilitated by PARKS, The DEC, or other partners. The Program Coordinator will provide members with an initial program schedule during New Member Orientation. An updated copy of the schedule will be on the shared Member Drive and provided in the "Monday Member Minutes."
Throughout the season the SCA New York State Parks Corps will offer members a range of mandatory and optional trainings. When a training is several days long and mandatory, overnight accommodations and food will be provided. Here is a sample of trainings offered by the SCA New York State Parks Corps:
New Member Orientation
Wilderness First Aid & CPR
Mental Health First Aid
ACA-SCA Canoe Training
Leave No Trace Level 1 Educator
SCA Professional Development Sessions
Game of Logging 1 & 2 (Conservation Stewards)
SCA Conservation Work Skills (Conservation Stewards)
Certificate of Interpretive Guiding (Environmental Education Stewards)
SCA NYS Parks corps members can use $100 of professional development funding throughout their term. The Professional Development Fund must be used for relevant, purposeful, useful, educational experiences. To use:
Research the educational opportunity.
Contact Zachary Russell, program coordinator, for clearance.
Pay for the course yourself.
Submit the receipt(s) through the MySCA portal for reimbursement.
In most cases, The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation will provide a member suitable transportation for NYS Parks Corps events. If given the option, always use a PARKS vehicle over a personal vehicle. If a PARKS vehicle is not available for a NYS Parks Corps event, (with prior approval from the Program Coordinator) the SCA will pay for mileage reimbursement at the current going rate. Contact the Program Coordinator for reimbursement.
As a "SCA New York State Parks Corps" member, you will be inherently enrolled in the AmeriCorps-funded "SCA National Direct Program." This enrollment allows for the "SCA New York State Parks Corps" program to take advantage of the benefits provided by "SCA National Direct Program." Multi-state programs and Native Nation programs (known collectively as "National Direct or Direct grantees ") are directly funded by the federal agency AmeriCorps. The "National Direct Program" has a SCA Program Manager, Chris-Michael Tena (ctena@thesca.org). Not only will Chris-Michael be assisting in supervision throughout your tenure as a "SCA New York State Parks Corps" member, he will be generally taking the reins in regard to onboarding paperwork and reporting.Â