Communications

Chapter Leader Contact Info

It is important that the VMN State Office has the most up-to-date information on your chapter’s leaders so that we can make sure everyone is in the communication loop. We update our list every January based on chapters’ annual reports. Every chapter has its own schedule in terms of their board and chair terms, so we rely on you to tell us when you have new chapter leaders so that we can welcome them, add them to our contact list, and send them the kind of basic program information like this Info Sheet. Please make sure to update us when you have any board or committee chair transitions, even if it is just one person/position.

VMN Chapter Board Members Google Group

All chapter leaders on our list, including chapter advisors, are included in our Chapter Board Members Google Group. This is a one-way email communication that the VMN State Office uses to send information to chapter leaders. While it is possible for you to remove yourself from the list, we ask that you do not do so because you will then miss important communications from the state office. We will remove you from the list if you have rotated off the board as part of our regular updates.

Chapter Coordinators Google Group

We have another Google Group called “VMN Chapter Coordinators” that any chapter leader can join. This is an email group meant to connect leaders of local chapters with each other, encouraging the exchange of ideas, information, and best practices for leading a successful Virginia Master Naturalist chapter. Membership in the group is optional and individuals must ask to be added. No one is added automatically. Anyone who is a member of this Google Group can send a message to the group email address. The list is owned and maintained by the VMN State Office. If you have any questions, please direct them to: masternaturalist@vt.edu.

Who Should Subscribe

Any chapter leader who is interested in being able to ask questions of their VMN colleagues and learn from their responses and other conversations that take place within the group.

Google Group Policies

Because the Virginia Master Naturalist program is sponsored by the Commonwealth of Virginia and because this Google Group is hosted by Virginia Tech, the group cannot be an outlet for certain types of commentary.  Please do not use this forum for political lobbying or advocacy, or to criticize people, agencies, or organizations. Here are a few guidelines to follow:

Do

• Seek advice or provide feedback on issues related to managing and leading a Master Naturalist chapter

• Share files related to chapter management and volunteer training.

Don’t

• Engage in political advocacy (e.g., vote this way on this issue, vote for this person, or lobby an elected representative to vote a certain way)

• Write anonymous messages - Please include your name after your message. This is a "private" list, and includes only VMN chapter leaders or former leaders, and a small group of natural resource professionals who are a part of our sponsoring agencies.

• Be rude, insulting, or offensive (to individuals, groups of people, agencies, or organizations).

• Post messages that are not relevant to the topic of coordinating VMN chapters.

An individual may be removed from the Google Group for failure to follow this policy.

Controlling Your Subscription

To Join the Google Group:

Send an email to masternaturalist@vt.edu and request to be added to the VMN Coordinators Google Group.

To send a message to the Google Group

1. Open a new email message.

2. In the To: field, type: vmn_coordinators-g@vt.edu

3. Complete the email message as you normally would and click Send.

To Unsubscribe:

1. Start composing a new email message.

2. In the To: field, type: VMN_Coordinators-g+unsubscribe@vt.edu.

3. Verify that the subject and body of the message are empty.

4. Send the email message.

5. When you receive an email message with the subject line Unsubscribe request for VMN_Coordinators, open that email message.

6. Follow the instructions in the email to complete the process of unsubscribing.

The Pollinator

The Pollinator is our quarterly newsletter. It goes out automatically to all current VMN volunteers, chapter advisors, and many of our sponsoring agency representatives. Anyone else is welcome to subscribe at this link. At any time, anyone on this list can unsubscribe themselves. Once a person has unsubscribed, the VMN State Office cannot re-add them to this email list, even if they are still a VMN volunteer. Anyone who would like to get back on the list after unsubscribing, will need to use the subscribe link to re-subscribe. Each quarter, Michelle will ask all chapter leaders if they have anything to contribute to the “Laurels” section of the newsletter, where we include stories of volunteers’ and chapters’ accomplishments.

Chapter Contact Information

The Chapters page of the VMN website at https://www.virginiamasternaturalist.org/vmn-chapters/ has a map and list of each chapter with its advisor(s) and its website. Please check what is there for your chapter. If your chapter’s information on that page or on the map is not up to date, please let us know. Our sponsoring agencies and the general public regularly use this contact information to connect with the local chapters. If you use a generic “Contact Us” form or generic email address for your chapter, please make sure someone is checking it regularly and responding. We sometimes hear from prospective volunteers and partners that they have tried contacting a chapter without receiving a response.