New Chapter Officer Onboarding
Goal
NFC state chapters are made up of 3 officers - Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary - along with some number of members at large. Chapter officers serve based on approval and at the discretion of the National Board. While not absolute, chapter officers serve 2-year terms. NFC looks to help new chapter officers adapt to their new positions.
The goal of this document is to set clear expectations, provide essential information, tools, and resources, and foster a strong connection to the mission and policies of Native Fish Coalition to ensure long-term success and engagement at the state chapter level. This will help eliminate problems that can arise when transitioning state chapter officers.
Upon Confirmation
All Chapter Officers…
The applicable National Vice Chair, National Chair, Executive Director, and outgoing officer where possible will meet with new officers to discuss a general transition plan.
This can be a live or virtual, and is intended to answer any up front questions.
Where possible, the outgoing chapter chair will serve as a mentor to the incoming chair for a period of up to 3 months. If the outgoing chair is unavailable due to leaving NFC, National NFC will assign a temporary mentor to serve in their place. This person can be a National Board member or chair from another chapter. The mentor will provide general guidance and be available to answer any questions that may arise.
New chairs may reach out to their respective National Vice Chair at any time for advise, questions, issues, or concerns.
If a new chapter chair is unable to resolve whatever issue they have with the National Vice Chair, they should reach out to the National Chair.
If a new chair is unable to resolve whatever issue they have with the National Vice Chair or National Chair, they should reach out to the Executive Director.
New officers should make themselves familiar with the following documents to equip them for administrative readiness:
Located on NFC Website Home Page:
Mission Statement
Why are Native Fishes Important?
About Native Fish Coalition
Our Goal
Located on Internal NFC Webpage (Password: ArcticCharr)
Note: There are many documents on the internal page that explain how NFC conducts business. Please look here before reaching out to National NFC for help.
Chapter Chairs…
New Chairs will be provided with the following by National NFC:
Contact List:
National Board
State Chairs
Chapter Members
Chapter Show/Event Equipment List
Chair should confirm who has show/event equipment
Chapter Field Equipment List
Chair should confirm who has field equipment
Chapter Merchandise List
Chair should confirm who has merchandise
First 90 Days
Existing Chapters…
Incoming chapter Chairs should meet with each existing board member individually in person or via Zoom to understand who is who, what they can and can’t do, and how best to utilize them.
Incoming chapter Chairs should familiarize themselves with all open chapter projects and plug in wherever they can to help advance them.
New Chapters…
Incoming officers should meet with each existing board member individually in person or via Zoom to understand who is who, what they can and can’t do, and how best to utilize them.
New officers should focus on getting some easy wins on the board early.
Signage Projects – Review the CAMPAIGNS tab on NFC website home page and INFORMATIONAL SIGNS tab under the MEDIA tab on the home page. Signage projects are a great way to establish partnerships with other organizations and agencies, and involve chapter board members in boots-on-the-ground activities. NFC informational sign projects range from the 500+ sign/350+ water Maine State Heritage Fish signs, to d from sportfish like Arctic Char in Maine, Shoal Bass in Georgia, Sturgeon in New Hampshire, Vermillion Darters in Alabama, etc. These are one of the easiest ways to get some wins on the board. Work with your board and even your advisory board to determine what species (or group of species) are in need of informational signage. This could be due to endemism to a small native range, threats from invasive species/pollution, etc. Additionally, there may be opportunities at state parks, national parks, private preserves, boat ramps, wetland areas, and many others to design and place an informational kiosk about the native fishes in the area.
Stream Clean-Ups – go out as a board in your NFC gear and pick up trash along a stream segment. Take photos and send to nationals for blogging. Informational Signs
Fish Seining Events
All Chapters…
Maintain regular contact with the applicable National Vice Chair to monitor progress, answer questions, and identify any potential roadblocks.
Ongoing
Schedule monthly one-on-one meetings with the applicable National Vice Chair.
Attend scheduled Chapter Chair meetings.
These meetings will be facilitated by theNational Vice Chairs.
All chapter Chairs will be invited.
Identify opportunities for resource sharing and joint projects.
Discuss strategies and challenges.
Schedule annual chapter outings where possible.
Quick Start Guide:
1. State Board Assessment and Continuity
a. In many cases a state board will consist of 2-3 individuals that have become mostly inactive. There are many ways that “life can get in the way” of volunteer responsibilities. We typically encourage the state chair to reach out to those that have been inactive for a period of time. A simple “check-in” email will suffice to thank them for being a part of NFC and to determine if they are still interested in being involved.
b. The best way to avoid board complacence is to avoid it from the start. When there are no projects or other events to keep people engaged the result is usually a stagnant board. Projects are key to the vitality of a state board and to NFC’s mission. In some cases, a new chair may inherit a stagnant board. In this case, the same process of contacting inactive members and assessing their interest in remaining involved, identify new board members if needed, and establish some projects to regenerate interest/involvement.
c. Boards are also encouraged to develop comradery by getting out from behind the computer screen and zoom meetings and go out in the field together to assess a project, clean up a stream, fish, etc. This also strengthens board relationships.
2. Utilization of State Advisory Board
a. Each state has an advisory board composed of subject matter experts or other well-connected individuals that you can reach out to for advice on how to go about pursuing a particular need or concern in your state. You should seek their advice and lean on their expertise to help identify and prioritize species efforts.
How to Identify Projects:
Reminder, any and all projects must be approved by National NFC. You are encouraged to make connections and develop partnerships along with a plan for a project, but before anything moves forward, please obtain approval from national staff.
1.
3. Stream Monitoring – again, there are lots of examples on the ‘Campaigns’ tab of the NFC website. This can range from utilizing eDNA to detect rare native fish or the presence of invasive species within a water system (or multiple water systems) to monitor abiotic factors such as water quality, water temperature, etc.
4. Holistic Stream Assessment – the combination of eDNA and water quality surveys with streamside habitat assessment and other factors to assess a comprehensive evaluation of a river or stream ecosystem to determine overall health and ecological function. This can be especially useful in waterways that are impacted by human disturbances such as ATV crossings, agricultural/sediment pollution, hydroelectric and low-head dams, culverts, etc.
Create State-level Internal Processes:
1. Create a chapter meeting notes template to facilitate sharing updates with national vice chair.
2. Create a chapter annual event calendar to plan out events and share with nationals.
Create a way to monitor/track the status of different projects and allow for board members to make updates in real time for projects that they are leading or involved