[nabs-l] What Has The NABS Board Been Doing

Tue Jun 11 01:17:08 UTC 2013

Hi all,

If I may, I'd like to offer a little bit of historical perspective on
the NABS presidential updates. When I first joined NABS ten years ago,
the president would write a quarterly update which would appear in the
Student Slate in place of the editor's introduction, explaining what
NABS has been up to and what is planned for the upcoming months. More
recently, NABS went through a period of a few years where the Slate
was published very irregularly. When I became president in 2009, I was
concerned about whether or not we could return to quarterly Slate
releases, so I started releasing monthly updates so that the
membership could stay up-to-date on NABS board activities and upcoming
events even if the Slate did not come out very often. Now that we have
a wonderful, dependable Slate committee publishing regular issues
again, the NABS updates may be able to go back on a quarterly schedule
and be published in the Slate. I will also add that writing monthly
updates by myself was a fairly time-consuming task, and I, too,
thought about stopping them because it seemed to me that few people
actually read them. Several members of my board (including our current
NABS president) encouraged me to keep going with the monthly updates,
so I did. Sean continued the monthly updates for a time after becoming
president, but I know he is a busy guy and may have just decided that
it was too much. I do think that if even a few people read the updates
with interest, it is probably worth continuing them, but perhaps the
NABS board could pick up some of the workload of writing them so it's
not all on the president's shoulders, or go to a quarterly schedule.
Finally, the issue of membership feeling a lack of communication with
the board is a perennial complaint I've seen come up over and over
with multiple NABS administrations. So the current administration
should not at all feel singled out by this complaint. To an extent it
is natural for a national organization like NABS to experience
occasional lapses in communication. I have also learned that managing
communication between board and membership is a responsibility that
must be shared between both parties. There are always things the board
could be doing to more clearly communicate about past accomplishments
and future plans, but there are also ways for interested members to
initiate communication with the board. Calling or emailing NABS board
members to ask what's been going on or to offer feedback is great, but
an even better way to stay in the loop would be to serve on a NABS
committee. Much of the day-to-day work of NABS is conducted within
committees. Board members chair them, but members do (or at least
should) form the backbone of the committees and carry out the
organization's day-to-day operations. And, there are openings for
several board members at this year's election.

Best,
Arielle

On 6/10/13, Darian Smith <dsmithnfb at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all,
>   I believe  that  if you were to speak to any member of the NABS
> board and/or NABS leadership, you will find that we believe that this
> organization is  one that only functions at it's best when it's
> membership is a  vital part of it's activities.
>   Basically, NABS needs every person who wants to bea part  of
> building this division. We need your ideas, we need your expertise,
> your time, your energy.  We need you to help us try out new ideas, and
> we need those ideas   to work and even not to work.  This is how we
> grow together, this is how we   grow closer and help change people's
> thoughts about what a blind person can and cannot do.
>  We need you to help educate the educators and fellow students.  We
> need you to help educate the public, and to fight the battles that
> need to be faught to win accessability, equil treatment, and equil
> rights.
>  we need you to tell  us what things work and don't work, and even
> more so, we need you to help us fix  what isn't working.
>  You all do a great job of driving our listserve by bringing up
> important topics of interest  to be discussed.
>   Please don't let those discussions stop there,  please bring your
> passion and ideas to NABS and your state  student division.  Please
> bring your ideas to  your affiliate, and  as well our National office,
> especially if you think it might be a good thing to do.
>
>  Please take these wrds as  an oppertunity, a challange.
>  What canyou bring to the table?  Whatwill you do today to  build a
> better tomorrow?
>   I am sure  that as a member of the NABS board that I can improve in
> a few  ways, I'm sure all of us on the NABS board could  improve
> somehow, so I, nor anyone else is likely to tell you that we are
> perfect.
>
>  So you know what? let's improve.  let's all find ways that we all can
> improve.   that's is the  best thing that we can do.
>
>   Best,
>
>    Darian
>
>
>
> On 6/10/13, Rania Ismail LMT <raniaismail04 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I saw them and each time I would read them I was happy to see what nabs
>> was
>> doing.
>> Rania,
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Elizabeth
>> Mohnke
>> Sent: Monday, June 10, 2013 2:10 AM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] What Has The NABS Board Been Doing
>>
>> Hello Sean,
>>
>> I am sorry you took my email so personally. It was not meant to be a
>> personal attack on any particular individual, nor was it meant to
>> discount
>> the participation of any particular individual within this organization.
>> I
>> was just simply trying to offer my thoughts on the notion of this
>> organization being about the members at large and not just the board as
>> mentioned in a previous email recently sent out from the board.
>>
>> Based upon this comment, I received the impression that one of the goals
>> of
>>
>> the current board is to make the organization about the membership at
>> large
>>
>> and not just the board. However, as a general member, I see a growing
>> disconnect in this area, and offered how I see this disconnect take place
>> as
>>
>> well as a possible solution to the problem by bringing back the monthly
>> updates.
>>
>> I think it is great that the board has accomplished all of the things
>> that
>> you listed in your email. However, I am not quite sure how I am expected
>> to
>>
>> know about all of these accomplishments as a general member when it
>> appears
>>
>> as though most of these accomplishments take place behind the scenes
>> without
>>
>> the involvement of the membership at large. I can only speak from my
>> observations as a general member, so I am glad to hear there are some
>> things
>>
>> going on despite whether or not they can be seen by the membership at
>> large.
>>
>> Since the comment about the organization being about the membership at
>> large
>>
>> and not just the board was made in a public email circulated on all of
>> the
>> student email lists, I thought this would be an acceptable subject to
>> discuss on the email list. I was curious if others have seen this same
>> disconnect from the membership at large and the board, or if it was just
>> me.
>>
>> I do not know, perhaps I am the only one who enjoys reading the monthly
>> updates, and actually looks forward to receiving them. Again,, I am sorry
>> you took my email so personally.
>>
>> Warm regards,
>> Elizabeth
>>
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> From: <nabs.president at gmail.com>
>> Sent: Sunday, June 09, 2013 9:15 PM
>> To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] What Has The NABS Board Been Doing
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I appreciate your indicating that the monthly updates are something that
>>> you
>>> found useful. Perhaps we should consider bringing those back. The
>>> impression
>>> I had was that not many people took the trouble to read them, and they
>>> do
>>> take a fair amount of time and effort to put together. Thank you for
>>> writing
>>> to suggest the reinstatement of the NABS Notes updates.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Beyond that, I must respectfully take issue with your characterization
>>> of
>>> the current situation. NABS board members, working side by side with
>>> many
>>> other members of NABS, have engaged in multiple projects over the last
>>> year.
>>> We have sent representatives to numerous student functions and state
>>> conventions around the country. We have overhauled the membership list
>>> and
>>> put it in a searchable database. We have held multiple informative
>>> membership calls. We have put out issues of the Student Slate. We have
>>> held
>>> a student leadership seminar in Baltimore. We have worked on a mentoring
>>> program for first-time convention attendees that will be taking place in
>>> Orlando. We have raised significant funds for the work of NABS and the
>>> NFB
>>> as a whole. And we have NABS board members and general members alike who
>>> hold significant leadership positions in their chapters and affiliates.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I am 100% open to thoughts, suggestions, or criticism. However, I do not
>>> appreciate having my board and our many hard-working members called out
>>> for
>>> doing nothing in a public forum such as this list. Suggestions on what
>>> NABS
>>> or the board could be doing better are always welcome at
>>> nabs.president at gmail.com. I appreciate all constructive feedback, be it
>>> positive or negative. But let us not discredit the time and energy that
>>> many
>>> individuals volunteer to continue to build our organization and make
>>> progress on issues of importance to all of us.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thank you,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Sean
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Sean Whalen
>>>
>>> President, National Association of Blind Students
>>>
>>> (608) 332-4147
>>>
>>> Nabs.president at gmail.com
>>>
>>> www.nabslink.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Darian Smith
>
>
> Text the word BLIND to 85944 to donate $10 to the NFB Imagination Fund
> via your phone bill.
>
> The time is now to eliminate Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities
>
> http://www.nfb.org/fairwages
>
>
> “We know not of our future, but we know of our past. A past that is
> made up of our ancestor’s Dreams, their stories and hopes.
> These sights once seen, sounds heard and emotions felt are now our
> knowledge. The knowledge that guides us to this very moment…”
> -Darian Smith
>
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