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

Tue Jun 11 01:26:19 UTC 2013

Arielle,
  Thanks so much for that.
  That  does indeed serve as a wonderful piece of  information to give some  of us  some  perspective.
   Thanks again,
  Darian 
On Jun 10, 2013, at 6:17 PM, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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> 
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