[nabs-l] Forum Questions for Candidates

[Emily Pennington]

Hello, everyone.
I am pasting the questions below. Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Emily

Leadership
1.      What do you feel you will be able to accomplish as president that you could not accomplish as a board member or member at large?

 

2.      I have noticed that some NABS board members have a difficult time balancing the responsibilities of being a NABS board member with the responsibilities

of being a student. On one hand, I have seen some NABS board members neglect their responsibilities as a student to make time to support NABS activities,

while on the other hand, I have seen some NABS board members neglect their responsibilities as a NABS board member due to their course load as a student.

If elected as NABS President, how do you plan to balance your responsibilities as NABS President with your responsibilities as a student in a way that

does not neglect either one of these responsibilities? 

3.      Besides involvement with NABS, what other leadership roles have you held and how did you do in those roles?

4.      What leadership qualities do you feel you possess that make you the best candidate for this position?

5.      When is it important to be humble as a leader?

6.      What mistake taught you the most valuable lesson about leadership?

7.      As a leader, are you good at communicating with every one on the team? Are you going to make sure that the people that are not on the board recieve the

minutes and knows what happened at the meeting if they were not there? What will you do if people on the board do not show up at the meetings and do not

do their job?

8.      What will you do differently if elected? What do you see as the role that NABS plays in the larger organization?

 

Philosophy
1.      The national office recently put out a new one minute message to convey the philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind. Based on your own personal

philosophy of blindness, and in your own words, what would you say in a one minute message about NFB philosophy? 

2.      How do you see NABS integrating with and embodying Federation philosophy?

3.      How does the NFB philosophy fit into this digital age where blind individuals are less likely to subscribe to a traditional consumer movement?

4.      Have you recieved training at a NFB training center? How many years have you been a member of the NFB? Are you going to build a training center in a state

that does not have one yet?

5.      What do you believe the philosophy of the NFB is in today's world?

 

Communication
1.      If you are elected as NABS President, I am sure you will receive plenty of feedback from others. Some of this feedback may be good while some of it may

be bad. With this in mind, how well do you deal with criticism from others? Are you more likely to accept negative feedback from others as you try to see

things from their point of view, or are you more inclined to try to convince others to see your point of view while not being so willing to hear things

from their point of view? And most importantly, would you be willing to seriously consider and possibly implement the ideas of someone who holds a different

point of view than you?

2.      In the past year, there has been some discussion on the NABS email list regarding the purpose of the Student Slate and the Monthly Updates. What do you

see as the purpose of these tools for communicating with the membership? Would you prefer one over the other, or do you believe there is a place for both?

Traditionally, a member of the NABS board writes the Monthly Updates, but would you be willing to consider a non-board member to help write these Monthly

Updates if they were to ask you about it?

3.      What new initiatives do you hope to implement to keep the membership more informed and to keep things more transparent?

4.      In what ways will you change or improve the communication between nabs and the national and state affiliates?

5.      What three specific tasks can you promise in the way of communication between the student membership and other components of the Federation?

6.      Are you going to stay in contact with all of the student presidents in every state by emailing them? Are you going to let every one know what is going

on in the NABS organization? Are you up to date with your email? For example are you able to check and respond quickly to emails

7.      Clearly, communication has not been what it should. How do you plan on changing things in this regard? ?

 

Membership
1.      There has been a great deal of discussion about nabs being a part of the national federation of the blind. However, there are many students who are only

involved on the listserve or in student division activities. Since the goal of every student is to eventually stop being a student, how do you suggest

translating that involvement into involvement in local chapters and state affiliates?

2.      The challenge of reaching out to all members of NABS is nothing new. However, it seems as though most of what happens in NABS is centered around being

able to attend national convention and Washington Seminar. If elected as NABS President, how do you plan to deal with the challenge of making sure the

membership at large feels as though they are a part of NABS despite not being able to attend these national events?

3.      Students want to get involved but they often don't know how or feel like they are turned away because of the clique mentality. How ar eyou going to address

this so that people feel more welcome?

4.      What do you see changing with regard to the membership and it's activity level within the division?

5.      Blind students is a large population segment. Who, within that larger body, is your target audience?

6.      Are you a member of the NFB who will be able to advocate for students who are struggling at state blind schools? Are you a member of the NFB who will make

sure that every child will be thought braille?

7.      What is the role of the NABS Board in developing its Membership across the nation? Do you encourage articipation in local chapters?

 

Goals and Objectives
1.      What are your top three goals for nabs in the coming term?

2.      I believe one of the goals of NABS is to help foster mentoring relationships. First, there is the relationship between the NABS President and the President

of the NFB whereby the Presidentof the NFB acts as a mentor for the NABS President. Then there are the relationships between the NABS President and the

NABS board and the state student division Presidents whereby the NABS President acts as a mentor to the NABS board and state student division Presidents.

If elected as NABS President, how do you plan to make use of these mentoring relationships to further the success of NABS?

3.       What do you hop to accomplish most in the first six months of becoming president i.e. biggest change

4.      In what innovative ways do you see yourself moving the division forward?

5.      What is NABS' greatest deficiency, and how do you hope to rectify it?

6.      Will you make shure that every student of NABS gets a room mate at national convention and at washington seminar?

7.      I agree that we need to encourage attendance at our training centers but also agree that we need to encourage independence and the skills of blindness.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

Other
1.      For Justin: Although the main purpose of Washington Seminar to is to meet with members of congress, NABS has a long standing tradition of holding student

division activities during Washington Seminar. However, I did not see you actively participate in any of the NABS activities as a NABS board member during

this year’s Washington Seminar despite seeing you there. If elected as NABS President, how can the membership trust that you will give NABS the attention

and priority it deserves especially when there are other priorities in your life competing for your time and attention? For Candice: Thank you for your

hard work in leading the NABS fundraiser during Washington Seminar. However, it appeared to me that you were doing a lot of this work on your own, and

could have delegated some of the tasks involved with this fundraiser to others. What lessons did you learn while leading this fundraiser, and if elected

as NABS President, how do you plan to delegate tasks to others so you do not end up doing most of the work on your own?

2.      What do you like to do for fun outside of NFB work? Hobbies? Passions? Guilty pleasures?

3.      What are two strengths and two weaknesses that you have with regard to your leadership and teamwork abilities?

4.      What do you hope to accomplish as a NABS board member that you could not accomplish as a general member?

5.      Are you going to do something amazing with NABS? What are your strengths and why should i vote for you for president for NABS?

6.      Beyond saying what is olitically correct, what will you bring to the office you are seeking? What have you done to build the Federation and the NFB as

a larger organization? How do you get people involved wherever you currently serve?