[nfbwatlk] OTC students at WCB conventions

Sun Sep 7 15:55:59 UTC 2014

If I recall, a person who is a government official (policy maker or executive) of an organization with a mission to serve consumers of a particular group(s) cannot serve a significant leadership position in a consumer organization served by the same agency.  Simply altering her duties might not be enough.  She may have to step down from a position.  

I would question if this is ethical in State Service.  I think Fred Schroeder had a similar issue at the federal level.  

Might I suggest a question to the State Personnel Office  or State Ethics Officer.  If the answer is too vague, not clear, or otherwise unsatisfactory I would consider calling the U. S Office of Special Counsel since DSB is receiving federal funds.  

Ivan.E Weich
Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 6, 2014, at 22:25, Cindy Bennett via nfbwatlk <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I am not an employee of DSB, but I think I know the policy.
> 
> DSB will support a client, which would include a student in the OTC,
> to go to one or the other of the state conventions. I think they may
> even support a client in going to a national convention as well.
> 
> I am not sure how clients are informed of the consumer organization
> conventions other than that I know that Marci went to the OTC during
> their seminar class on Thursday to talk about the convention, and I
> believe that the WCB will give a similar presentation next week. I
> know that Marci took down some contacts and gaged interest from some
> clients. But I am unsure whether the availability of financial
> assistance from DSB was made obvious.
> 
> I do know that our presentations can be a lot more flattering if we go
> in with an agenda ahead of time with events on said agenda that will
> attract new members such as social events and technology training.
> 
> Like with many services, one has to ask their counselor and say they
> are interested in checking out a consumer organization. It takes some
> initiative. And I just don't know if the mechanisms currently in place
> to inform clients about them are really sufficient.
> 
> Regarding staff, DSB is supportive of staff going to professional
> conferences, which can include the consumer conventions, but anyone
> who is an officer in said organization cannot be sponsored by the
> agency. One interesting development will be whether Julie is supported
> by DSB to go to WCB conventions since  she is the 1st Vice President
> of WCB. However, her attendance will be pretty necessary given her
> director position. Who knows? That information is hardly appropriate
> to ask for. Perhaps she will have to alter her official officer roles.
> But that will be interesting as some other employees have hit walls
> when attempting to get financial assistance to attend consumer events
> based on their officer status.
> 
> I reapplied for services recently because I am starting school in a
> few weeks. It is well known at DSB that Mike is my partner, so when my
> counselor sifted through the paperwork with me, she asked if I was in
> the NFB. I said yes, and she said, "Well, you won't need that form."
> so it was refreshing to know that there is a flyer that is included in
> new client paperwork. However, it has been 2 and a half weeks since my
> intake, and I have yet to receive the paperwork in an alternative
> format; they did not have braille during the appointment so I asked
> that it be sent to me electronically. I am unsure of whether they
> offer large print.
> 
> In any case, I should have taken the flyer just to see what is on it.
> Perhaps if we can't remember what is on it, maybe it is time to make a
> new one?
> 
> My personal observations would be the following:
> 
> Strictly speaking, there seem to be more employees of DSB who are
> active in the WCB. As in any situation, people are influenced by those
> around them. The OTC offers a unique situation where the
> professional-student role can sometimes be blurred. Given that I
> graduated from a training center, I know this quite well. I would
> never say that any employee of the OTC is ever unprofessional, but I
> would say that a fulltime student is spending a great deal of time
> with their instructors. And when we don't have a lot of
> representation, students tend to not know about the NFB, or have very
> narrow opinions based on what they have heard from others. Even still,
> when professionals remain so, what is familiar to them versus what is
> not familiar to them can make a difference. I would note the amount of
> notice we are given when asked to present at the OTC.
> 
> I can't imagine that Julie would change any policy related to DSB
> supporting clients to attend the convention of one consumer
> organization. But I think we need to be more proactive than we have
> been about being more present at the OTC.
> 
> I hope that we can continue to improve our relationship with DSB.
> Moving to Washington was quite a transition for me. Regarding the NFB,
> I had never witnessed such politics. As a 19-year-old, I organized a
> pretty grassroots, no budget student seminar in NC. And I got
> immediate support from NC DSB because there was nothing else
> blindness-related going on for young people. NC DSB would say that
> they had to give out flyers for both organizations, but because we
> were the most active, our flyers were always better, always came with
> candy, and our events immediately gained the interests of
> professionals attempting to get their clients out in the community
> because they were the only thing going on. So we got financial support
> in bringing students in the form of vans and drivers. I have gaged
> little such support. I also think that we need to work harder as an
> affiliate, but DSB in Washington seems a lot more reluctant to
> willingly support us. And I think the politics are really unfortunate.
> Grass roots events work on a pendulum; there are amazing things you
> can do low budget or free, but we really need the support of agencies
> whether it be DSB or TVI's to reach the people. I have literally
> witnessed the change in attitude of some people when they find out I
> am in the NFB. It honestly boggles my mind since I was introduced to
> the NFB under such different circumstances. I have literally had
> people joke with me that they don't like me anymore or can't be
> friends with me anymore. And they have just met me!
> 
> Although not particularly relevant to the subject at hand, the
> politics is one reason I am particularly excited about the prospect of
> BELL. It has a curriculum created by educators of blind people. It is
> being run in over 20 other states so it can't be ignored. And it's
> educational nature provides a platform where parents will want to send
> their kids, and  TVI's will want to include it in IEP's which could
> warrant potential school system support in getting kids to the
> program.
> 
> Cindy
> 
>> On 9/6/14, debby phillips via nfbwatlk <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hi all, I'm asking for informational purposes only at this point,
>> but are OTC students given a choice about which convention they
>> will go to, ours or the WCB convention? And are their rooms paid
>> for by the state or by the organization whose convention they
>> attend? Can students go to both? What kind of ability do we have
>> to present NFB and our philosophy at OTC? How will this change
>> when Julie Brannon becomes manager? Just questions that are
>> filtering through my brain on this Saturday night.    Debby
>> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Cindy Bennett
> Graduate Student, University of Washington
> Human Centered Design and Engineering
> 
> Treasurer of the Greater Seattle Chapter and of the National
> Federation of the Blind of Washington
> Affiliates of the National Federation of the Blind
> 
> clb5590 at gmail.com
> 
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