Virginia Volunteer Management System (VMS)

Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardeners Time Keeping System

4-4-2013 (credits to Gloucester Master Gardeners)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INDEX .............................................................................................................................................. 1

POINTS OF CONTACT ................................................................................................................... 3

OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

SIGNING ON .................................................................................................................................... 4

PASSWORDS

VOLUNTEER AGREEMENT ........................................................................................................... 5

REQUEST FOR REAPPOINTMENT

ANNUAL REQUIREMENT

NAVIGATION BAR ........................................................................................................................... 6

YOUR INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................... 7

EDIT YOUR PROFILE

ROSTER PRIVATE SETTING ......................................................................................................... 8

CHANGE PASSWORD .................................................................................................................... 9

UPLOAD PHOTO

EDIT INTEREST

ADD VOLUNTEER HOURS ........................................................................................................... 10

EVENT DESCRIPTION

EVENT DATE

ADD VOLUNTEER HOURS, CONT’D ........................................................................................... 11

APPLY TO PROJECT

MILES DRIVEN

VOLUNTEER HOURS

CONTINUING EDUCATION

TRAVEL

ENTERING TIME AS DECIMAL ................................................................................................... 12

POPULATION SERVED

DEMOGRAPHICS

VIEW YOUR HOURS ..................................................................................................................... 13

CREATING A SPREADSHEET

MAKING A CORRECTION ............................................................................................................ 14

EVENT CALENDARS .................................................................................................................... 15

GENERAL INFORMATION ............................................................................................................ 16

MEMBER ROSTER ....................................................................................................................... 17

MEMBER ROSTER CONT’D ………………………………………………………………………….18

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EMAIL MEMBERS ......................................................................................................................... 19

EMAIL BY INTEREST OR GROUP ............................................................................................... 20

PROJECTS ................................................................................................................................... 21

PROJECTS, CONT’D .................................................................................................................... 22

VOLUNTEER

PROJECTS CONT’D ..................................................................................................................... 23

UNVOLUNTEER

NEWSLETTERS/DOCUMENTS .................................................................................................... 24

YOUR HOURS/MILES ................................................................................................................... 25

STATE LINKS

LINKS

SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... 26

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For now your volunteer system administrator is Susan Garrett. If you have questions or problems with VMS,

please email them to SusanSGarrett@yahoo.com

If Susan is not available you may contact Mark Sutphin, mark.sutphin@vt.edu or masutph2@vt.edu

OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

Even though all of our historical data may not be available in this system, it is a permanent record and is

available at VCE just as it is now.

This system is based on one unique email address per person. This will require Master Gardener Couples who

currently share an email address to create an additional email address so each member will have their own

unique email address.

Always use the same email address to sign onto VMS and be sure to log off when finished entering your hours.

Throughout this program you will see references to the University of California. This software was created by

and is owned by UC Davis, and it is currently being used in several states.

This is a mandatory program and the goal is to have all volunteers in the state using this system within 6

months.

For members who must use the hard copy time sheet, instructions are included in this manual.

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SIGNING ON -

Website: https://virginia.volunteersystem.org (NOTE: httpS and no WWW)

Some people have had problems typing in the website address. To make signing in easier, click on the above

link. Once the VMS page opens, right click in the middle of the page and choose “Create Shortcut”. This will

create a shortcut on your desktop so the next time you sign in all you will have to do is click on the shortcut.

(Wording may be slightly different depending on your software version)

Initial Sign-in Procedure for Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardeners

You have been sent an email with the initial one-time login. Upon entering, you MUST go to the tab “Edit Your

Profile” in the left navigation and enter a password in the “Change Password” section. This newly entered

password along with your email address will provide you access to the VMS site when wanting to return in the

future.

Log in using your email address and this entered password.

Be sure to change your password in your profile once you are in the system. The password should be at least

6 characters and is case sensitive.

If you have problems signing in, please contact Susan or Mark right away. It is possible the internal database

has an incorrect email address for you.

Any time you forget your email, you can contact Susan or Mark and we will reset your password.

Alternate Initial Sign-in Procedure

If you need access to the system and cannot contact your administrator, then you may use this alternate sign-

in procedure. https://virginia.volunteersystem.org

At the VMGA Master Gardener Login, click on New User

At the Forgot Password-VMGA Master Gardener Login page, enter your Email address and click to “Receive e-

mail to access portal”

An email will be sent to the email address you specified and it will contain your temporary password.

Once you receive your temporary password, go back to the VMGA Master Gardener Login page and enter your

email address and the temporary password.

The page will open with a greeting to you at the top.

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VOLUNTEER AGREEMENTS – Each year you will be asked to complete a volunteer agreement. This is an

annual requirement and reappointment will be made if you have completed your yearly commitment of 20

service hours and 8 continuing education hours. A copy of the annual agreement is included in this

instruction.

Since many of us drive our vehicles in support of MG activities, and even help by transporting other MGs, it is

important we have proper Automobile Liability Insurance; however, proof of insurance at this time it is NOT a

requirement of Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardeners.

Before offering to transport other Master Gardeners, please be sure your Automobile Insurance is up to date.

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NAVIGATION BAR - At the top right you will see a navigation bar which will be on every screen except the

calendar screen. If you click “Home” it will bring you back to this page.

Be sure to “Logout” when you have finished entering your hours.

There is a link to “ Virginia Cooperative Extension”

And a “Help” tab.

Be sure to watch the center of the screen for updates and information.

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YOUR INFORMATION - Starting on the left side

EDIT YOUR PROFILE – This is where you go first to set up your member profile. This is also where you can

change your password. It is important to keep this information up to date.

You will see at the top of the page the last date and time you updated your profile. Take a few minutes to

complete the information; it is self-explanatory with a few exceptions which are discussed in the next

paragraphs.

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Below are some additional explanations on some of the entries.

Private Hide this information from other Master Gardeners

This website contains a Member Roster which is visible to all of Northern Shenandoah Valley Master

Gardeners. It is like the roster we maintain at the NSVMGA website. No one else can see this except other

Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardeners and VCE, however, if you DO NOT want to have your address,

phone and email address visible to other Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardeners, you may check the

block next to private and it will exclude your information from the Member Roster. Just a reminder, this is

exactly the same as the roster we currently use and it is beneficial to new members as well as project chairs

and NSVMGA officers.

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Change Password – Remember you signed in with a temporary password. Be sure to change your

password now. You may change your own password at any time. Be sure to go all the way to the bottom and

save your information. It is normal for your password to disappear when you hit save for security purposes.

If you forget your password, you may contact our local Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener

Volunteer System Administrator and the Administrator will assist you.

Upload Photo – With this Member Directory, you can include your picture. This is particularly helpful

to the new Master Gardeners so we encourage you do to this. It is easy to do.

Click on Browse, and it will open a window in your computer. Just navigate to the photo in the

directory on your computer that you want to upload and click on “Open”. Your local NSVMG volunteer system

administrator can assist you with this if you need help. Just remember, this isn’t Facebook. We need a real,

current picture of you. Be sure to use a good, high quality, close up photo. This is used by new members to

help them identify other members and help them learn names and by officers and the board to help them

identify NSVMG new members and learn their names.

Edit Interests – This is a list of items from which you can choose your interests. Make a checkmark

next to all of the items in which you have an interest.

Other Interests – This is where you can add items in which you have an interest but that may not be on

the list. These do not need to be just gardening interests.

Click on at the bottom to exit. To exit without saving, either hit the back arrow or

at the top of the page click on:

“VIRGINIA MASTER GARDENER

VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM”

No matter what page you are on, clicking “VIRGINIA MASTER GARDENER

VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM” will take you back to

the main page.

At the bottom of some pages is a “Questions? Contact Us” - Please do not use this link. It will send an

email to Dave Close at VA Tech. Please contact your local Northern Shenandoah Valley VMS Administrator if

you have questions.

See page 2 for your VMS Volunteer System Administrator.

Save Information

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ADD VOLUNTEER HOURS – This is where you will enter your hours. This section also helps VCE keep track of

the Population Served.

Event Description – This is the event for which you volunteered, for example, Manned Booth at

GardenFair - Blandy. You can type anything here that will help to describe the work you performed. If you

performed the same work on multiple days, you may enter them all at the same time. Note the days worked

here, for example; 2013 MG Class- March 4,11,18,25

Event Date – There is a drop down calendar here for your convenience

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Apply to Project – This will be one of the approved Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener

Projects. They will appear on a drop down list. Just click on the arrow and the list of approved projects will

drop down. Select the proper project.

There is also a selection for “Travel Time” which will be used for travel for volunteer service and for continuing

education. See below for more on Travel.

Miles Driven – This is new. We have not kept track of this in the past but it will now be part of VCE’s

reporting process. Please estimate as closely as possible the number of miles you drove to and from the event

or to and from your education site. Do not enter anything here if you were a passenger in someone else’s

vehicle. The driver of the vehicle should be the only person who puts anything in this block (Note- you can

always use mapping tools such as Google Maps or MapQuest to calculate your miles driven). There will be

more on this later in this manual.

If you itemize your deductions on your taxes, this information is for your use in determining your

charitable contribution. NSVMGA has a 501C3 Status. See applicable IRS Regulations.

Volunteer Hours – This is where you enter your volunteer /service hours just as you did before. Do

not include educational hours or travel here. There is a separate place for education.

Continuing Education – This is where you enter your education hours.

Travel – Travel is listed as a separate project so you will make a separate entry for your travel. You

may choose to enter your travel each time you enter your hours, or you may combine your travel time and

make one entry per month. It is important to keep your travel time separate. It does NOT count towards your

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20 hour service or your 8 hour continuing education requirement; however we must keep track of it because it

does count towards your milestone awards.

All entries into VMS Timekeeping system should be in decimal format.

Remember to enter your time as a decimal.

.25 = 15 minutes

.50 = 30 minutes

.75 = 45 minutes

1 = 1 hour

1.25 = 1 hour and 15 minutes

1.50 = 1 hour and 30 minutes

1.75 = 1 hour and 45 minutes

Population Served – This is the same as on our current time sheet. These are your contacts. Currently

this is for face-to-face contacts. VCE is going to ask the programmers to add a line for indirect contacts. Until

then, use the last line, Unknown, for indirect contacts like email and phone contacts.

Demographics -VCE has asked that we capture the demographics of our contacts as closely as possible.

We know there are inherent problems but just do the best you can.

Remember, to avoid duplication, typically only the project chairman or project leads should enter this

information unless multiple individuals are all presenting separate educational information/material and in

this situation, each Master Gardener should report contacts reached (examples: 1-each Greenwood Mill

Elementary Junior Master Gardener Presenter should count contacts of the students taught; 2-multiple

educational activities at GardenFest at Belle Grove, contacts should be tracked separately at each educational

activity in addition to the general attendance at the front gate).

Click on

Save Hours

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View Your Hours – Here is one of the great things about this website. You can easily view your hours for any

period of time by entering the start date and the end date for the period you wish to view.

When you view your hours, displayed are all the hours you have contributed and what projects you worked

on. You may have to scroll down to see them all. However, you can sort the display. For example, enter

1/1/2013 in “Start Date” and 12/31/2013 in the end date, click on “submit” and only the hours from 2013 are

displayed.

Creating an Excel Spreadsheet - On this page you will also see the button

Once you enter your dates and get your data you may create an excel spreadsheet which you can download to

your computer. We highly recommend you keep a copy of your service.

Create Excel

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Making a Correction - Notice the underlined headings by the red arrow. Date, Activity, Project Name,

Miles Driven, CE Hours and Vol. Hours. You are able to sort on any of these headings just by clicking on the

heading.

Also notice under Activity, that the title of your activity is underlined. Click on any of the underlined activities

and the program will open that entry so it can be corrected if there is an error, or deleted if it is a duplicate.

Once you have made the correction, scroll to the bottom and click on Save Hours. You will use the Delete

Hours to delete the entry.

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EVENT CALENDAR

General Event Calendar – This is where your administrators will put reminders for upcoming events, meetings

or activities. If you are a project chairman, you can be given permission to add to and edit this calendar. You

can even create your own calendar for your particular project.

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GENERAL INFORMATION HEADING- Here you will be able to see all the Northern Shenandoah Valley Master

Gardener’s Member Roster, approved Projects and Newsletters/Documents.

Member Roster – When you click on Member Roster, it brings up the roster

in the center and it opens two additional choices, View Member Interests

and Email Members. (Members info is loaded so there is no screen print of

the open roster.) However, below is Jose Doe’s entry in the Member

Roster.

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If you click on Jose Doe’s name, his profile opens up and this is what you see….

MEMBER ROSTER Cont’d

If you click on View Member Interests, each Northern Shenandoah Valley MG member in the database will be

displayed along with the “interests” they clicked on when they created their profile. This is useful if you want

to do a training project, for example, on Boxwood Pruning, you could go into the roster and see who has an

interest in Pruning then call or email them to see if they are interested in participating.

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View Member’s Interests cont’d

Notice above when you click on “View Member Interest”, the link changes to “Hide Interests”

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Email Members – If you click on Email Members, this screen will come up. You can email all members with

the same interests, all members participating in a project, or by Master Gardener Groups, like Trainees/Interns

or all Inactive. Once you choose a group, go to the bottom and click on Email by Interest or Group

This feature is particularly helpful for Project Leader if they are using the project feature.

Notice at the top you can “ View Email History”. If you click here you can see all emails sent to you or from

you through the VMS system.

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Email by Interest or Group

Once you have clicked on Email by Interest or Group at the bottom of the page,

You will then see every name in that group and have an opportunity to select all members or just some

members.

In the example below, I clicked on Trainee/Intern. I can compose my email from this screen, attach files and

send my email.

If you click on Email History, you will get a list of the emails you have sent to NSVMG members using the email

link in the Member Roster. The email option will be disabled if abuse becomes a problem. Remember, the

email addresses in the roster are to be used for Master Gardener business and there are disciplinary actions

that may be taken for abuse of the email addresses in the roster.

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Projects - On this page you will see a list of the Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener projects. You

can click on any of the projects to get additional information about that project

Each Project Leader is responsible for writing up the information on their project and submitting to the

Volunteer Coordinator.

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If you click on one of the projects listed it will bring up this screen. Below is an example of the project

Emerald Ash Borer. (Emerald Ash Borer is not currently an approved NSVMG project.)

The project leader may be given permissions to manage their portion of this program. Here you see a

description of the project, volunteer details such as how many volunteers are needed and how many have

already signed up, including the names of the people already signed up.

Volunteer -If you want to volunteer for the project you can write some information or questions to the project

coordinator in the Notes section and when you click the button at the bottom,

The system will send your note to the project leader and let them know you are interested in volunteering for

the project (If the chairman has chosen to use this feature.)

Volunteer for Project

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Unvolunteer - In the example below, Jose Doe has volunteered for the project and his name now shows up

under “Volunteers”

If you change your mind, go back to the project list and click on the project again, and you will see the button

at the bottom

Click on the button and you will be “unvolunteered!”

Unvolunteer

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NEWSLETTERS/DOCUMENTS – Here you will see your newsletters and other important documents.

NEWSLETTERS -If you click on NSVMGA Newsletter it will bring up this page (still under construction).

One caution here, if you click on the newsletter to read it, you must use the back arrow to go back, if you click

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the “X” at the top of the page to close it, it will close the whole website. This is an error with the program that

will be fixed.

CLICK ON “HOME” to go back to the main page and we will review the items on the right side of the screen,

YOUR HOURS/MILES

This block is a summary of the information you have entered. There is nothing to click on in this box. It is just

for your quick reference. It shows a summary of your total hours.

It includes your Volunteer Hours (All work on volunteer projects, contributed time and your travel time),

Continuing Education Hours (All Continuing Education hours)

Volunteer Miles (Miles driven to perform your volunteer projects and your continuing education)

State Links

Here you will have quick access to State Resources. We will be adding to this list.

Links

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Here you will have quick access to our local resources. Notice we have added the NSVMGA Website. We will

be adding to this section also.

SUMMARY

As you can see, the program is not complicated and has a lot of benefits. This will be a much easier way for

you to enter your hours. You may enter your hours as you go and submit them immediately, or keep track of

them and enter them at the end of each month. VCE regulations suggest entries be made no less than every

30 days in order to keep the system up to date.

Your hours will be immediately visible and will make getting milestone awards much timelier and it will allow

you to review your hours and projects anytime from any computer.