On-Duty Volunteer
Asmbly's On-Duty Volunteer program gives members a way to earn free membership through service onsite at Asmbly, which in tun helps keep the space running at low cost. It's also a great way to have a direct impact on Asmbly and the decisions made for the organization.
12 hours of volunteering gets you 1 free month of membership. Hours expire after one calendar year, so it is OK if it takes you more than 1 month to work 12 hours. Maximum of 1 free month can be earned per calendar month - additional hours volunteered in a given month will not earn additional free months.
There are no minimum requirements for hours logged per month. You may choose to leave the program any time you wish without negative impact to your membership.
Requirements
- Maintain an active membership (at least in the months you choose to volunteer)
- Sign up and be approved using the form link (see Discourse for more info)
- Use Asmbly Slack as directed to communicate with others
- Wear provided T-shirt or apron with name tag for identification
- Book volunteer shifts in Skedda and track completion in Google Sheets (for now, automated OpenPath and Neon tracking coming soon)
- Focus on volunteer tasks during booked time, no working on personal projects while on-duty
There are 2 types of On-Duty Volunteers: Ambassadors and Stewards. Each type has Skedda slots to sign up for shifts (which do not count toward a member's weekly allotted space usage hours).
Ambassadors
These volunteers might not have troubleshooting experience with any particular machines or be subject matter experts in any domain, but they are friendly folks willing to help members navigate Asmbly physically or digitally to help find solutions.
Main Ambassador Duties:
- Help members find answers to their questions
- Help students get to their classes
- Check supplies and communicate needs
- Quick tours or drop by prospective members
- Move package deliveries to "pending pick up" zone in Textiles
- Check storage tags and communicate past due items
- General cleaning - emptying trash, cleaning out scrap carts, etc.
A maximum of 1 Ambassador is allowed on-duty at a time. Minimum 2 hour bookings.
Ambassador Available Times:
- 3pm - 9pm weekdays
- 9am - 9pm weekends
Stewards
While troubleshooting experience with machines is not strictly required, stewards should have at least one machine at Asmbly they feel at least thoroughly comfortable or expert in. Additionally, they should have a strong desire to learn more about machine maintenance and a willingness to research and work alongside experts to learn.
Main Steward Duties:
- Check preventative maintenance log
- Perform machine maintenance/repair
- Develop maintenance schedule(s)
- Identify machine issues and parts needed, then report accordingly
- Special projects that have been approved by leadership
- All Ambassador duties
A maximum of 2 Stewards are allowed on-duty at a time. Minimum 1 hour bookings.
Steward Available Times:
- 5am - 2am any day
Logging Time
Note: We are working on an integration with OpenPath and Neon that will allow volunteers to "badge in/out" for their time. Stay tuned...
In the meantime, the process for logging time manually is as follows:
- Sign up for a volunteer spot using Skedda (see minimum bookings and schedules for Ambassadors and Stewards above).
- Use your provided Google Sheet to track your time once you've completed a volunteer session.
- Admins will check hours once a month and add free memberships accordingly.
If you have a membership renewal coming up and know you have logged 12 hours, email membership@asmbly.org at least 48 hours before your membership renewal date to request an hours check.
Staying in the Program
- Don't game the system. While you are on duty, you are doing volunteer work for Asmbly. Do not work on personal projects during this time.
- Maintain good membership standing. Quickly resolve any payment lapses and do not get your membership suspended or terminated.
Volunteer Guides
Volunteer Checklists
- On-duty and looking for something to do? Check out this checklist
