Current Vistas

OCCN
Volunteer In Services To America (VISTA) Program

OCCN VISTA Program Policies

Travel

OCCN will reimburse up to $500 per VISTA per year for travel
authorized by the site but not mandated by CNS or OCCN. Travel
reimbursement forms should be submitted after the end of the
month with the timesheets. Submitting travel reimbursement
forms monthly will help avoid duplication of travel reimbursement
requests. VISTAs will only receive travel reimbursements checks
if they are up to date with their timesheets and quarterly
reports.

OCCN VISTA Travel reimbursement forms can be
found in the Expense Reports section of Intranets at http://ohioccn.webexone.com . Any item other than mileage requires a receipt be attached to the expense report.
Forms must be completely filled out with the correct per mile
reimbursement, which is currently $.485 per mile, the departure
address and the destination address, the purpose of the travel,
and the total amount of reimbursement requested. For travels
over 50 miles per trip, documentations of the exact miles
traveled (such as Mapquest or Yahoo Map) must also be attached
with the Reimbursement Form. VISTAs will receive per diem
for OCCN coordinated trainings with $10 for a half day and
$20 for a full day training. For per diem of all other travels,
VISTAs must request advanced approval from OCCN Director.

Trainings

OCCN and CNS require VISTAs to attend trainings throughout
the year. VISTAs will receive information regarding mandatory
trainings directly from OCCN. VISTAs should not assume training
notifications from other sources is mandatory. For clarification
contact OCCN.

VISTAs may also choose to attend local trainings
useful to their duties at their site. OCCN has limited funds
to reimburse these training costs. To be reimbursed by OCCN
the VISTA must receive approval from the OCCN Executive Director
prior to attending the training. The VISTA may also request
that the travel to and from the training be reimbursed.

Time Sheets

OCCN VISTAs are expected to work an average of 40 hours per
week. All OCCN VISTAs must use the standard OCCN VISTA timesheet
spreadsheet document (available at the top of the page), which
includes dates, hours worked, sick/personal time and the signatures
of the VISTA and Site Supervisor. Since the document covers
the full year, VISTAs will be expected to update and save
the same document throughout their service year. VISTAs are
expected to print, sign and fax a monthly timesheet from this
document at the end of every month to the OCCN VISTA Leader.

HOW TO ENTER INFORMATION :

Each month is divided into 5 week columns with the days of
the week in the rows. Fill in the appropriate number of hours
worked (you don't have to use timeframes, like 9-5, anymore)
for that day in the appropriate cell.

For example, for the month of April, the first week included
only 3 days for that month, Friday April 1st - Sunday April
3rd, so for that column you would only employ the last three
cells. Hours for Monday April 4 - Sunday April 10 would fit
into the Week 2 column, the next 7 in Week 3, etc.

The timesheet should automatically calculate
your total monthly hours. You should be averaging 170 hours
for a 30-day month.

For the Sick/Vacation column, DO NOT enter words
like "Sick Day" or "Vacation". Instead,
enter a number of hours. For a full sick/vacation day, enter
8. When you print out your timesheet, you can note the circumstances
surrounding the sick/vacation day in the available space.

HOW TO PRINT THE TIMESHEET :

Each month column is divided using page breaks.
Use the "Print Preview" to see on what page the
current month is located. Then go "File", "Print..."
and select "Page(s)" from "Print range".
Enter the page range to print the appropriate page and click
"OK".

For example, the month of April is located on
Page 1 in the print preview function. To print the completed
month of April, enter the Print range as "From: 1, To:
1" and click "OK". Printed timesheets need
to be signed by both the VISTA and the Site Supervisor before
being faxed to the OCCN VISTA Leader.

Workplan and Quarterly Reports

OCCN VISTAs should complete the 3rd column of the workplan
monthly and submit it 5 days after the end of each month.
Quarterly Reports are due 3 weeks after the end of the quarter.
Workplans should be submitted via Intranets. Quarterly Reports
should be faxed to the VISTA Leader. Quarterly Reports should
include the CNCS reporting form signed by the Site Supervisor,
and the VISTA’s workplan with column three completed
for the entire quarter.

End of Service Forms

45-60 days before the VISTA’s term ends, the VISTA who
will not renew the term will receive two forms: (1) Service
Exit form and (2) Future Plans or Early Termination Request,
the VISTA who wants to renew for another service year must
first express interest to OCCN Executive Director prior to
the end-of-service paperwork deadline. OCCN will review VISTA
quarterly reports, timesheets and workplan for the past service
year, and then notify the VISTA whether or not his/her renewal
request is approved. If approved, the VISTA will receive three
forms: (1) Service Exit form, (2) Future Plans or Early Termination
Request and (3) Benefit Election form. The VISTA should fill
out these forms completely and mail them to the OCCN VISTA
Leader by the specified deadline.

VISTA Sites

Dependent upon the needs of the site, OCCN may authorize a
site to have up to two OCCN VISTAs at a time. Sites may have
VISTA positions for a maximum of three years.

The sites must be up to date with VISTA Quarterly
Reports and OCCN Membership dues to fill empty VISTAs positions.

All Site Supervisors must attend the Site Supervisor
training before new VISTA positions are created or new VISTAs
are placed at the site.


VISTA Grievance Procedure

During your service, a situation may arise that directly affect
your service situation or that you believe violates regulations
governing the terms and conditions of services, resulting
in a denial or infringement of a right or benefit to you.

Your may present and obtain resolution of grievances
either informally or formally. The grievance procedure is
contained in Appendix B of the Americorps*VISTA Handbook.
You should read the procedure in its entirety before initiating
any grievance. Under this procedure, you are not permitted
to grieve matters for which separate administrative procedure
(e.g. discrimination complaints) is provided. Consequently,
you may not grieve a “for cause termination” or
matters that are processed through the Volunteer Discrimination
Complaint Procedure.

For additional information on the OCCN
VISTA Program contact:

Gary Lambert

OCCN Executive Director

274 E. First Ave.

Columbus OH 43201-3673

Phone#: (614) 644-6932

Fax#: (614) 728-3521

Email

Robb Ebright

OCCN VISTA Leader

274 E. First Ave.

Columbus OH 43201-3673

Phone#: (614) 387-2550

Fax#: (614) 728-3521

Email

Attachment Size
Timesheet VISTAs.xls 32 KB
2005_VISTA_ProgressReport 2006 form.doc 102.5 KB