Kathy,
    Employees are generally not hired under a contract unless they are
management. Usually, a person is hired as an "at-will" employee meaning
essentially, that they can be released at any time for any reason and quit
at any time for any reason; of course this is subject to anything to the
contrary written in employee handbooks, etc.   When I was a docent, or what
they termed guide,  at Winterthur Museum, there were two categories: general
guides or docents and senior guides.  The regular guides had to go through
training and serve in a wing of the museum for a year before they were
evaluated for promotion to senior guide.  The senior guides were required to
go through additional coursework and evaluation.  Both groups were paid a
salary based on part-time work.  This was years ago so I can not speak on
what the process is today.  I would image that your human resources or
management department could come up with requirements regarding service
hours and locations for volunteers.  I hope this helps.
Best,
---
Terry Peeler
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathy Henri" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, April 18, 2003 7:15 PM
Subject: Docent and Volunteer Programs


> Hello List,
> I'm hoping that you can provide some pearls of wisdom on the subject of
> docent and volunteer programs. We have a very active docent group, but we
> have recently decided to explore the idea of differentiating docents and
> volunteers. Currently, docents must graduate from a five-month class that
> focuses on giving tours. Of course, there are always people who aren't
> interested in giving tours, but could be useful in other areas. Our
> education director would like to see the "docents" be primarily tour
givers
> and complete the regular class, and "volunteers" to work in other areas of
> the Museum after completing a shorter orientation-type of class.
>
> We also would like to hear about docent/volunteer contracts that specify
> things like time commitment, training, and what happens if a docent or
> volunteer isn't holding up their end of the deal.
>
> Thanks in advance for you help.
> Kathy Henri
> Collections Manager
> Ventura County Museum of History & Art
> 100 E. Main Street
> Ventura, CA 93001
> (805) 653-0323 x. 20
> [log in to unmask]
> www.vcmha.org
>
> =========================================================
> Important Subscriber Information:
>
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message
to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help"
(without the quotes).
>
> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).