TSGC Call for Volunteers
TSGC is seeking volunteers for several opportunities outlined below. Our organization is run entirely on volunteer effort of our membership, for which we are extremely grateful. Volunteering provides an opportunity for you to become more involved in the TSGC community and develop invaluable skills and connections!
Please find additional information about the available volunteer opportunities below and apply by completing the attached interest form. Please sign up by August 9, 2024 for any volunteer position(s) that you are interested in. We will contact those who have expressed interest in volunteering with confirmation of their role by August 16, 2024.
Nominating Committee (3 Volunteers Needed)
TSGC is seeking volunteers to serve on the Nominating Committee for this year's Board of Directors election. Committee responsibilities include:
Soliciting nominations for the open Board positions
Obtaining application materials from candidates
Creating an electronic ballot
Communicating election results to candidates, the Board of Directors, and TSGC members
The expected time commitment is approximately 10 hours total over an 8-10 week period (August-October). Serving on the Nominating Committee is an excellent opportunity to get involved with TSGC in a manner that is short-term yet impactful.
Additionally, please start considering yourself or your colleagues for the open positions of President-Elect, Secretary, Membership Chair, DEI Co-Chair, and Social Media Chair. An official call for nominations will be sent out early September.
Texas Transcript Members
Looking for a fun way to connect with your Texas GC community? Texas Transcript is always looking for volunteers that can help curate articles and spotlights highlighting all the fun and exciting things happening around us. The Texas Transcript team is a great way to get comfortable with volunteering with a very flexible role. We ask for a one year commitment for 1-3 hours a month.
Discussion Forum Moderator
TSGC Genetics Services and Membership committees are teaming up to create a discussion forum and other perks exclusive to TSGC Membership. If you have experience and/or interest in listserv curation, forum development and management, or in resource repository development (think EHR smartphrases), please sign up using the form provided! We expect this to be a short-term commitment for forum development to be implemented Fall 2024, averaging about 1 hour/wk, with future opportunities in moderation partnering with the Membership and Genetics Services Committee more long-term.
Prospective Student Webinar
Goal: Provide information about the profession of genetic counseling as a career choice to high school and undergrad students with the aim of increasing diversity within the field of genetic counseling to better reflect Texan population diversity and meet demand for GC in Texas. We are seeking volunteers to:
Review previous webinar slides--revise and update (~Aug)
Practice run-through of updated slide deck (~mid September), flow of presentation
Participate in Webinar--responsible for presenting a portion of the slides during the webinar and participating in Q&A session (~late September)
Time commitment: ~1hr/meeting
Genetic Counselor Awareness Day
We are looking forward to celebrating this year’s GC Awareness Day on Thursday, November 14, 2024! TSGC is looking for volunteers to assist with planning this year’s GC Awareness Day activities. Past GC Awareness Days have included in-person social events, Instagram giveaways, trivia, scavenger hunts, and more! Since we’d like to have some in-person events, our goal is to have representation from all major Texas cities (Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio). Volunteers will work closely with GCs who have experience leading these planning efforts in previous years. The expected time commitment is less than 5 hours, including two planning meetings in October and November.
TSGC Licensure Subcommittee
Licensure subcommittee volunteers have an essential role in grassroot efforts to bring GC licensure to Texas. Together with all of TSGC membership, subcommittee volunteers identify cases of patient harm, as well as identify physicians and/or organizations who support GC licensure. Volunteers contact legislators to advocate support for the bill, and they participate in Lobby Day at the Capitol (hosted by March of Dimes). Additionally, volunteers have unique duties. Under the direction of the subcommittee Co-Chairs Jamie Fong and Jackie Harkenrider, volunteers will:
Meet periodically with the TSGC lobbyist
Review bills for which TSGC support is solicited
Curate cases of patients harm collected by TSGC members
Liaise with physician/organization supporters of licensure
Train/prepare supporters who give oral testimony at the Capitol
Oversee TSGC member calls to legislators
Train/prepare TSGC members to participate in Lobby Day
Keep TSGC members informed about bill progress
Volunteering involves 2-3 hours (variable) per month, from Sep 2024 to Jun 2025 (~9 months). Volunteers will be busiest during the 140 days of the Texas legislative session (Jan 14, 2025 to Jun 2, 2025), depending on bill progress.