http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter.asp Welcome to the AmeriCorps Communication Center. Here you will find policy updates and other messages that AmeriCorps staff typically send to grantees via e-mail, for easy access and continued reference. en-us Fri, 8 May 2009 00:00:00 EST 0 http://www.americorps.gov/images/logos/ac_logo.gif http://www.americorps.gov 120 120 http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1304In This Issue: Message from Acting Director Lois Nembhard; The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act; Grant Application Review and Clarification Updates; Recovery Act Updates; Recovery Provisions Now Available; Recovery Act Report on Contact with Registered Lobbyist Requirement; Federal Financial Report Due; New Training and Technical Assistance Providers; Checklists for New Staff on the Resource Center; Updated MSY Factors Now in WBRS; Letter Allowing Use of Grant Funds to Attend National Conference on Volunteering and Service; Managing Spontaneous Volunteers in Times of Emergency Curriculum Available; AmeriCorps Week News; Dates to RememberAmeriCorps StateAmeriCorps NationalTue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1294AmeriCorps Week is May 9-16. Coming just weeks after enactment of historic legislation to expand national service, this year's AmeriCorps Week is a perfect time to shine the spotlight on AmeriCorps to raise awareness and recruit more Americans into service. One of the big successes from previous years has been Governor's proclamations. Thanks to the efforts of Commissions and Corporation state offices, last year 25 Governors issued AmeriCorps proclamations. We encourage you to seek proclamations again this year. To help, attached is a draft proclamation, and state-specific data on AmeriCorps members, hours, and Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards earned since the beginning of AmeriCorps.AmeriCorps StateWed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1293Based on testing efforts with Release 3.0.0.15, we have identified additional issues that must be resolved to begin regression testing. As a result, our contractor is working to resolve the most pressing issues in a new release to be provided to the Corporation for testing on or around April 10.Mon, 6 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1284We had to address technical issues with the staff user log in process. This required two unexpected deployments that impacted staff side testing. Testing has resumed in full force. Today's changes slowed down our testing efforts to quickly validate the most critical items in the release.Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1275While the contractor team is busy fixing the numerous issues our testers identified last week, our IT shop has shifted gears to focus on standing-up a new server environment to support the Corporation's systems, including My AmeriCorps, e-Grants, and eSPAN. The new 'Blade Production' environment will handle the increase in traffic My AmeriCorps will experience as members and grantees/project sponsors begin using the system in new ways. Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1271AmeriCorps National Best Practices Conference: Registration is now open!All AmeriCorpsAmeriCorps NationalFri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1269Commission Use of Unexpended 2006 Disaster Formula FundsAll AmeriCorpsFri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1270Final Recovery Act Application DocumentsAll AmeriCorpsThu, 19 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1268Our testing team did a stellar job earlier this week of verifying all but a couple of the defect (bug) fixes on the docket, which has allowed us to stay on track for our mid-May release. The ball is now back with our contractors to do another round of code fixes for the new problems we identified.Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1254Final 2009 Commission Administrative Allocations and Instructions for Amending Administrative, PDAT, and Disability Grants AmeriCorps StateTue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1249Formula Unexpended ThresholdsAmeriCorps StateTue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1255Today marks a major milestone on our project plan for completing the work on Release 3. By close of business we are to have completed testing the fixes to the computer code problems (bugs) that our team had previously identified. We also need to have completed the testing on some new functionality added to Release 3, including the member management module for State/National Grantees. Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1252Follow up call on recovery funds infoAmeriCorps StateFri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1253AmeriCorps Recovery Act Application GuidanceAll AmeriCorpsAmeriCorps StateAmeriCorps NationalFri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1251Attached please find the Recovery formula allocations. AmeriCorps StateSat, 7 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1244In this issue: Message from Acting Director Lois Nembhard: Implementing the Recovery Act; New MSY Factors; Program Income FAQs; Changing a Less-than-full-time Slot to a Greater Slot Type; Your Contact Information in eGrants; New Federal Financial Report (FFR); NCCC as a Second Term Opportunity; AmeriCorps Week News; Dates to RememberAmeriCorps StateAmeriCorps NationalThu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1230We are making preparations for our Peer Mentor program Kick-Off for 2009. This program gives staff with AmeriCorps National programs a chance to learn from colleagues around the country. While you may have already requested a mentor or discussed serving as a mentor with your Program Officer, we wanted to give everyone a final opportunity to join the program. If you are a new staff member with your organization (or new to AmeriCorps grant management) and would enjoy working with someone who has tackled many of the same challenges you face, or if you have been in your position for awhile but would like to work on a particular area of program management, a peer mentor may be right for you.AmeriCorps NationalThu, 5 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1233You are invited to register for a one-hour web-based presentation offered by Project STAR. All AmeriCorpsWed, 4 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1229I am writing to invite your organization to become part of the Johns Hopkins University Nonprofit Listening Post Project, a cutting-edge initiative designed to identify the major challenges facing nonprofit organizations in our country and the promising responses nonprofit executives are taking to cope with them. For the first time, the Corporation has formed a partnership with Johns Hopkins that will allow a select group of AmeriCorps programs to participate in the Listening Post Project.AmeriCorps NationalTue, 27 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/manage/commcenter_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1231By now you have received an electronic message from the CFI Group, LLC (www.cfigroup.com), inviting you to complete the AmeriCorps State and National Customer Satisfaction Survey. We really appreciate that 40% of State Commissions and 31% of National grantees have already responded. If you have not yet completed the survey, please take a few moments to fill it out. It is important that we hear your feedback. The survey will close within the next month. AmeriCorps StateAmeriCorps NationalMon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST