I am SO disappointed in Texas Parks and Wildlife

>>Mismanagement is not caused by lack of money, mismanagement is caused by lack of qualifications and lack of caring!

"lack of qualification and lack of caring" oh my... since when has it been reasonable to assume that any government agency would not be dysfunctional?

Given that the Texas legislature believes science does not belong in the classroom, comments that the proper database software would solve the problem shows a lack of contextual awareness. My guess is the TPWD is limping along with 1980's computers and operating on a budget overseen by a political hack who owes their job to climate change deniers living in a alternate universe that is only 6,000 yrs old. This is the Great State of Texas ya'll.... real world expectations do not apply.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/state-politics/20130116-texas-state-parks-may-face-closure-in-proposed-budget-cuts.ece

I suggest to you that your outrage at not being valued to the extent you think you deserve is insignificant when compared to the uncertain future faced by the TPWD employees who have families to house and feed.

It is certainly interesting to read all of the comments by volunteers and ex volunteers. I now know that I am not alone in my displeasure and that the State of Texas can do a much better job managing their volunteer program.

After numerous requests to one park, without any apology for tardiness, I received a response. After few emails a date to begin was set: pending a background check. It's been over two weeks with no further correspondence from the volunteer coordinator.

I have just read an article dealing with the struggles of Red Lobster and Olive Garden that read in part, "The shake-up comes as Darden Restaurants Inc. struggles to keep pace with a shifting industry..." Yes, I do think Texas Parks and Wildlife could do a better job of managing the volunteer program.

When I worked at a bank many years ago, I waited on this gentleman every day who opened his gas station at 4 A.M. I asked him WHY? His response was that you never wanted to give your customer a reason to go somewhere else. I see too many businesses who do not understand the concept of customer service!

Just as basic guidelines for park management flows from TPWD in Austin, so should the basic guidelines for managing the volunteers. Mismanagement is not caused by lack of money, mismanagement is caused by lack of qualifications and lack of caring!

Totally agree. We volunteered (still are) at two different state parks on the same lake. We did six months in 2011 and we have done five months when we leave here in two weeks. The park manager makes all the difference. We have had a wonderful experience this year and are invited back in 2014.

The personal contact is true. Also if you know someone working at the park it helps.

Our big gripe is volunteers who homestead at the park. Some have outside full time employment and have a spouse doing the required volunteer hours for their spot. We would like to see volunteer positions limited to no more than three to six months. That would have the effect of opening up more positions so more people could have an opportunity.

I love our Texas Parks, but their handling of volunteer hosts is pretty lousy. We have friends who have been very successful in getting host positions in the Texas system. They tell me that the way to do it is to pick the park you are interested in, and then make a personal contact with the park manager or their designated volunteer coordinator. That can be either in person or by phone. Explain your interest and ask if you can send the application directly to them. They prefer to make a personal visit, but sometimes that's not easy. They have good references, both personal and from prior host jobs, and they can pretty well get any that they want. The key is the personal contact, not just sending an application and waiting for a response. Be proactive.

By the way, there is a wide disparity in how the various parks treat their hosts. Some provide great sites, and good working conditions, others, not so much. Seems like that depends on the park manager and how they view the volunteers. Talking to the manager helps to decide if you want the position as much as it does help them to decide if they want you.

Good luck!

There's absolutely no reason for not receiving a response from an application - even if it's a 'canned' one. We've volunteered for many different public agencies and have always received a response - national parks, state parks, Fish and Wildlife.

There is another reason to not respond to an unsuccessful applicant: when they try to turn your "no" into a "yes." And then there were the truly crazy, who wanted to take personal offense at not being chosen.

I had a work camping job after I retired which involved hiring. At first, I tried to respond to each applicant, at least to say they were not a good fit. After getting blasted and connecting with professional time wasters, I gave that up as a bad idea. Most people were nice and appreciated a response, but even though only 10% were crazy, that was enough to keep me from blanket replies in the future.

westernrvparkowner wrote:
Sounds like you are both going to be well-served if you don't connect. You are probably going to have a lot of problems with the rules, policies and tasks they are going to set forth for their volunteers and they would probably have a lot of problems with someone who obviously thinks they know how to run things much better than they do. You already have problems with the pay, the hours they want and how they are not as technologically advanced as you think they should be, so why would you want a position even if they offered you one?

X2

It's TEXAS.

Jack_Diane_Freedom wrote:
I am in the recruiting business and often receive hundreds of applications for very few positions as would TPWD. You cannot expect them to respond to hundreds of applications,it is just not physically possible. Perhaps they have filled the positions and it is over.

I find this hard to believe in this day and age of computers. Perhap don't have the right program, and I can respect that, but it IS possible.

As I noted before many companies will take a payment or respond a contact with a computer program requiring no human input on each contact.

From personal experience: A national campground operator responded with a "standard" or "canned" response, but the item that really helped was the sentence that said they would call on such and such a date, if we were selected. If no call, than at least a applicant can "move on."

I don't want to bash anyone, but if a company or organization actively solicits my input, it is just plain rude not to acknowledge it. It does tell me that I do not want to be associated with that group.

RV Volunteers-CONUS wrote, "I am still amazed at the number of hours RV Volunteers have contributed. It involves years of work. One full-time work year is equivalent to 2,087 hours at an approximate value of $20 per hour = $41, 740.00 in value for one year. One RVG Member team has contributed over 10,000+ hours = 4.79+ work years = $200,000,00+ Think about the value and the return,,,Agency Managers do. Many more agencies are developing and constructing RV Volunteer Campsites, because of the return on the $; and the ultimate success of Volunteer programs".

RV Volunteers makes a VALID point...even at $10 per hour, a workampers value far exceeds the full hook up RV site. As some have posted, "Doing a better job" is not limited to TPWD. Last evening I received two responses from commercial campgrounds to responses I sent over a month ago. The other day I returned a call and the owner commented, "...wow, somebody who returns calls promptly". I replied that when I was in business I learned that if I didn't return calls, I didn't make money. When I was a young boy, I had more people wanting me to mow yards than I had time for; I did what I said I would do and I did it when I said I would do it!

That work ethic has followed me for 55 years!