AmeriCorps*VISTA programs place full-time capacity building volunteers with organizations that are serving low-income communities. The CTC VISTA Project places its VISTA members (50 a year) with community technology centers and other organizations that are using technology to address the needs of low-income people. The Project is currently accepting applications from organizations that want a VISTA to work on one of the following types of projects: - Community Networking: including infrastructure or service projects, such as community ISPs or wireless community networks, and information focused projects such as community portals (websites that connect people with community resources and encourage civic participation).
- Technology Assistance to Non-profits: projects which develop tools or provide services which help small non-profits use technology to build their capacity.
- Digital Media: including projects which empower individuals and organizations to effectively communicate their values and advocate for their communities, and projects which engage youth in media making as means of providing technology training and media education.
- Community Organizing: projects that bring people together to act in common self-interest, in the pursuit of a common agenda, with populist
goals that build upon the ideal of participatory democracy.
| Task/Event | Timeline |
| I. Submit your Intent to Apply. Please include a brief description of your on your organization, the project on which your VISTA would be working, and a job description which will be posted to our recruiting site once approved. We will review the Intent to Apply and contact you with any questions or concerns. | ongoing |
| II. Begin Recruiting. Your organization should recruit locally but we will also send you information on VISTA applicants that apply to the CTC VISTA Project via the Americorps national recruiting system if they express an interest in and meet the qualifications for your position. | ongoing |
III. Contact us when you a select a candidate to whom you would like to offer a position so that we can review their application. (At this point a placement can be given 'preliminary approval'– contingent upon the receipt of the required paperwork and final Corporation approval, see below). |
ongoing |
IV. Complete the application online. This is done using the same system that you used to submit your intent to apply. When the intent to apply was submitted an email was sent to the contact person identified in the intent to apply. That email contains the link that will enable you to re-enter the application system and complete or update your existing information.We'll review application and request revisions when necessary. |
November 27th for organizations outside Massachusetts. December 15th for Massachusetts orgs. |
| V. Submit all remaining paperwork. We then submit all of the applications (for organizations and VISTA candidates) to Corporation for final review and notify you of the outcome (a week or so.) At this time organizations that are recruiting second VISTAs or continuing beyond the third year will be given preliminary approval (see III and IV below). | December 15th |
| VI. VISTAs begin their service following the pre-service orientation. | Orientation will be January 18-19 in Boston, MA. VISTAs will begin service January 22th. |
Important considerations:
I. Before submitting your intent to apply please review: the Project's VISTA Service Description Guidelines , Expectations of Participation, and our Summary of VISTA Supervisor Responsibilities.
II. The recruitment/placement process is competitive. We have a limited number of VISTA positions to fill in each round. We approve more organizations than we can actually accommodate.
We generally approve placements/candidates on a first-come-first-serve basis however in this round (as we launch our new partnership) NTEN member organizations will be given priority for 8 of the 16 available VISTA slots. This means that after the 8 non-NTEN slots are filled the remain slots will not be open to non-NTEN organizations until the deadline, December 8. If at that time, the NTEN slots have not been filled, those slots will be will filled by non-NTEN organizations in the order in which their completed paperwork was received.
The Project operates in this manner in order to ensure that all of the positions that we have been alloted are utilized. While this inevitably means that some organizations will not receive VISTAs through from the CTC VISTA Project, we are available to advise these organizations how they might pursue other options/avenues for obtaining a VISTA.
III. An organization may apply for up to two VISTAs but the placement of second VISTAs will not be approved until later in the recruitment cycle. (See timeline above.)
IV. Organizations which have participated in the Project
for three years are welcome to apply but placements at these organizations
will not be approved until later in the recruitment cycle. (See timeline above.)
Program fees/costs:
$2,500/VISTA for CTCs new to the project;
$3,000 for CTCs participating beyond the first year;
$3,000/VISTA for non-CTC organizations and multi-site projects;
$3,500 for continuing non-CTC and multi-site projects.
- CTCNet Membership Fee: $100; for information on member benefits see: www.ctcnet.org/membership/member_services.htm
- Approximately $1,000 for your VISTA to attend the CTCNet annual conference. All participating orgs are expected to provide financial support and arrangements for their VISTAs to attend this event. (Another conference may be substituted but Project approval is required.)
- The equivalent of a monthly transportation pass, professional development and support funds.
- Supervisor attendance at a training session held in conjunction with the VISTA orientation.
Refunds
Should a VISTA's service be terminated early for any reason, a refund will be issued per the following formula: if (months_served<9) refund=((fee-500)-(months_served*fee/12))
So the fee is essentially prorated except for the fact that $500 is non-refundable and no refunds will be issued after 9 months of service.