Enrollment Phase
- In-Person Orientation
- Sign-In Sheets
- Actual Enrollment Date
- Student Status
- Proper Identification
- Criminal Record Checks
- Sex Offender Registry Checks
- General Liability Insurance
- 30-Day Enrollment Policy
- SIS Stipend Policy
- Tutoring Policy
- Enrolling a member for a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th term of service
All members must take part in an in-person orientation that covers all the information contained in the Orientation Powerpoint. In some special situations, an in-person orientation can be done over the phone; however, a phone orientation must be documented and cover all necessary information. Ideally, the member would be in front of a computer to follow along.
When a member attends an in-person orientation, they must sign/initial an SIS sign-in sheet prior to the actual in-person orientation
The official enrollment date begins no earlier than the day a member passes in a complete enrollment package, all the enrollment paperwork is signed by the member, site supervisor, and SIS coordinator on or before the official enrollment date, and a criminal record check has been completed and reviewed. The SIS policy is that the official enrollment date is the date the Campus Partner enrolls the member into eGrants.
All campus partners must ensure that all new members enrolling in SIS must be students (part-time or full-time) of their college or university in order to be eligible to participate in the Students in Service program. Also, the student must have a high school diploma or equivalent in order to participate in the SIS program.
All campus partners must ensure that all new members enrolling in SIS must be a US citizen, US national, or lawful permanent resident alien of the US by supplying with their enrollment paperwork a copy of an appropriate personal ID as detailed on page 1 of the Member Agreement.
All SIS Members must have an NSOPR completed and a state repository criminal record check ordered before member can be enrolled in the SIS program.
NOTE: If a State Repository CR check is pending, member cannot serve a vulnerable population unsupervised until the criminal record check results have been reviewed and approved by the SIS Campus Coordinator.
A State Repository Check order form/email must be placed in the member's file before the member can be enrolled. The State Repository check can take anywhere from 24 - 48 hours in some states and up to 3 - 6 weeks for other states. Once the results of the criminal record check has been received, review the results, give member due process if their is criminal activity on their check that might exclude them from service, once the results have been reviewed and you approve the enrollment, place the State Repository criminal record check results in the member's enrollment paperwork.
If a member's site does complete an FBI fingerprint check on the member (ex. student teachers) then have the member's site supervisor complete an FBI Fingerprint Check Verification Form and place with the member's enrollment paperwork.
Members showing a past criminal history as a sex offender and/or with a murder conviction will not be permitted to enroll in the SIS program. All other offenses will be reviewed on a case by case basis to determine suitability to participate in SIS and/or provide service at a particular site.
All new members, before they are officially enrolled in the SIS program must be checked (National Search) by the SIS campus coordinator on the National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR). A copy of the results should be placed in the member’s file with their enrollment paperwork. No person who is a registered sex offender can participate in the SIS program.
All service sites MUST have general liability insurance in order for an SIS member to count hours served at the organization. The majority of legitimate non-profits do have some form of liability coverage. If a site does not have liability coverage, the member will need to find another site.
A member cannot be approved for enrollment beyond 30 days of their official enrollment date. This is a compliance violation of the grant provisions and the enrollment will be adjusted to comply with the grant policy. In cases where there is administrative error and not member error, approval beyond 30 days will be made on a case by case basis. Official enrollment should be the date the Campus Partner inputs the member's enrollment information into eGrants and this would ensure no compliance violations. THERE SHOULD BE NO BACKDATING!
While all AmeriCorps service must be unpaid, there are instances in which a member may receive a stipend from their site or academic program that may be allowed.
A stipend is allowable when:
- It is not considered an hourly wage
- Stipend cannot be from another AmeriCorps program
- Stipend is under the living wage for one adult in their county
How to find the living wage for one adult in your county?
Go to the living wage calculator and find the living wage for one adult in your county.
Example: Using Snohomish County, WA as an example.
Living Wage for one adult = 9.28
Multiply by term of service = 300
Equals stipend must be under = $2,784
In summary: if member receives a stipend as part of their service that is not considered an hourly wage or a living wage, then the member from the example above is eligible for a stipend of $2,783 or lower from their site or academic department.
If a member will be serving as a tutor, as defined below, the Site Supervisor and SIS Coordinator must complete and certify the Tutor Project Checklist as part of the enrollment paperwork.
A Tutor is someone whose primary goal is to increase academic achievement in reading or other core subjects
through planned, consistent, one-to-one or small-group sessions and activities that build on the academic strengths
of students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and target their academic needs.
A tutor does not include someone engaged in other academic support activities, such as mentoring and after-school
program support, whose primary goal is something other than increasing academic achievement. For example,
providing a safe place for children is not tutoring, even if some of the program activities focus on homework help.
Members enrolled through a teacher education program are not tutors.
Enrolling a member for a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th term of service
If enrolling a member for a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th term of serivce, please have member complete an in-person orientation to review any new policies, complete all new enrollment paperwork, create a separate member file, and enroll the member after they have been exited from the previous term.
Criminal record checks for member enrolling for a consecutive term:
If enrolling a member into a consecutive term of service and the enrollment will be within 30 days of the exiting of the previous enrollment then a new criminal record check and NSOPR would not need to be completed; however, if the member enrolls into their next term of service after 30 days of their previous term of service then the SIS Campus Coordinator would need to complete a new NSOPR and state repository criminal record check on the member.
Service Phase
Exit Phase
- Exiting a member
- Site Supervisor End of Term Evaluation
- Members Exited without award
- 30-day exit policy
- Site Supervisor Evaluations by phone
All time logs must be signed and dated by the site supervisor who signed the member’s site agreement within 30 days of their last logged hour. If a site supervisor were to leave the organization, then it is the member’s responsibility to have their new site supervisor sign a new or the old site agreement as of the date they began supervising the SIS member.
All time logs must be filled out in pen with no cross-outs or white-outs. If there are cross-outs or white-outs then the member must redo the time sheet before the time sheet will be accepted by the campus partner.
The total hours a campus partner inputs into the time log databse should be the same total hours showing on the corresponding hard copy time log.
If a time log is showing hours under service, member development, and/or fundraising they should describe on the time log what activities they were participating in during the recorded hours. The activities recorded on the time log should correspond to the activities that they detailed on their site agreement.
If there are major corrections to a member's time log, please have the member redo their time log and get the appropriate signatures; however, if there are minor changes to a member's time log then both the member and the SIS Campus Coordinator must initial the correction so that it shows both are aware and agree to the edit.
Mid-Term 900-Hour Member Service Evaluation
Beginning the 08-09 grant year, all new members enrolling in a 900 hour term of service must have a site supervisor or their campus partner complete a mid-term 900-hour member service evaluation (at approximately 450 hours into their term of service) and the mid-term evaluation must be placed in the member's file before they can be exited with full award. NOTE: Campus Partners can complete a mid-term evaluation on a member in place of the site supervisor.
If an SIS member chooses to transfer to a different campus to continue seeking her/his degree or pursue further education midway through her/his SIS term of service, please follow the procedures below:
1. If it is an out-of-state transfer, the new campus must be in a participating SIS state. Otherwise, the student cannot continue.
2. If the new campus participates in SIS, Campus Partners should contact their State SIS Coordinator to request a transfer.
Upon approval, the member's file should be moved to the new
campus, which will take over the responsibilities of managing her/his term of service.
3. If the new campus does not participate in SIS, the member
should remain enrolled at the previous campus and mail his/her
original, completed timelogs to the previous campus until his/her
hours are complete.
Do not exit a member with full award out of the SIS program without complete exit paperwork as detailed on the Exit Checklist
All members must be exited from the SIS program with or without award and must have a completed exit form in the member’s file.
If a member has served at more than one site, they only need one site supervisor evaluation, preferable from the most recent site where they serve the most hours, in order to exit the program with full award.
Site Supervisor End of Term Evaluation
A site supervisor who signed a member’s site agreement must complete a site supervisor end of term evaluation before a member can be exited from the SIS program. In cases of emergency or if the site supervisor left just before member is exiting the SIS program, the campus partner can complete the site supervisor evaluation if they know there was no conduct issues and the member's service was satisafactory.
Members who are exited without award must be sent an email or letter (if they have not completed an exit form already) detailing that the member has been exited form the SIS program and if they have questions they can contact the SIS coordinator for their campus. Also, it would be in the member's interest to have a site supervisor end of term evaluation in the member's file, completed by the site supervisor or SIS coordinator, that acknowledges that the member did not end their term of service because of a conduct violation and that they took part in satisfactory service.
All members must be exited out of the SIS program within 30-days of their completion date with or without an award. If a member is exited after 30 days of their completion date this would result in a compliance violation of the grant provisions and the member can be automatically exited from the program without award by the Director of the Student in Service program. A Campus Partner should use the date the campus partner enters the member's exit information into eGrants as the member's exit day - this would ensure compliance with the 30-day rule. NO BACKDATING EXIT DATES!
Site Supervisor Evaluations by phone
While the ideal is to receive all Mid-Term (900 hour members only) and End-of-Term Site Supervisor Evaluations directly from the member with member’s time log and/or exit paperwork; however, sometimes there are situations where either evaluation may not be completed and turned in before or after the member has exited from the program.
A Campus Partner can do one of two approaches:
- Have member or campus partner contact the site supervisor and have the site supervisor complete the evaluation and hand it to member or mail to the Campus Partner with original signature (the ideal way!)
- If time is of essence, the Campus Partner can contact the site supervisor to have the Site Supervisor Evaluation (either Mid-Term or End-of-Term) completed over the phone. The Campus Partners notes on the evaluation form the site supervisor being interviewed (making sure it is the same site supervisor who signed the site agreement), the site, the date and time of the phone evaluation, and the phone number. The Campus Partner then asks the questions to the Site Supervisor and records the answers as well as any comments the Site Supervisor may have of the member. Once complete, the Campus Partner places the evaluation in the members file.
