Volunteers are what make GEO run!  There are lots of tasks you can help with, no matter how much time you have.  Email volunteer at umgeo dot org for more info on any of the things listed below.

How you can help out, if you have

5-15 minutes:

• Read about what’s going on with GEO, on this website or on the newsletter, and then tell your friends about it!
• Make buttons.  Increase GEO’s visibility by making buttons on GEO’s button press, and give some out to your friends!
• Decorate your office with GEO flair - you can put up some colorful fliers, newsletters, put out the GEO Handbook, put buttons on your bulletin board…
• Straighten up the GEO office.  Drop by and take out the trash, prepare the recycling for pickup, make sure the fax machine and copier have paper, clean up the kitchenette, or straighten up anything else that’s gotten disorganized.

15-30 minutes:

• Post news on this website.
• Do research for the bargaining team.  The GEO office keeps a list of questions that the bargaining team wants to know the answers to, that may require a little online digging…
• Talk to a colleague about GEO - what it is, what it does, and what’s currently going on.
• Make more buttons

30 minutes - 1 hour:

• Pick up fliers or newsletters from the GEO office, and distribute them around campus.
• Data entry.  Help GEO keep track of who’s who and what’s what.
• Write a letter to the Michigan Daily about what’s going on with GEO.

GEO also needs volunteers to help out on an ongoing basis:

• Help with the GEO website.  Make new topical pages, update pages, tweak our templates.
• Help maintain mailing and discussion lists.
• Manage some of the locked display cases on campus that are for GEO use.  Keep the keys, and keep the cases updated with fliers, event postings, etc.
• Help to create fliers off of a standard template.
• Copy-edit, help write, and/or work on layout for the newsletter.
• Get in touch with GEO so that we can call on you to attend meetings (Regents’ meetings, President’s meetings, etc.) to speak on GEO’s interests.
• Help out your department’s stewards.  Find out who yours are (you can email umgeo at umich dot edu), and talk with them about getting the word out about events, communicating with members, and helping out with other tasks.
• Join a caucus.  Caucuses are groups of GEO members who join together, on the basis of shared interests, to advocate for issues that affect particular constituencies.  Caucus members stay informed via email and general caucus meetings.  GEO’s caucuses are:  International Students, TBLG and Allies, and Parents.
• Join a committee.  GEO’s committees carry out the concrete work of the union and advise the Stewards’ Council on specific areas.  GEO’s committees will be listed here shortly!

Do you think GEO should be doing something that we aren’t??  Get involved and make it happen!