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1. How can unit presidents get access to OMDR?
When a local unit president (LUP) is entered into the OMDR system, he/she will receive a welcome email (provided that an email address was entered) that includes his/her individual eight-digit member ID number. The unit president can then sign on to OMDR using his/her member ID number and the PTA unit's National eight-digit ID number. The unit president can also call the district PTA or the National PTA office to obtain these numbers.
2. How does a unit president get entered into the system?
In California the district PTAs submit an officer update sheet (a type of Excel spreadsheet) monthly or more frequently to the California State PTA office. These spreadsheets include all contact information provided to the district for their presidents and some other leaders in their district. The California State PTA membership clerk uploads the information from those spreadsheets into the OMDR system.
3. What if a PTA unit's National ID number has less than eight digits?
If the National unit number is less than eight digits, add enough preceding zeros to make it an eight-digit number.
4. Do all unit board members need access to OMDR?
No. Only those who will be regular users of the system need OMDR access. This may vary with PTA but may include the local unit president, membership vice president/chairman, and/or treasurer, etc.
5. Can council and district leaders sign themselves onto OMDR with their Member ID number and National unit ID number just as a unit officer can?
No. Council and district officers must be given access by a State PTA OMDR user.
6. Do councils need access to OMDR?
Each district should have a discussion about the role of councils in maintaining or using the information in OMDR. If the district wants to delegate some responsibility to councils, then certain council leaders must be given access.
7. Can a council leader who has been given access to OMDR download a list of unit presidents with the corresponding member ID numbers?
Yes. A council must choose "Demographic Search by Position" and pick "Local Unit President" from the pull down menu. This will yield a list of the LUPs on the computer screen with their information including the member ID number for each listed president. Both council and district users have the menu option to conduct a "Demographic Search by Position". The resulting list can be searched or downloaded.
8. Can a council user find one member ID number without having to download or search through the whole list?
Yes. The member ID number is in the first column of the list resulting from a "Demographic Search by Position ". That list has a search function by "last name" so the user can easily find the member ID number for one person in the list without actually downloading the whole list.
9. When a list of members is downloaded, why do some people appear twice?
An officer should appear twice in a list of members -- once as an officer and once as a member. If a member is appearing twice, it probably means he/she was entered with different versions of his/her name or different contact information (and then would have two different member ID numbers).
10. What role do "term dates" play in OMDR?
A person's access to OMDR as a user ends when his/her term ends. For members, their membership year coincides with their term date but unlike officers, members will remain in the system for one year after the end of the membership year to allow for easy renewal of their membership. Members added with a future begin date will not be seen in the system until that date.
11. Why does it matter what position is used to enter officers?
The state level has an email blast function that allows emails to be sent to a particular category/position. If there is news that a local unit president should receive and this function is used in the email process, the "Local Unit President" will not get the information if he/she is entered as a "President". (The unit level has an email blast function that allows emails to be sent to members.)
12. Where does one find the membership card template?
The membership card printing function is accessible only at the unit level of OMDR. Units can download a template that includes just their National ID number, the name of their PTA and their membership year. Or once they have entered members, they can select names to be printed on the cards in addition to the foregoing information.
Note: The date on the card matches the membership year listed in OMDR for that unit.
In order for the printed card expiration date to be October 31, the unit must list each member's term end date as October 31 and/or update its membership year to end on October 31.
Hints & Common Errors in OMDR
OMDR contains many choices for positions and some are not accepted in California.
- Use "Local Unit President", not "President" when entering a unit president.
- Do not use co-presidents.
Always enter member information as consistently as possible to avoid multiple ID numbers for one member.
- Avoid prefixes, suffixes and middle initials.
- Use full names -- do not use name abbreviations or nicknames.
Set Local Membership Year (found in Local Unit Update) to begin July 1 and end October 31.
When batch uploading members:
- Each member's begin date should correspond with the date the member joined.
- Members added with a future begin date will not be seen in the system until that date.
- Use October 31 as the end date for each member.
Make every attempt to provide an email address for anyone entered in OMDR even though it is not required.
Although postal mail addresses and phone numbers are required data and email addresses are not, email is the only way that a member will receive a welcome letter from National PTA explaining the various resources, such as e-newsletters, on-line learning courses, offers from PTA partners and information on benefits available to PTA members.
Once a username has been assigned to an individual person, it can never be used again.
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