Hi, Ambassadors!
In early 2012, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) decided that the Wikipedia
Education Program in the US and Canada had expanded to a point beyond that
of a pilot program. With growing interest in the program, we have more and
more professors and students who seek support when contributing to
Wikipedia, and the current setup limits that potential support. In June
2012, WMF created a "Working
Group<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Education_Working_Group>…
of 16 volunteers, represented by both academia and Wikipedia, to come up
with a proposal for a new way of supporting professors, students, and
Ambassadors in the program.
The group has worked together to consider the future of the program and how
we can set our volunteers, professors and students up for success when
editing Wikipedia, in a way that will improve the encyclopedia. We are very
interested in getting feedback from the Wikipedia community, professors in
the program, and, of course, Ambassadors who are involved in the program.
Thus, the Working Group has now posted a Request for Comment
(
RfC)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Education_Working_Group/RfC&…
on Wikipedia. This is a space where you can read about the current plans
for the program, get some questions answered, and give your opinion about
how we should move forward with the program. As Ambassadors, this new
structure (currently being proposed as a new nonprofit organization that
has a relationship to the Wikimedia Foundation, or a "Thematic
Organization<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_affiliation_models…)
may affect you and your involvement in the program.
The Working Group wants to make sure Ambassadors are aware of what's going
on, have the opportunity to participate in the discussion, and are still
excited about the program once it moves from WMF in May 2013. You probably
have a lot of questions, and hopefully we have answered many of them on the
page linked above. If you are interested in participating in this
discussion, I encourage you to read more about the process, the proposal,
and others' comments/concerns.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them on the Talk Page of
the RfC, the discussion section on the bottom, or even to this listserv.
Ideally, we can keep the conversation on-wiki, in order to keep everyone
involved. Thank you guys, and we hope to use your insight to develop the
program to better meet your needs in the future!
[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Education_Working_Group
[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Education_Working_Group/RfC
[3]
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_affiliation_models/Thematic_Organi…
On behalf of the Working Group,
Jami
--
Jami Mathewson
U.S./Canada Education Program Associate
Wikimedia Foundation
jmathewson(a)wikimedia.org
http://education.wikimedia.org
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