Hello all,

A few important updates on the Universal Code of Conduct project.[1] Given some of the concerns raised recently about the pace and timing of important discussions and decisions, we feel it’s important to recognize the strain that current events have placed on all of us. After hearing concerns from community members that the UCoC timeline is too condensed, we have decided with Board support to extend the drafting period and final review of the draft UCoC until the end of September. We appreciate the honest feedback on your needs, and want to make sure this process allows as many people as possible to contribute their thoughts, concerns, and expertise. An updated timeline for the project is available on Meta. [2]

Today, we are beginning the process of forming a Drafting Committee for the Universal Code of Conduct. If you are interested, please read the following important information for candidates:

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Who will be on the committee? - five or six volunteers, at least one representative from a Movement affiliate, and four or five Foundation staff members (depending on how many candidates apply) -

When will the committee be active? - July 22 - September 30 -

What will they do? Read background material and draft a Universal Code of Conduct that will provide a minimum baseline guiding the behaviour of every contributor to the Wikimedia movement. -

How will they work? The committee will meet online and work on shared documents, starting from the Contributor’s Covenant [3] as a starting text. A facilitation team will help them to organize the work, and experts in different areas will be available to provide support. -

How much time should I plan to spend per week? There will be online meetings (2-4 hours per week), as well as background reading in the early phase resulting in up to 6 hours each week. -

What skills should I bring to the process? Ideally you would have experience in policy drafting, experience in cooperating online and in writing in English. We would also love our candidates to have empathy; for example, experience mentoring, resolving difficult disputes, and communicating with compassion are valuable. More information is available on the Meta page. [4] -

How will the committee members be selected? The Trust and Safety Team [5] together with the Legal Team [6] of the Wikimedia Foundation will vet all candidates. Then, the Vice president of Community Resilience and Sustainability, Maggie Dennis [7], will choose committee members based on the level of skills and experience of candidates in combination with diversity factors. Ideally we will be able to form a competent committee that reflects the diversity of the movement not only in the usual demographic areas like language, geographic location, gender, age, but also in wiki specific areas like the project size of their home wiki and roles in the Wikimedia movement.

If you are interested in applying, please let us know before July 15 by signing up on the Meta page [8] or mail to Christel Steigenberger. [9] Please include information about the roles you hold or have held in Wikimedia or similar organizations, your username, your userpage of your home wiki and relevant links demonstrating your experience. Feel free to add any additional information that will help us make an informed choice.

Please forward this message to any volunteers you think might be interested, and encourage them to apply and help us spread the word.

Thank you,

Patrick

[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Universal_Code_of_Conduct

[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Universal_Code_of_Conduct#Timeline

[3] https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/2/0/code_of_conduct/code_of_con...

[4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Universal_Code_of_Conduct/Drafting_committee

[5] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Trust_and_Safety

[6] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal

[7] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Mdennis_(WMF)

[8] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Universal_Code_of_Conduct/Drafting_committee...

[9] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:EmailUser/CSteigenberger_(WMF)