New subject: Wikipedia Campus Ambassador Program to the United Kingdom

19 Nov 2010

Hello Wikimedia UK,

I am Alex Stinson (User:Sadads), an American student from James Madison
University (JMU) and a Wikipedia Campus Ambassador (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Ambassadors). I am also a member of
the Wikipedia Ambassador Steering Committee and soon will be a Wikipedia
Campus Ambassador Trainer. I will be studying abroad in Oxford during the
Spring, and look forward to participating in Wikimedia UK activities. The
organization of Wikipedians in the United States (or at least the greater DC
Area) has been rather slow, so I look forward to bringing back lessons I
learn from you to Wikimedia DC.

I recently approached the board of Wikimedia UK and asked if they would be
interested in starting an Ambassador program in the UK. Realizing that their
will need to be significant effort on the part of myself and volunteers in
Britain, they have given me the go ahead to begin developing the
infrastructure to create an Ambassador program in the UK and begin engaging
universities. The Steering Committee of the Ambassador program decided very
early that it was best that the ambassador program to be run in a regional
approach so that the program could become international and sustainable, I
hope the UK will become our first extra-US Ambassador region.

The Campus Ambassador Program in the United States has largely been focused
on the Public Policy Initiative and supporting writing projects and
assignments in university classes. However, even in this first semester of
the program, we have already seen the creation of two student organizations
as well as course work in other disciplines (such as literature and
chemistry). I also have been working closely with the library at JMU to
begin discussion on how we think of Wikipedia in Academia through workshops
on the topic.

I realize the approach to academic curriculum may be hard to translate to
the UK university system. However, it is activities such as student
organizations and the workshops in addition to the article writing
assignments, which I would like to bring to the United Kingdom. Like GLAM
cooperations, the Wikipedia Ambassador program has the potential to help a
very large community of academics become more engaged with Wikipedia world
wide.

I have yet to determine the exact schedule of my studies and activities at
Oxford. However, while in the UK I plan to, at the very least, find and
engage members of Wikimedia UK to begin a regional Ambassador program
through Ambassador training and discussions at Wikimedia UK events as well
as through the creation of a student organization at Oxford. If anyone would
be interested in supporting such an Ambassador program, especially if you
are engaged in a University campus, please send me an e-mail and we can
begin figuring out how you can help. This program can only be successful if
local Wikipedians engage and provide creative approaches to the university
environment.

Alex Stinson
User:Sadads
Wikipedia Campus Ambassador James Madison University
Wikipedia Ambassador Steering Committee Member