User:Mike Cline/USCAN Working Group Drafts/Guiding Precepts

The following guiding precepts, are the behavioral and operational boundaries, rules which will govern the operations of the US Canada Education Program.


 * The overall scope of the US Canada Education Program follows the general principles of the Wikipedia movement: it will be community based, open and free of advertising. It supports the ideals of a free culture and our materials will be available under a free license.
 * We are a permanent, independent organization focused on:
 * Encouraging and supporting employment of Wikipedia in higher education as a teaching tool.
 * Upgrading the quality of Wikipedia encyclopedias and closely related projects by helping editors in the U.S. and Canada with academic resources.
 * We will help assure the quality of all our projects, and will help to resolve stakeholder disputes that might arise thru advocacy and facilitation.
 * We will strive to sustain WMF education program in non-profit colleges and universities in the US and Canada thru the recruitment academic teachers and staff as well as support personnel ("ambassadors") and providing the necessary resources for their success.
 * We will open new channels of communications to the knowledge industry in the US and Canada to encourage greater use and understanding of Wikipedia.


 * We will conduct and support training programs for US-Canada editors in using resources of higher education and related institutions such as research libraries. We will work with recognized Projects and Chapters when appropriate and interested.
 * We will support our programs by fund raising among foundations and private donors in the US and Canada; as well as government grants or contracts.
 * We aim to openly, and transparently consider the needs of all stakeholder groups in all our decisions.