Wikipedia:Ambassadors/Steering Committee/2011-02-13

Wikipedia Ambassador Steering Committee

2011-02-13

Members present:


 * Frank Schulenburg


 * PJ Tabit


 * Fletcher Commons


 * Annie Lin


 * Alex Stinson


 * Sage Ross


 * Cheryl Moy

Election Process

 * PJ recaps the discussion from last meeting about the possible election process for the WASC


 * Slotting Issue - Use the system where people do not need to declare ahead of time


 * Open questions about the election process:


 * Voting system: open vs. closed


 * At the least, we seem to agree that vote totals should be public.


 * Should Campus Ambassadors vote just CA slots, and OAs for OA slots? If voting for both types of slots on the WASC is open to all ambassadors (and possibly others), will OAs be able to tell who will make a good CA member of the WASC and vice versa?


 * We seem to agree that everyone should be elected in one pool.


 * Tell people to vote for two campus ambassadors and two online ambassadors?


 * Voting eligibility:


 * Letting anyone who has served at least one semester as an ambassador vote - we all seem to prefer this option.


 * Inactive ambassadors? If they served in the Fall only, we agree they should be eligible to vote in Spring elections. For later elections, it may be good to put a time limit on eligibility, such as a requirement that voters have been active ambassadors within the last 3 university terms.


 * Term:


 * Annual elections seem like the best idea to everyone, to provide continuity.

===Campaign and WASC characteristics


 * Good characteristics

Every member

Hard worker, willing to spend time/effort

Proactive in improving the WAP

Commitment to the project / Wikimedia movement

Reliable Internet access

Is comfortable working in a group!

Committee as a whole

Greatness at the roles of CA and an OA

Can contribute innovative ideas towards sustainability of program

Able to see large picture

Deep knowledge of Wikipedia and its community

Experience in higher education / strong understanding of university systems and academic culture

Represents multiple continents?

Represents the various stakeholders in the WAP

Commitment to engage WP community & larger Ambassador community in decision-making

Ability to handle money issues (in the event the foundation allots a budget to the ambassador program)

Frank points out that this was an issue in his experiences with Wikimedia Germany when the chapter first set an amount of money for the community to use.

Grant reviewing knowledge/experience Application Process/question:

"Here are the requirements: describe how you embody these qualities and why you wish to participate in the Steering Committee."

Regional Ambassadors proposal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Ambassadors/Regional_Ambassadors


 * Basic concept: break apart Annie's responsibilities into smaller parts based on regions, devolve them to volunteers as much as possible.


 * Reactions:


 * PJ: Likes the idea a lot. Right approach, but concerned about workload.


 * Alex: Maybe a contact person at each university, who reports to a regional ambassador.


 * Sage: That sounds like a cumbersome number of layers of bureaucracy. Change this doc to a structure of a region? (things that need to happen within the region)


 * Frank: Break up the responsibilities and prioritize them and therefore designate some to CA

For Next Week

 * Discussion about the regional ambassador program will be continued via email/wiki


 * Meeting in 7 days instead of 14 because of the work load at the moment