Wikipedia:Functionaries
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This is an information page that describes communal consensus on some aspect of Wikipedia norms and practices. While it is not a policy or guideline itself, it is intended to supplement or clarify other Wikipedia practices and policies. Please defer to the relevant policy or guideline in case of inconsistency between that page and this one. |
Functionaries are users who perform specialised roles, and have privileged technical access, on the Wikimedia projects. Examples include users with Oversight or CheckUser access, OTRS volunteers, and current and past members of the Arbitration Committee. Functionary access must be authorised by the Wikimedia Foundation, and requires confirmation of the user's identity to be recorded by the Foundation, to ensure compliance with the access to nonpublic data policy. This is in contrast to users such as Bureaucrats or members of the Bot Approvals Group, which are 'community' positions.
Functionaries whose permissions and responsibilities are confined to the English Wikipedia are under the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Committee. These functionaries include:
- Current members of the Arbitration Committee
- Former members of the Committee, who retain access to the functionaries-en mailing list (and are considered functionaries for that, somewhat recursive, reason)
- Other users to which the Arbitration Committee has granted CheckUser or Oversight permissions
Functionaries are held to a higher standard of behavior than non-functionaries, especially in issues related to their area of responsibility. If a user demonstrates a lack of judgment in an area related to their special access, their status as a functionary may be revoked; whether or not an explicit abuse of their privileged access has occured. As functionaries have a high profile within the project, and are the face of Wikipedia both to its editors and to the wider world, it is damaging to the integrity of the encyclopedia as a whole if these users are repeatedly embroiled in controversy.
A functionary may have their status and technical access removed with broad community consensus, or by a ruling of the Arbitration Committee.
[edit] Mailing list
The functionaries-en mailing list is a venue for general discussion among current Arbitration Committee members, former members in good standing, advanced permission operators (CheckUser and/or Oversight), and other editors with official Wikimedia Foundation status. The mailing list address is functionaries-en
lists.wikimedia.org
Although current arbitrators are subscribed to arbcom-l, the scope of this list is broader. This list is intended to allow more effective collaboration among editors involved with sensitive and privacy-related areas within the community, and the handling of related issues, primarily on English Wikipedia. The list also has a role in supporting the Arbitration Committee, being available to assist with various matters and acting as a forum for discussion, input, and collective memory as needed.
As of 10 January 2012, the subscribers are:
- Current arbitrators:
- Former arbitrators:
- Advanced permission (CheckUser and/or Oversight) operators:
- Aaron Schulz (CU/OS/dev), Alison (CU/OS), Amalthea (CU), Avraham (CU/OS/steward), Beeblebrox (OS), Daniel Case (OS), Dweller (OS), Elockid (CU), Frank (CU), J.delanoy (CU/steward), Keegan (CU/OS/AUSC), LessHeard vanU (OS), Luk (CU), MBisanz (OS), MuZemike (CU), Tiptoety (CU), Tnxman307 (CU), Versageek (CU), WilliamH (CU/OS)
- Wikimedia Foundation:
- Jimbo Wales (project founder), Tim Starling (system administrator), Werdna (system administrator), Philippe Beaudette (Head of Reader Relations), Maggie Dennis (Community Liaison)
