Wikipedia:Ambassadors/Steering Committee/Elections/Candidates/October 2011

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

The results of this election were that User:Guerillero, MikeLynch & User:Cindamuse, were appointed to the Steering Committee for one year terms to end in October 2012. Epistemophiliac (talk) 17:25, 18 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Welcome to the Wikipedia Ambassador Program Steering Committee elections page. Current elections are being held to select 3 members (1 Online, 1 Campus and 1 at-large) for one year terms. For more information, the Steering Committee membership, the function of committee members and general information about the elections see the adopted proposal for Steering Committee elections.

Current Election

The timeline for the current elections is:

September 28th 2011 - Nominations and questions for candidates open.
October 7th 2011 – Deadline for nominations.
October 8th 2011 – Voting begins.
October 17th 2011 – Voting ends.

How to nominate yourself

First check out the role which you are nominating yourself for at the description page of the committee and the descriptions of qualifications. In order to nominate yourself for the committee please create a new sub-section in the Current Election Nominees section with your username as the header (===User:Example===) and a statement answering the following questions:

Who are you? (Name; user name; if you are a Campus Ambassador, at which university/universities do you serve?)
In what role(s) have you served as part of the Wikipedia Ambassador Program?
In which role do you run for the Steering Committee? (Campus Ambassador / Online Ambassador / Member-at-large)
Describe how you embody the qualities of an ambassador and why you wish to participate in the Ambassador Steering Committee. (See descriptions of qualifications.)
Anything else that's relevant?

Questions of candidates

Users who wish to ask questions to the nominee should create a new subsection (====Questions====) and add any questions you have for the nominees.

Current Election Nominees

User:Maximilianklein

Who are you? The eponymous Maximilianklein, US Regional Ambassador for New England states.
Previous Roles: I have served as a Campus Ambassador for the chart-topping Environmental Policy Class at San Francisco State, as well as having participated twice as an Instructor of the student-led Politics of Piracy
Running for? Seeing as I am technically neither a Campus/Online Ambassador, I therefore run for Memeber-at-Large.
Embodiment of Qualities: My dedication is reflected in that I serve as a Regional Ambassador in a region which I don't even live. In terms of energy, I have always found time to improve the program, this is highlighted by my winning of the Classroom Innovator Award at the Wikipedia Higher Education Summit 2011. The award was given for my pro-active and unprompted idea of unraveling on-wiki class-pages into a more functional Learning Management System (View the presentation). Today's class-pages are created using a wizard which mimics the style which I developed. All of these actions I believe indicate my commitment to the Wikimedia values.

Questions

What do you think the Steering Committee should do differently than it is doing today? (and why?)

The steering committee should attempt to pathfind and encourage new forms of participation in the Education beyond the current format of a Research Paper Replacement. That is we might already be on the way to becoming entrenched in a single idea of what Wikipedia in Education will look like, before exploring more possibilites. Ideas such as Wikieditions--wiki academic commentary on Wikibooks--pioneer alternatives to the now standardized article assignment. The steering committee should seek to provide answers to how classes that are not entirely apt for Wikipedia text expansion can contribute in other ways, or to Wikimedia sister projects. More ways to participate will mean more participants.

Votes

Support

Epistemophiliac (talk) 15:46, 13 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
--Jan eissfeldt (talk) 14:03, 14 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Pharos (talk) 19:10, 14 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Protonk (talk) 19:35, 14 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
...

Oppose

...

User:Guerillero

On wiki, I use the name Guerillero (talk · contribs). In addition, I have another account named In actu (talk · contribs) that I use on public computers or for specific situation that are listed on its userpage. In the real world, my name is Tom Fish. Last term I was an online ambassador. I didn't pick up a pod this term because it is my freshman year of college. Since I am not an active OA, I am running for the member-at-large spot. In addition to being an online ambassador, I helped out with the Editing Fridays project last spring and made the original versions regions map. I am running for a spot because I believe that we need a few younger voices on the committee who are currently in college. Sometimes as a community, we forget the time restraints of college students.

Questions

What do you think the Steering Committee should do differently than it is doing today? (and why?)

I beleive the steering committee needs to enact a straight forward way to deal with students that add copyvios or commit some sort of block-able offense. The issues with the Indian project have show that this could be a problem at an American or Canadian school. The college that I attend uses an honor code with a fairly clear sort of consequence if it is broken. We could intact something of that sort, almost like the MOU ambassadors need to sign.

Votes

Support

Oppose

...

MikeLynch

Who are you? I am MikeLynch (talk · contribs · count), onwiki, though my real name is Swaroop Rao. I am from Bangalore, India.
Previous Roles: I am an Online Ambassador this term, and was an OA "in-training" last term. I am handling three pods this term: Politics of Developing Nations, Qualitative Methods in Research and Technical and Scientific Editing.

Running for? I guess I'll be bold and run for Online Ambassador.
Embodiment of Qualities: I've been an active editor for a year and more now, and I've been active in many onwiki and offwiki collaborations, particularly WikiProject India and WikiProject Education in India onwiki, and many outreach programs offwiki. I am also an Online Ambassador for the India Education Program, and am currently handling one course there. In the previous semester, I was very active in the Assessment stage of the US program, and I handled a group of students in their article as well. On an unrelated note, I am active in other WM projects as well, being a bureaucrat in Sanskrit Wikipedia, as well as an OTRS agent. Personally, I am a student myself, and I have managed various volunteer based projects, including the founding and management of a Non-Governmental social activist organization, various events at the University level, as well as a couple of engineering application based projects. Lynch 7 16:15, 6 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Questions

What do you think the Steering Committee should do differently than it is doing today? (and why?)

Answer: In my experience talking to various members of the steering committee, as well as WMF staff associated with the program, I was very impressed with the way things have been managed, on-line, and on-ground (though I live halfway across the globe, the pulse of the students was very good, which must mean that it was being organized very well). Living in India, and being a part of the India Education program, I would definitely like to see all the education programs under a single banner. This would not only enable easy management of all the programs, but it would also help new programs which are in the pilot stage (the India program for example) learn from the guys who did it already. Since we have programs (in the US) where we have managed it for 2 semesters already, a steering committee with a broader look would help in the easy transfer of ideas.; And of course, there is always the sticky wicket of the Mentor-student communication, which has been greatly improved this semester, and I congratulate the Committee for that. Of course, it would be better if there were a means to communicate without interruptions (encouraging more students to come to IRC). Lynch 7 12:49, 10 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Votes

Support

One factor in my decision to support Mike Lynch is his involvement with the India Education Program, which looks as though it will require some steering committee attention. I think local knowledge will be helpful. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 22:44, 12 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
It's going to be fun scheduling meetings, but I agree with Mike on this one Epistemophiliac (talk) 15:46, 13 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
--Jan eissfeldt (talk) 14:03, 14 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Pharos (talk) 19:11, 14 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
sonia♫ 20:06, 14 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Donald Albury 12:19, 17 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose

...

User:Cindamuse

Hi! My name is Cindy Ashley-Nelson. I have served the community as an Online Ambassador since February 2011. I attended the Higher Education Summit in July and began serving as a member of the Selection Team in September. I would like to join the Steering Committee in my role as Online Ambassador. My background reveals a proactive role in identifying and reaching out to campus professors and students, while introducing the Education Program. I have consistently worked with WMF staff members to coordinate and support ongoing efforts to improve communication and recruitment of schools, professors, Online Ambassadors, and Campus Ambassadors. To that end, I have worked with professors, students, and Campus Ambassadors in the U.S., India, and Canada. My professional background includes expertise in business and organizational development; and assisting in the startup, development, and programming of nonprofit advocacy organizations. I have extensive knowledge and a proven track record in strategic planning; competitive analysis; networking and volunteer recruitment; and writing and editing (business plans, grants, proposals, and financial campaigns). My background as a certified, ordained, and overworked corporate trainer includes specializing in statistical analysis; process planning and improvement; and executive, staff, team, and volunteer development.

Questions

What do you think the Steering Committee should do differently than it is doing today? (and why?)

Overall, I am confident that the Committee is on the right track and continuing to progress. That said, I believe the community would benefit from improved communication and organization. I would surmise that most Ambassadors know very little of the function, role, and responsibility of the Steering Committee. After reviewing the minutes from 2010 to the present, I see relatively few accomplishments. (Given that, the accomplishments might be documented separately.) I would like to see measurable goals within the Steering Committee, wholly in alignment with the Global Education Program, as they support the Outreach Project and as the Project overall works in alignment with the Foundation's Strategic Plan.

Steering Committee → Global Education Program → Outreach Project → WMF Strategic Plan

It is essential that we develop an Annual Operating Plan and document best and promising practices for use on a global scale, in order to sustain the success of the organization. It is vital to the success of any business venture to establish a road map (or AOP), along with measurable goals, supported by documented and monitored progress. Outside of organizational and program improvements, I would like to see the communication plan expand to include consistent and informative community outreach through comprehensive newsletters; enhanced campus clubs; and participation in regional, state/provincial, and nationwide educational fairs and exhibitions.

Votes

Support

Oppose

...

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.