| General Subject |
Comment |
Specific Task |
Responsible Body |
Leader (Task Force) |
Volunteers |
Deadline
|
| Finance |
I've talked to Anasuya Sengupta, who's in charge of the Foundation's grants program yesterday. She recommended that the board of directors for the new organization comes up with a grant proposal by the end of December 2012 in order to secure the seed funding for the time between February and May 2013. Asaf Bartov (abartov@wikimedia.org), who is responsible for handling such grant requests, will be your point of contact when it comes to securing seed funding from the Wikimedia Foundation. I recommend that you reach out to him not later than December 14th in order to clarify the requirements for such a grants requests and agree on a timeline. |
Complete a grant proposal. |
WMEF-USCA Board of Directors |
PJ (Working Group Financial Process) |
Place your name here to assist. DStrassmann (talk) 22:33, 11 December 2012 (UTC) |
December 31, 2012
|
| Legal |
In order to ensure that the new organization will be recognized officially as a "Wikimedia Thematic Organization," the new organization's board of directors will have to ask the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee for a review of its bylaws. Once this is done, the Affiliations Committee will send a recommendation to the Wikimedia Foundations board of trustees. I feel the Working Group should establish a plan to engage the Affiliations Committee, after the WMF has some time to comment on your second iteration of the proposal. This may just involve reading the process and posting the second version of your proposal on-wiki. |
Engage the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee and ask for a review of WMEF-USCA bylaws. |
Working Group |
Jami (E-Wikimedia Affiliations Committee) |
Place your name here to assist. |
TBD
|
| Structure |
I recommend to replace the term "caucus" with a term that can be understood more easily (e.g. "Local Wikimedia Education User Group"). |
Replace the term "caucus" in the Working Group Proposal. |
Working Group |
Diana (U.S. Canada Education Program Proposed Structure) |
Place your name here to assist. The Interior (Talk) DStrassmann (talk) 22:25, 11 December 2012 (UTC) |
December 16, 2012
|
| Academic |
In the Academic Task Force Proposal, please clarify/expand the concept of "Wikipedia Studies." You may also want to include a timeline for it. The meaning of this term is not really clear right now for me and others who were not at the Chicago discussions. |
Clarify "Wikipedia Studies" in the Working Group Proposal. |
Working Group |
Bob (Academia in the Education Program) |
Place your name here to assist. |
December 16, 2012
|
| Administration |
Page 1: clearer distinction for what WMF will do and what the Phase II group will do. For example, please clarify things like "legal documents" and "whatever actions are necessary to transition."
On a similar note, remember that the majority of the tasks should be accomplished by Phase II board members/staff. I suggest you limit requests of the Wikimedia Foundation and just focus on your main needs (e.g. legal help or legal funding funding so you can incorporate properly?)
|
Distinguish between WMF and WMEF-USCA responsibilities in Phase II. |
Working Group |
Jami (Phase II Preparation) |
Place your name here to assist. DStrassmann (talk) 22:33, 11 December 2012 (UTC) |
December 16, 2012
|
| Finance |
I also think you should remove any mention of "funding from WMF" at this point. I've outlined the process for getting seed funding through the Foundation's grant program above. However, a decision will be made by Asaf based on the existing process and requirements. |
Remove any mention of "funding from WMF" in the Working Group Proposal. |
Working Group |
PJ (Working Group Financial Process) |
 Done |
December 16, 2012
|
| Finance |
A 2-year budget might be ambitious for your new Executive Director/Board. 12 months will give them more flexibility; plus, they will be able to learn from the first year, seek grants and other funding, and have a better idea of their needs for the following year. That's why I recommend to start with a one year budget plan. |
Develop a 12-month budget. |
WMEF-USCA Board of Directors |
PJ (Working Group Financial Process) |
Place your name here to assist. DStrassmann (talk) 22:33, 11 December 2012 (UTC) |
TBD
|
| Philosophy |
"Guiding Precepts" section: are you specifically excluding for-profit universities, high schools, etc. with the terminology "non-profit universities and colleges"? Do you want to limit this scope at this point of the organization? Rather, could you have a section of recommendations for Phase II/Phase III staff/Board that will suggest focusing on the models where we already have experience, at least in the beginning? |
Consider whether for-profit universities should be excluded. |
Working Group |
Chanitra (U.S. Canada Education Program Scope and Philosophy) |
Jami Done |
December 16, 2012
|
| Administration |
RfC: I see that you've included the full text of the RfC. Instead, I'd like you to summarize what the results mean to you, why you decided to move forward with "no consensus", and how your experience with the RfC will affect/impact your decisions and actions down the line. |
Reflect on the RfC. |
Working Group |
Mike Christie (Wikipedia Community Engagement Process) |
Mike Done |
December 16, 2012
|
| Administration |
A large gap I'm seeing in the milestones and other places is the lack of a clear transition plan. I think WMEF-USC will need more of a transition than what is currently clearly outlined. Remember that "transition" is not just about handing over databases of contacts or documents; most of what needs "transitioning" is knowledge about managing the education program, knowledge about working with professors and Ambassadors, etc. In addition, please include plans for transitioning from the current organizational model to the "caucus model" (but please don't use the word "caucus" — see my point about this above). You don't have to figure out the details in Phase I, but your proposal should at least talk about who will decide these plan details and when. I suggest you work closely with Jami to establish a clearer plan and timeline for transitioning by the end of May. |
Develop a transition plan. |
Working Group |
PJ (Phase II Preparation) |
Place your name here to assist. Etlib (talk) 16:31, 13 December 2012 (UTC)|DStrassmann (talk) 22:33, 11 December 2012 (UTC) Done |
December 16, 2012
|
| Administration |
I think you should add to your timeline that you will send the proposal to WMF for comment/advice (you can include when you sent it the first time and when you will send the revised version[s]) |
Include on the timeline the date when we provide the proposal to the WMF. |
Working Group |
Jami (Working Group Strategic Planning and Execution Process |
Place your name here to assist. |
December 16, 2012
|
| Administration |
Please add a date to send your proposal to the Affiliations Committee (right after getting feedback from WMF the second time? some other time? Please find out how early you need to involve them. You'll probably need to involve them before working with lawyers to incorporate.) |
Include on the timeline the date when we will provide the proposal to the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. |
Working Group |
Jami (Working Group Strategic Planning and Execution Process) |
Place your name here to assist. |
December 16, 2012
|
| Administration |
Based on my conversations with our legal department, I think the January 18th timeline of incorporation may be too ambitious. Once you establish the timeline for getting approved (hopefully!) by the Affiliations Committee, you will want to adjust accordingly. |
Revise the date for legally incorporating WMEF-USCA. |
Working Group |
Jami (Working Group Strategic Planning and Execution Process) |
Place your name here to assist. |
December 16, 2012
|
| Administration |
When will you decide where the office will be located? I'm guessing this is after consultation with lawyers, or maybe even contingent on your hire for Executive Director, but please do add a goal date to your timeline. This will be relevant for creating a budget, as staffing costs might vary widely based on your decision where the new organization will be located. |
Establish a date for selecting the physical location of WMEF-USCA. |
Working Group |
Jami (Working Group Strategic Planning and Execution Process) |
Place your name here to assist. |
December 16, 2012
|
| Administration |
I appreciate that you put all of your guiding documents into this proposal, but I do think this proposal should be focused on results rather than how you got there. If you're eager for Affiliations Committee members to read the entire proposal, I suggest removing many of these sections (charter, systems/Centers of Gravity/task forces). You may still find it appropriate to list the Phase I Objectives in the beginning as an example of why you came up with the current proposal. |
Remove unnecessary sections of the Working Group Proposal. |
Working Group |
TBD |
Jami Done |
December 16, 2012
|
| Administration |
Speaking of the Phase I objectives: did you achieve all of these? If not, that's ok, so long as you can explain briefly why you decided it was not an appropriate objective for Phase I. For example, maybe you decided as a group that you should allow the Executive Director to make the decision—that's ok! Just please include an explanation or move the item into the Phase II deadline. |
Evaluate if Phase I objectives were achieved. |
Working Group |
TBD |
Place your name here to assist. |
December 16, 2012
|
| Academic |
Page 24: "expand book shelf materials": please indicate how this will relate to the work WMF education staffers will still be doing (for example, LiAnna Davis will still be putting support materials together that different Education Programs can use/alter. How will you work with her?) |
Clarify the "expand book shelf materials" goal. |
Working Group |
Shamira (Academia in the Education Program) |
Place your name here to assist. Etlib (talk) 16:31, 13 December 2012 (UTC) |
December 16, 2012
|
| Administration |
Your initial Board Members as well as a brief (few sentences) section about your selection criteria for the Board in general. |
Submit a list of the initial board members and selection criteria. |
Working Group |
Jami (Phase II Preparation) |
Place your name here to assist. |
December 16, 2012
|
| Administration |
Growth plan/timeline from Initial Board to full Board (how long will the Initial Board be in place for? how and when are the other board members added?) |
Establish a plan and timeline for transitioning to a permanent Board of Directors. |
WMEF-USCA Board of Directors |
TBD |
Place your name here to assist. |
December 16, 2012
|
| Administration |
Division of responsibilities between Board and staff (Annie mentioned that Diana has done this, so please do add it into the next iteration of your proposal). |
Clarify division of responsibilities between WMEF-USCA Board and WMEF-USCA staff. |
Working Group |
Diana (U.S. Canada Education Program Proposed Structure) |
Place your name here to assist. |
December 16, 2012
|
| Administration |
More info from the Ambassadors Task Force (Jami mentioned that there is a proposal they can present to the rest of the Working Group to add in) about a transition. |
Establish a transition plan for ambassadors. |
Working Group |
Chanitra (Key Wikipedia Ambassadors) |
Place your name here to assist. Etlib (talk) 16:31, 13 December 2012 (UTC) |
December 16, 2012
|
