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APRIL 2024 Newsletter

A training course that advances our mission? We’ve got the data about CEF to prove it!

When we created Scientific Community Engagement Fundamentals (CEF) back in 2020, our goal was to offer STEM community managers core frameworks and a shared vocabulary so that they could better support the communities and organizations for which they worked. The training was also designed to facilitate connections between learners, nurturing an expansion of professional networks that would provide ongoing peer support. And we offered tools and strategies for individuals to explain the value of their work to their supervisors, colleagues, and community members in order to advance their careers and embed community management more firmly across the STEM ecosystem.

While we’ve always asked learners to share their immediate reaction to CEF via a course exit survey, until recently we had not followed up at a later date to determine how they were implementing course materials. Now, thanks to funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, we’re publishing a medium-term report that looks at the (overwhelmingly positive) impact of CEF on three levels: individual learners, their communities / organizations, and the broader STEM ecosystem.

In brief:

95% of respondents have applied multiple CEF concepts, frameworks, and activities in their roles
On an individual level, the vast majority of respondents reported positive socioemotional outcomes such as increased confidence (87%) and connection to peers (90%)
On a community / organizational level, 74% of respondents reported at least one improvement in member participation within their communities, and 51% reported multiple improvements
On an ecosystem-level, 38% of respondents reported multiple improvements in their organizations’ and communities’ relationship to the broader STEM ecosystem

Discussing the report in more detail

At last week’s CSCCE monthly community call, we shared a brief overview of our findings from this work, and we were joined on the call by Paz Bernaldo (OLS) and Jason Williams (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) for a wider-reaching discussion about how to create and evaluate inclusive and engaging trainings.
We’re also highlighting the main findings from our study on the CSCCE blog.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who completed the survey and shared how CEF is making a difference in their communities!

Upcoming opportunities to take CEF

You can find out more about CEF, including sign-up information for our fall 2024 cohort, on the CSCCE website.

We’re also running a private cohort of the course this June/July in partnership with the Australian Research Data Commons, and there are a few spots available to take the course in an Australia / NZ / Pacific-friendly time zone.

If you have any questions about taking CEF, or our new assessment, please let us know by emailing training@www.cscce.org.

Also in this month’s newsletter:

Meet our new Director of Community, Alycia Crall
AND our new Assistant Director of Operations, Talisha Sutton
Get a sneak preview of our Creating Community Playbooks course at next month’s community call (and register for the summer cohort)
Last call for our next Certification Program cohort – orientation begins mid June!

Download a copy of our CEF assessment report

This report summarizes evaluation of the medium-term impact of our short-form training course, Scientific Community Engagement Fundamentals (CEF). It includes background and context for the assessment, methodology underpinning survey design, and results for each section of the survey.

DOWNLOAD

News and updates

CSCCE’s new Director of Community

This month, we welcomed Alycia Crall to the CSCCE staff team as our new Director of Community. Alycia is a long time member of our community of practice and frequent collaborator, and will be focusing on strategic community engagement efforts both within the CSCCE community of practice and in partnership with our clients and collaborators.

CSCCE’s new Assistant Director of Operations

We also welcomed Talisha Sutton to the team this month, as our new Assistant Director of Operations. Like Alycia, Talisha brings new depth to the CSCCE staff team, with a focus on business development, administration, and refining internal processes and workflows.

Register for CEF – two time zone options!

Registration is now open for our general registration September/October cohort, as well as a limited number of places in a semi-private cohort running at Australia/NZ-friendly times (which might also work if you’re on the US West Coast).

More about the course
Register for CEF24F (US/Europe)
Register for CEF24AusNZ (Aus/NZ/Pacific)

Join our next Community Manager Certification cohort

There is still time to join our next Certification cohort, which will begin mid-June. The Certification Program builds upon CEF to create a longer-form, multi-component, online program for STEM community managers. If you’re interested in taking part, please reach out to training@www.cscce.org as soon as possible.

More information

Community calls

RECAP: April – a conversation about the impact of short-form trainings in STEM

At this month’s community call, we were talking about the impact of short-form professional development trainings. This call included an overview of the Bicycle Principles, a framework for designing and evaluation inclusive and engaging trainings, as well as presentations about two different methods for gathering and analyzing impact.

COMING UP: May – explore the application of community playbooks in open source communities and professional associations

At our May community call, we’ll give a brief overview of what a community playbook is, why you should have one, and what playbooks look like in a range of STEM contexts. Our invited speakers all recently took our training course, Creating Community Playbooks (PBK – registration is open for our July/August cohort), and will be sharing the playbook they created as well as how it’s making a difference in their communities. Join us to see real life examples of community playbooks making a difference in open-source communities and professional associations.

COMING UP: June – register for our annual curated networking event

For our June community call (and annual mid-year social), we’ll be bringing back our curated networking forum for its fourth annual offering! This is a unique opportunity to connect with others who are nurturing community, collaboration, and connection in a range of organizational settings in STEM.

CSCCE

c/o Community Initiatives,
1000 Broadway Suite #480,
Oakland, CA, 94607, USA
—
info@www.cscce.org

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