CSCCE Blog Editor, Author at CSCCE

CSCCE’s Community Profiles Project: How did we do it?

In out last blog post, we announced the release of 13 new “Community Profiles,” created by CSCCE staff in collaboration with independent contractor, Sara Kobilka. In this post, which was co-authored with Sara, we delve a little deeper into our methodology.

Survey Design

As we began the survey design process we worked to balance multiple considerations. First, we wanted something as complete as possible. Lou created the first version of the survey with the goal of collecting information about communities that scientific community managers had previously expressed interest in learning about – such as funding models, staffing, and online collaboration tools. At the same time, we didn’t want to make the survey too onerous for community managers to complete.

CSCCE’s Community Profiles Project: First round of profiles now out!

Today we’re launching the first outputs from a project that we’ve been working on this year to better characterize communities in science – and to support scientific community managers, their leadership, and funders to meaningfully compare some of the current activities taking place across the broad landscape of STEM community projects.

The CSCCE community profiles project has resulted in the creation of an initial collection of 13 community profiles – two page PDFs capturing core features of each community from staffing to programming and funding sources. We collected the data using a custom, detailed survey and then translated what we found to a standardized profile template, which was specifically created for this project. The resulting profiles, which incorporate CSCCE’s own frameworks for describing communities and community member engagement, allow easy comparison between different scientific communities.

In this post we introduce the rationale for the project and highlight the first 13 profiles. In Thursday’s post, we outline how the project was carried out.

CSCCE Community Tools Trial Recap: Gather

In the third in our ongoing series of virtual tools trials, several members of the CSCCE community of practice (request to join here) met to try out Gather. You can catch up on previous tools trials here and here, and get the details for our next trial, Etherpad +Video, here).

The goal of these tools trials is to get to know virtual events software, figure out what platforms work best for what types of events, and provide an opportunity for members of our community to give their feedback or share previous experiences with the platform. We are trying out a variety of platforms, from virtual conferences and workshops (e.g., Qiqochat), to ideation and brainstorming (e.g., Mural/Jamboard/Padlet), to workplace productivity (watch this space!). Have an idea for a tool you’d like to trial? Contact us: info@www.cscce.org.

September’s Community Call: Community Profiles

September’s community call will take place on Wednesday, 23 September at 6pm UTC (2pm US Eastern Time) and will center around the release of CSCCE’s Community Profiles. After an overview of the project, we’ll also hear from some of the community managers who participated in this pilot research study.

*Join September’s call to learn more about CSCCE’s Community Profiles research project. Image credit: CSCCE*

CSCCE collaborates on launch of new Carpentries program for community champions

Over the past months, CSCCE Director Lou Woodley has been working with the Carpentries to develop a new community champions program, “The Carpentries Community Facilitators Program.” The first module of the program, which Lou co-authored, aims to empower community members to influence Carpentries programming by channeling community feedback to leadership teams.

CSCCE Community Tools Trial Recap: Mural/Padlet/Jamboard

On Thursday, 10 September 2020, several members of the CSCCE community of practice met to try out and compare three virtual ideation tools; Mural, Padlet, and Jamboard – which broadly try to create the collaborative experience of using sticky notes and/or flipcharts online).

This was the second in a series of tools trials to help scientific community managers source platforms that meet their needs as meetings and conferences transition online (check out the recap of our Qiqochat trial here). In this post, we recap our shared pros and cons of the three platforms, give you access to our notes from the call, and tell you what’s next for CSCCE tools trials.

Welcome to Camille Santistevan – CSCCE’s Lead Trainer and Curriculum Development Specialist

Our team is growing! This week we welcomed Camille Santistevan to CSCCE, who, as our new Lead Trainer and Curriculum Development Specialist, will work with center Director Lou Woodley to consolidate and expand our suite of trainings and associated materials.

She will also co-lead the fall training modules that we’re piloting with members of our community of practice, and work with the team as we plan out the next steps for our flagship training, the Community Engagement Fellowship Program.

About Camille

Camille comes to CSCCE from The City University of New York, where she has worked as Associate Director of Public Relations for the Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) since 2014. In her time there, she helped build a community of researchers from across the University and at a variety of career stages who used ASRC’s facilities and equipment. She was also instrumental in developing and delivering a science education curriculum for the center, while overseeing numerous outreach and engagement programs and events.

August Community Call Recap: Meeting members where they are to build a successful scientific community

Our August 2020 community call coincided with the release of the CSCCE Community Participation Model, a cornerstone of our Community Engagement Fellowship Program training but until now not publicly available. To celebrate, we invited two CEFP alumni to share their experiences using the model to inform how they think about, and engage, the members of their communities.

In this blog post, we’ll recap a few takeaways from the call, and we share each of the presentations as standalone videos for you to watch at your convenience. Plus, we share what we’re cooking up for next month’s call!

The CSCCE Community Participation Model

Lou Woodley introduces the CSCCE Community Participation Model.

August’s Community Call: Member engagement and the CSCCE Community Participation Model

August’s community call will take place on Wednesday, 26 August at 6pm UTC (2pm US Eastern Time) and will focus on how community managers can describe the different ways in which members engage within a community – and whether those modes align with the overall objectives of the community.

We’ll unveil a new resource, the CSCCE Community Participation Model, and hear from two CEFP alumnae who, after learning about the model in our Fellowship training, used it to inform their work. Join us to learn more and add your voice to the discussion.

Join August’s call to learn more about engaging your members in ways that work for them. Image credit: CSCCE

CSCCE Community Tools Trial Recap: QiqoChat

On Thursday, 20 August 2020, several members of the CSCCE community of practice met to try out the virtual conference platform QiqoChat. This was the first in a series of tools trials meant to help scientific community managers source platforms that meet their needs as meetings and conferences transition online. In this post, we recap our shared pros and cons of the platform, give you access to our notes from the call, and tell you what’s next for CSCCE tools trials.