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Call for Nominations to Joint Board

Call for Joint Carpentries Leadership: Stand for election to the joint Steering Committee of the merged Carpentries organization

As most of you know, Software Carpentry and Data Carpentry are merging into a new organization, provisionally called “The Carpentries”. This new organization will officially begin on January 1, 2018, with a hugely talented staff and dedicated community already in place.

This is an exciting time, and we are looking for people who want to help direct the new organization by being an elected member of the Steering Committee of The Carpentries. The Steering Committee will include both appointed and elected members in order to balance community engagement with needed expertise in leading a growing non-profit organization. For more information about the responsibilities and composition of the committee, see this issue, part of the merger RFC.

Who can run and vote?

Following current SCF bylaws current Carpentries members may vote and serve on the Steering Committee. Election or appointment to the Steering Committee is currently limited to members.

The membership is made up of:

  • Every qualified instructor who has taught at least two Software or Data Carpentry workshops in the past two calendar years.
  • Anyone who has done 30 days or more work for the Carpentries in the past calendar year.
  • Anyone who has, in the opinion of the Steering Committee, made a significant contribution in the past year.
  • The signatory for a Silver, Gold or Platinum Member Organization

If you’re not sure if you’re a member, log in to AMY and see if records show that you have taught in the last two years. If you need records updated or have any questions, please email team@carpentries.org. If you have taught workshops that aren’t registered, please include a link to those workshops. We’ll also be sending out an email to each instructor with their status.

How do I stand for election?

In order to stand for election we request that you write a blog post that introduces yourself to the community. The post:

  • must be about 500 words and can be written in any format (question and answer, paragraph etc.)
  • must be titled “2018 Election: Your Name”
  • must be submitted by December 1, 2017

You can submit your post as a pull request to either the SWC website repository, the DC website repository or by email. In the post, you should explain:

  • your previous involvement with The Carpentries
  • what you would do as a member of the Steering Committee to contribute to the growth and success of the community

The post from last year’s SWC elections contains examples.

Candidates will be given the opportunity to share their thoughts with our community, including ideas for continued involvement, at our two community meetings on November 16, 2017.

Timeline for election:

  • October 23: nominations open
  • November 16: nominees can introduce themselves on community calls
  • December 1: nominations close
  • December 4-8: community votes on candidates