Community Project Proposal Program

Overview

Motivated by the pain and anxiety that the Core Team heard on calls with members from the SCTN, this new program is intended to simultaneously accomplish the following goals: 

• Generating deliverables that will advance the SCTN mission, including those related to justice, equity, and anti-racism.                                  
• Catalyzing renewed effort in support of the Network
• Supporting the SciComm training community both individually and collectively
• Expanding the membership of the Network

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Community Project Development Process

The Core Team and the new Network Weaver will play an organizing role to facilitate a participatory design process for this program. We will:

1. Hold a participatory convening with Network members (i.e., individuals who have attended convenings in the past).
   • The goal of this convening is to generate and prioritize topic areas in collaboration with attendees. 
   • Topics for discussion will build on the work of the task forces to date. There will also be an opportunity to include additional themes that have surfaced in response to recent events (e.g., addressing racism, COVID-19 pandemic)
2. Report back the ideas generated from the convening, with a period for asynchronous review, feedback, additional suggestions, and iteration 
   • The topic areas will be emailed to all past convening participants with a request for comment from the membership. 
   • Members will also be asked to select the top three themes that the Network should pursue. 
   • Timeline: 
     • Publish topic areas immediately after the convening by September 16
     • Provide one week for comments and upvotes of topic areas by September 25
3. Announce the final topic areas and call for specific project ideas and teams. Announce open/close dates for accepting submissions, and plans to host brainstorming sessions. 
   • This announcement will be sent to the entire listserv and on social media, allowing individuals who may be loosely associated with the Network to attend the brainstorming sessions and potentially submit a proposal. 
   • Timeline: Send this announcement by September 28 
4. Host a series of “brainstorming sessions/office hours” on priorities for community project proposals 
   • These sessions are intended to be a space for project ideation around a specific theme. While projects discussed may result in proposals, individuals will also be able to submit proposals for projects that are not discussed in the brainstorming session. 
   • Sessions will be recorded for those who are unable to attend the live event. 
   • Timeline: October 5-9 
5. Request for Proposals opens for submission 
   • Collect information about potential project ideas and teams/applications
   • Open Brainstorming Session: October 19, 4:30-5:30 PM 
   • Deadline:  November 2 
6. Connect potential project teams with our funding partners to discuss the possibility to advance specific project proposals through support for project materials and effort for team members 
   • Timeline: November – December