The POSE Training Program begins: Spring 2023 pilot session

CSCCE is currently partnering with Karthik Ram at UC Berkeley on an NSF grant to provide a training program for awardees of NSF’s Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems program. The pilot version of the POSE Training Program began in April 2023, with more than 60 POSE awardees joining Training Program staff for a six-week program of workshops and webinars. You can find out more about the pilot syllabus on the pose.training website

In this blog post, we share more about how we onboarded participants to the pilot program, and how we are gathering their feedback to ensure future iterations of the program are meeting the needs of leaders in open-source ecosystem creation and sustainability. 

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Making a PACT for more accessible resources – a workshop for rOpenSci

Over the past few months, we’ve been delighted to work with Yani  Bellini Saibene at rOpenSci as she’s designed and built a brand new champions program. One of the ways we’ve been supporting that work is by delivering an online training for the new champions in how to design and host successful meetings. This month we used our “making a PACT” framework for more engaging meetings and events – and after reaching out to the participants to ask about their accessibility requirements, we were prompted to make some adjustments to how we facilitated the workshop and shared materials. 

Community managers are always learning about new tools and making improvements to how we support community members – and this approach is no different for CSCCE staff! So in the spirit of “working out loud”, this blog post includes more information about the PACT framework and how we updated our existing workshop to make it more accessible. 

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February Community Call Recap – Creating accessible community spaces online

This month our community call focused on the accessibility of community resources and programming – emphasizing practical actions we can all take to support the participation of members with disabilities. We heard from two members of our community of practice; Sara Kobilka (of Renaissance Woman Consulting and co-creator of the Digital Engagement Accessibility Toolkit) and Rebecca Carpenter (Virtual Academic Community Manager of the Deaf STEM Community Alliance at Rochester Institute of Technology); held space for questions and discussion, and finished the call with a “show and tell” of some tools that can aid in the accessibility of slide decks, websites, Zoom calls, and written content. 

In this blog post, we share an overview of the call, including recordings of Sara and Rebecca’s presentations, as well as a number of helpful resources that you can take a look at. We’re also working on a short resource to help guide STEM community managers specifically, and if that seems like something you’d like to be involved in making, please let us know by emailing info@cscce.org

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CSCCE Community Manager Certification Program – More information available and live info sessions!

In July we announced that in 2023 we’ll be launching a new certification program for STEM Community Managers, building on our foundational training Scientific Community Engagement Fundamentals. Since we made that announcement, we’ve been listening to feedback and working on some details. 

In this blog post, we share some updates, including when the first cohort will begin their course of study and how you can let us know that you plan on enrolling. We also share when we’ll be hosting info sessions so that you can get quick answers to any questions you might have, and how your organization can sponsor the program if you’d like to support the participation of others. 

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December Community Call: Our Annual Potluck

We like to send the year off with a little bit of fun, mixed with some contemplation and so for our December community call we’ll be hosting our fourth annual end-of-year potluck. This year, we’ll be focusing on tech tools for supporting community management on a shoestring budget! 

As with most CSCCE events, this call will with be an interactive opportunity to:

  • Try out some new ideas and/or tools that may be relevant for managing your own community
  • Meet and connect with other STEM community managers to learn from one another
  • Take an intentional moment in busy schedules to reflect and identify progress made and potential next steps in your own work

Rather than everyone bringing a dish to share, as is typical at most potlucks, all participants are welcome to bring examples of tools that they’ve used to solve specific problems – or problems in search of a tool! We’ll structure the meal (see below) so there’s time to share and time to learn.  

Join us via Zoom on 14 December at 11am EST / 4pm UTC, and feel free to wear a festive hat or sweater to liven up our Zoom screens 🙂 

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This month’s community call will be a virtual potluck. Attendees are asked to bring a low-budget tech tool to share – or a scenario they’ve encountered that they are looking for a tool to solve. Image credit: CSCCE
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CEF Reunion Recap: Graduates from 10 cohorts convened to celebrate 2 years of CEF!

Last week, we hosted two back-to-back (virtual) reunion celebration events, bringing together graduates from our foundational online training course, Scientific Community Engagement Fundamentals (CEF). It’s two years since we launched the pilot of the course, and since then almost 200 learners have participated. So, we wanted to mark the occasion with a celebration!!

Participants in the Thursday, 17 November reunion event!
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Announcing digital badges for CSCCE’s multi-week trainings

With the rollout of several new courses in CSCCE’s training catalog comes a new credential to recognize our learners’ professional development: digital badges! These badges, which are only awarded to learners who complete all course requirements, can be displayed on personal websites, social media profiles, or as part of a digital CV or resume. 

In this post, we share a bit about what it means to receive a digital badge from CSCCE, and how you can earn these badges along a path to certification as a Scientific Community Manager. 

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CSCCE Community Tools Trial Recap: Virtual escape rooms in Gather

In the second of our Summer 2022 community tools trials, CSCCE staff members Adrienne and Katie and several members of our community of practice met to “Escape the Island” in Gather. We actually ended up trying to escape a dungeon labyrinth (read on to find out why!) and explored how best to use these tools at virtual networking events. 

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Announcing the CSCCE Community Manager Certification Program

Today we’re announcing a new professional development opportunity for STEM community managers: the CSCCE Community Manager Certification Program. The program is intended to support graduates of our Scientific Community Engagement Fundamentals (CEF) course further hone their community management skills, produce immediately applicable outputs for their current role, and continue to benefit from cohort-based learning with their peers, one of the hallmarks of CSCCE trainings. 

With today’s announcement, we’re seeking your feedback on how best to finalize our plans. We strive to provide programming and resources that meet the needs of our learners and community members, so before we put the finishing touches on the certification program, we’re asking for your feedback. We’ve made a very brief survey that will ask you about your preferences when it comes to learning options (following a certification path or taking standalone courses), scheduling, and any barriers that might prevent you from participating. 

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CSCCE Community Tools Trial Recap: A “Butter” way to Zoom?

CSCCE tools trials resumed for a short run of three sessions on Wednesday, 13 July 2022. A combination of CSCCE staff and community of practice members spent 60 minutes trying out the facilitation platform Butter, and in this blog post we share some of the features we tried and what we thought. 

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