The CSCCE Community Engagement Fellows Program (CEFP), generously supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, was created to improve collaboration and community building in science.
It provided a year-long professional development opportunity to individuals who cultivate member engagement and collaborative relationships within scientific associations, research collaborations and other communities of scientists.
CSCCE as a center grew out of CEFP’s success, and as we continue to develop as an organization so do our training offerings. We no longer offer CEFP, but we are expanding our online course catalogue.
The best way to stay updated about our evolving training program is to subscribe to our monthly newsletter or visit our trainings page.
For general inquiries about CSCCE trainings, please email training@cscce.org.
COMMUNITY MANAGERS IN SCIENCE
Community engagement is an emerging profession, especially in science. The individuals who carry out these roles may be doing so in informal ways, sometimes in addition to other responsibilities. They may not even recognize themselves as “community managers” and their job titles may span from Program Director to Membership Officer depending on their organization’s context. Frequently they are the only person in the role in their organization, which can leave them feeling isolated and unsupported.
CEFP provided a shared knowledge base and peer support for individuals in existing community management roles. We did not place fellows into host organizations.
GOALS OF THE PROGRAM
The program had three broad goals:
- Professionalize and institutionalize the role of community management within scientific organizations;
- Provide professional development resources to individuals who manage communities and collaborations in research organizations and scientific associations;
- Collect and disseminate knowledge about building strong collaborations and communities
THE FELLOWSHIP YEAR
In past fellowship years, there were three in-person trainings in Washington, DC:
- Early January – Fellowship year begins with a week-long training – all Fellows are expected to attend.
- Early June – Mid-year training and experience exchange – all Fellows are expected to attend.
- Early December – End-of-year debrief and experience exchange – all Fellows are expected to attend.
In addition, during the year Fellows participated in monthly all-cohort webinars and project team work in small groups. Each Fellow also produced a community playbook for their organization to codify and communicate their community strategy and tactics.
Participation in the fellowship required a commitment of 15% of the Fellow’s work time during the year. This is a rich, rewarding professional development experience. The 2017 Fellows achieved or made progress on 96% of their community goals for the year.
For general inquiries about CSCCE trainings, please email training@cscce.org.