community management training Archives

The rationale behind the design of our modular curriculum for STEM community managers – and the opportunities that it affords

Back in 2016, we started work on the first ever curriculum for STEM community managers – initially delivered via our Community Engagement Fellows Program while CSCCE was getting started at AAAS. Right from the outset, we were using the words “modular curriculum”.

In this post, CSCCE’s Director, Lou Woodley unpacks i) what we mean by a modular curriculum, ii) how different modules can create different “flavors” of learner experience to retain engagement across the overall curriculum, and iii) what benefits and opportunities come by designing in a modular way.

Training update: Let us know what CSCCE trainings you’d like to take in 2026!

As part of our mission to professionalize the role of the community manager in STEM, we’ve developed a comprehensive catalogue of online professional development trainings.

These Multi-week courses and Mini-workshops are designed in such a way that learners can pick and choose those most relevant to their needs, but with a throughline of vocabulary and frameworks that connect into a bigger picture.

While we know that these trainings are making a real difference to our learners and the communities they support (see our recent evaluation of Scientific Community Engagement Fundamentals), we’re also aware that many STEM professionals are feeling the pressures of budget cuts, making it harder to prioritize taking our trainings.

As we look ahead to 2026, we’re reaching out to our community to ask:

What CSCCE trainings would you like to take in 2026?

Congratulations to our latest Certification Program grads!

Next week, at our Q3 Quarterly Skills Share session (a regular part of the CSCCE Community Manager Certification Program), we’ll be celebrating two more certification program graduates!

Lena Karvovskaya, Community Coordinator for the Dutch Thematic Digital Competence Centre for the Natural and Engineering Sciences (TDCC-NES) at TU Delft Library, and Zachary Baker, Community Manager for the Open Molecular Software Foundation, are now CSCCE-certified community managers: Congratulations, Lena and Zach!!

In this blog post we share a few of Zach and Lena’s reflections on the program and highlight their individual training journeys. And, for those less familiar with the program, we’ve also included a brief summary of what it involves.

As a reminder, we now accept open enrollment in the CSCCE Community Manager Certification Program, which means you can join the program at any time. So if you’re interested in signing up, do send an email to training@cscce.org!

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.

New CSCCE mini-workshop series on virtual events launches 20 July 2021

Starting this July, we’re piloting a new 90-minute mini-workshop format as part of our expanding professional development curriculum to support community managers in STEM. Our first series will focus on planning and facilitating virtual events, with five standalone mini-workshops for you to choose from. Take one or take them all!

In this blog post, we answer any questions you might have about the virtual events series, but if we’ve missed something, please email us at: info@www.cscce.org.