Grants talk:PEG/User:Pjthepiano - Wiki Education Foundation/US and Canada Wikipedia Education Program/Report/InterimReport

Revised Timeline

PJ has been asked at least twice for a revised timeline. It would be grand if we had one. --Jbmurray (talk) 00:03, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

It would indeed. But I believe the timing (pun!) isn't quite right. I'd much rather see a solid revised timeline that the WEF and its new ED are committed to, than an improvised or made-up one posted right now just so we can proceed with the extension request. See my request below. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 04:12, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Terms of Approval: Updates

It's worth saying (as PJ's interim report doesn't) that the WEF has indeed made an attempt to keep up more or less with this grant's terms of approval, particularly the stipulation for "a regular (at least bi-monthly; ideally monthly) report to the English Wikipedia community is posted by the WEF at the Wikipedia:Education noticeboard, along with a link to the report from an appropriate high-visibility area like the Village Pump. The report should describe ongoing activities and their status, include links to the actual pages, courses, and discussions wherever possible, and WEF staff should monitor the report's talk page and engage with feedback. (Naturally, the WEF would not be obliged to agree with any and all feedback.)" Rather than WEF staff, the person who seems to have been delegated this responsibility is Mike Christie. As follows:

• April, 2013
• May, 2013
• July, 2013
• August, 2013
• September, 2013
• October, 2013 (Village Pump)
• Mid-October, 2013, Village Pump note
• Late October, 2013 (Village Pump)
• November, 2013 (Village Pump)
• November 25, 2013 (Village Pump)
• January 8, 2014 (Village Pump)

It's not clear how full these updates are, or how much they mesh with the interim report, but I thought I'd provide these links for a better accounting of the extent to which the grant's terms have been fulfilled. --Jbmurray (talk) 09:25, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, Jbmurray! That was indeed useful to include in this report. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 04:12, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Report Accepted

Thank you for the interim report; it was helpful in offering a clear and public snapshot of where things stand vis-a-vis the stated goals. A couple of quick notes:

1. re the conference: not instead of the planned event, I'd just like to make sure the WEF is aware of the WikiConference USA, and that you are thinking of how the WEF might fruitfully participate.
2. I urge you to ensure the lag between when decisions are made and when they are made public is as short as possible. I would like to minimize the amount of non-public context I have to take into account in making decisions about grants (though sometimes that really is unavoidable), particularly in a grant such as this, where a program is transitioning from WMF to an external grantee. It seems to me the WEF could do better in this regard.

Finally, do make it a point to post an updated timeline on the talk page of the grant itself once the new ED is on board and the WEF is ready to commit to one. I expect this shouldn't take much more than two months from today. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 04:12, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, Asaf. Regarding the Wiki Conference USA - actually three WEF Board Members are helping to plan that event also so we're definitely going to leverage the resources of both efforts. Regarding lag time - I agree, speedy public reporting is the ideal. Unfortunately in the case of hiring decisions, this is very difficult since there is a lengthy application, interview, selection, and then negotiation process. And as you noted, this lag was exacerbated for the whole program transition overall since we had to coordinate decision-making with two organizations - both the WMF and WEF.

Thank you for your continued support! Pjthepiano (talk) 04:51, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Oh, I'm glad to hear you're already involved with the WikiConference! Thanks. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 19:14, 7 February 2014 (UTC)