Coordinators page

[karkar]

The current coordinators page maintains a current list and has no list/archive of past coordinators. I propose having a separate section/page (image for reference) to keep a record of past volunteers to recognize their services.

In-line with that, I would also like to know if and where should there be a boundary of what "positions" get mentioned on the webpage. Should student organizers for all annual DUB events be mentioned (e.g., DUB retreat, DUB DC, paper swaps) or only a subset.

Image: Left is the current layout and right is a mockup with some examples.

[karkar]

Also, I am not sure if this is an appropriate forum to have this conversation. An alternative might be a dedicated slack channel.

[smunson]

The goal for the coordinators page was to help people find the current coordinators or the immediate past coordinators (when no one has yet been named to do the next thing), rather than to create an archive of service. If there are places where there’s a need to help people find the coordinators, it’s probably worth adding.

One additional principle for the initial list was that some grassroots things (e.g., paper swap sessions, practice talks) might be better served by remaining grassroots (i.e., if we name a coordinator for those, it’s suddenly their job which means no one else has to / will worry about making it happen).

This is not to say there isn’t need for a history of past folks (I have no strong opinion on this) — but separating the goals may open up some different solutions. Channeling my archivist friends, I'll also add that removing some information can provide focus (both of attention and resources to maintain the content) that makes what's left more useful.

[jayfo]

Would a "Prior Coordinators" pill make sense on that page? It feels out of step with the other things that are there? But that seems better than putting this "at the bottom", where it'll quickly become massive and distracting on that page?

I'm thinking we do this as another pill/tab, and eventually migrate the content somewhere else if we do a re-organization?

[karkar]

@smunson For consistency, based on the grassroots principle, the DUB DC list should not be present on the page.

@jayfo My understanding from the above comments is that a separate tab/pill is better suited. If not pill, another option might be to link a "past coordinators" page at the end of the current page.

[smunson]

I think I wasn't quite clear about that. If there's something we're committed to having happen every year, listing it (and indicating that there aren't coordinators for the coming year, yet) is probably helpful. I think the DC falls in that category, along with the retreat -- folks seem to want it to happen every year.

I think the industry panel / academic panel are less clear as to whether each should be every year, or in that format every year. So reifying it as having specific coordinators locks in that format rather than letting it emerge from who has interest to organize different panels and what there's demand for in any given year.

In past conversations, there have also been suggestions to have something like a "paper swap coordinator" or a "practice talk coordinator". I've been wary of that suggestion since then all paper swaps or practice talks are their job to at least catalyze or facilitate, when it may be better served by having students and faculty more closely affiliated with each conference do the instigating and organizing on an as-needed basis. There may be a middle ground of someone who has a job of asking around to see if someone wants to organize, but it still has the effect of people waiting around to be asked.

There's also the question of how next organizers get identified. That's not a website issue other than "it would be nice to have coordinators to list." While on the topic, though, one thing we've found works well among faculty is for the immediate past retreat organizers to have identifying the next faculty retreat organizers as their last job. For student initiated things that you know you want to have continue (e.g., the student portion of the retreat, the DC), it could be good to run with a similar plan.

[karkar]

I think I understand the differentiation you bring up for the annual vs. pseudo annual events.

I think we tried following the rule you mentioned about the last task being identifying your successors, but have had mixed results. We particularly tried to do this during the DUB retreat student session, gauging interest and recruiting volunteers for DUB student activities for the next (current) year.

The shortcomings you mention in the third paragraph almost feel like they're a good argument for having a couple DUB student coordinators manage these transitions and knowledge transfers. To add another thing to the laundry list of things which would be nice to have -- maybe a wiki (another overhead) or google drive which can be handed off during tenure transitions.