2019:Education/Professional Development Opportunities for Students in Wikimedian in Residence Roles

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Education/Professional Development Opportunities for Students in Wikimedian in Residence Roles


Title[edit | edit source]

Professional Development Opportunities for Students in Wikimedian in Residence Roles

Session leader(s)[edit | edit source]

Full Name* Email address* Wikimedia Username (if you have one) Affiliation Country Role, website or any other details you'd like to share
Jennifer Sutcliffe jennifer.sutcliffe@emory.edu Jenniferjuniper Emory University/Georgia Piedmont Wikimedians USA Educational Analyst (Wikimedian educator) at Emory/community organizer and volunteer editor with Georgia Piedmont Wikimedians

Session type[edit | edit source]

Each Space at Wikimania 2019 will have specific format requests. The program design prioritises submissions which are future-oriented and directly engage the audience. The format of this submission is a:

  • Lightning talk - 10 min

Length of session[edit | edit source]

45 minutes if a panel, 25 minutes if a lecture

Description[edit | edit source]

Problem: Students are in need of professional experience in be competitive in their fields. It can be challenging for students to find roles that not only give students experience in concrete areas but also develop soft skills in communication and developing relationships. On the hiring end, it is a challenge to develop these types of roles for student workers. Lesson: Hiring a student into a Wikimedian in Residence role can offer many opportunities for professional growth that can be difficult to come by in other typical student roles. There is an existing supportive Wikimedian community and a precedent for these roles that can be drawn upon to develop such a role at diverse educational institutions. Further, these roles benefit the institution – and at a lower cost than hiring a full-time professional – by setting a tone for the community to learn about editing Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects and fostering the growth of community partnerships.


The main points of this session are the need for student work opportunities that offer unique transferrable skills and the ways in which student Wikimedian in Residence roles deliver these experiences, such as:

  • Writing and editing for a public audience
  • Social media networking
  • Graphic design
  • Event organizing
  • Teaching
  • Consulting

Concrete examples will be given and stories shared from the Wikipedian in Residence program at Emory University and others. The presentation will conclude with tips on hiring for these positions. Handouts will include a sample position description(s) and a list of contacts for more information and networking.

Supporting work[edit | edit source]

Optional:

Relationship to the theme[edit | edit source]

This session will address the conference theme — Wikimedia, Free Knowledge and the Sustainable Development Goals — in the following manner:

  • 4: Quality Education – It is no longer enough to gain an education in terms of a degree. Students need real work experiences to be competitive in their chosen field. This session will describe the career benefits to students in a Wikipedian/Wikimedian in Residence role and how it offers skills that are transferrable to many different jobs.
  • 8 : Decent Work and Economic Growth – Similar to the above statement, Wikimedian in Residence roles provide unique opportunities to teach, organize events, perform outreach, and hone both practical and soft skills
  • 10: Reduce inequalities – These roles can reduce inequalities by giving more opportunities for students to gain work experiences that they may not get in a typical work-study or other campus job. Also, these roles are ideal for women, POC, and individuals who identify with other underrepresented groups because of the need for diverse perspectives on Wikimedia projects!

Session outcomes[edit | edit source]

At the end of the session, the following will have been achieved:

  • The audience will understand the Wikimedian in Residence role and possible job responsibilities
  • The audience will understand how students can carry out these roles and the mutual benefits
  • The audience will take away ideas about how they could incorporate this role at their institution
  • The audience will have a starting place for resources and contacts to support their initiatives

Relation to other Spaces[edit | edit source]

This presentation is also related to the GLAM and Libraries spaces (note that I am a co-leader in the GLAM space)

Requirements[edit | edit source]

The session will work best with these conditions:

  • Room: A smaller more intimate room would be ideal for discussion (versus a large lecture hall)
  • Audience: No audience size limit, but the most relevant audience type would be people working in higher education or university students


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