Call for Software Carpentry Foundation Subcommittees and Task Forces

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Purpose and Rationale

Software Carpentry is volunteer-powered organization that is rapidly growing. One of the greatest things about Software Carpentry is the huge diversity of people that have come together to collaborate, teach, and share ideas and resources. Your contributions to the community have made Software Carpentry a huge success!

To meet the needs of our growing community, the 2015 Steering Committee Launched the first Subcommittee program to allow groups of members to organize and develop resources and activities that support our members.

The 2016 Steering Committee would like to encourage and invite the community to propose new initiatives in the form of subcommittees (a standing group for ongoing activities) and task forces (an ad hoc group focused on a finite task). Read on to learn more about existing initiatives and for information about how to propose a new initiatives that will shape our community.

Current Subcommittees and Task Forces

For information on existing and past subcommittees, please visit the subcommittee listing.

How to Propose a New Subcommittee or Task Force

Do you have an idea for an activity or service that would make Software Carpentry even more awesome to participate in for its instructors or students? Is there a project, tool or document that would benefit you and your community?

We are very excited to hear and support your ideas! However, we do need to read and review all proposals.

To propose a new subcommittee or task force, please read the [information here]({{ site.github_url}}/board/blob/master/subcommittees/proposal_instructions.md). The key elements of a proposal that the Steering Committee will be looking for (and which we will help you with!) are:

• Specificity: do you have a specific goal, with a plan and timeline to achieve it? Nothing has to be cast in stone at this point, but the more specific your plan, the easier it will be for you to put it into action.
• Resources: have you anticipated what you’ll need, in terms of personnel, tools, external support and budget? Modest budgets will be available to support Subcommittee and Task Force activities, to be approved on a per-item basis by the Steering Committee; we will be looking for realistic (but non-binding) predictions of what you’ll need to succeed.
• Community Fit: is there clear vision for how your project will advance Software Carpentry’s mission, or enrich our community? The Steering Committee will be coordinating all these groups by making sure we all work together effectively; understanding how your project fits into the bigger picture is an important first step.

More details are in the [full instructions]({{ site.github_url}}/board/blob/master/subcommittees/proposal_instructions.md); if you have any questions or anything is unclear, don’t hesitate to ask! The most important step is to let us know your ideas, so after reading the link above, [open an issue]({{ site.github_url}}/board/issues) and let us know what you’re thinking, even if you don’t yet know how to answer all the points above; the Steering Committee will happily help you craft a great proposal.

Concluding Remarks

The Software Carpentry community is full of tremendous people (that’s you!) doing great things; the Steering Committee hopes that our new, more open-ended Subcommittee and Task Force program will amplify your awesome work even further. We can’t wait to hear from you!