How does COPUS get things done, when it doesn’t believe in rigid hierarchies and its made up of an all-volunteer work force? Hip-hip-hooray for Working Groups! They’re like magic…as long as you don’t look behind the curtain.
Membership and Awards
Charge
To define and make transparent for all of COPUS its membership and awards processes. With respect to membership, define the process for nominating and selecting new membership, define the selection process for inviting members to meetings, and create a directory of names and contact information for all COPUS members. With respect to awards, define a process for selecting Paul Shin Award and the Judy Scotchmoor award winners.
Team
Colibri Sanfiorenzo-Barnhard, Sheri Potter, Amber Finley, Morgan Thompson, Bill Gomez (Group Communicator)
Progress Update as of January 2016
Review the draft of “membership and award guidelines” here. Draft posted for review and feedback from members. We will be communicating with the Plan Next Meeting and Fund Raising working groups to share ideas. A key question that will need input to our group is “How large do we want Copus membership to be?”
Communications
Charge
To grow and nurture COPUS by disseminating the mission and current COPUS events through appropriate communication channels such as newsletter, website and social media. Our focus is on national news related to the public understanding of science, and news featuring COPUS members (including local events, awards, etc.).
Team
Amber Finley, Diego Roman, Jessie Herbert, Jennifer Cutraro, Lance Powell, Mattias Lanas, Monica Albe (Group Communicator)
Progress Update as of December 2015
All COPUS members are encouraged to share news/current event items with this working group — we’ll then make an effort to post the news. We’re hoping that more folks in the COPUS community will join our team!
As of now, website team is Monica, Lance, and Mattias. Facebook team is Jessie, Amber, Jenny, Diego, and Monica. LinkedIn team is Monica and Lance. Twitter team is Amber and Jenny. We could possibly delve into Instagram, Snapchat, and a YouTube Channel in the future — but we’re holding off for now.
Plan for the year: 1) create weekly posts for our website and social media, 2) create an email newsletter to the broader COPUS community on a quarterly basis.
Website and social media have all been updated with COPUS narrative and photos from latest unconference, and contact email [email protected]. Still need to update the rest of the website — suggestions are welcome! (We recently had a set back as we learned that any changes to the style sheet are removed when the site is updated — yes, we’re aware it looks totally weird right now.) Send suggestions to [email protected].
Define Our Network
Charge
Develop qualitative and quantitative ways of measuring the contributions our association with COPUS makes to the impact of our networking activities (i.e., what networking benefits do we obtain from being associated with COPUS beyond those we would be doing if it were not for COPUS).
Team
Jeanette Lim, Betsy Barent, Madhu Katti, Amy Vashlishan Murray, Lisa White, Marcos Chu, Joel Abraham, Stu Koretz (Group Communicator)
Progress Update as of December 2015
We have started collecting both quantitative and qualitative data on the impact COPUS has on its members’ networking activities. The qualitative focus so far is on stories collected from COPUS members. We’ll be sending out a request for more of these stories. The quantitative focus began with the spreadsheet developed in the Yellowstone meeting. We are investigating and trying out several different software platforms that may be of use in these activities.
COPUS International
Charge
Exploring the possibilities for international expansion of COPUS: articulating the rationale, objectives, and plans for doing so. Interfacing with other COPUS working groups as appropriate.
Team
Madhu Katti, Cindy Wilber, Mattias Lanas, Stu Koretz (Group Communicator)
Progress Update as of December 2015
Our initial focus will be in Mexico and India, where we have many contacts. We will be exploring opportunities with these contacts as time and travel permit. Currently Cindy is of course highly involved with Proyecto Itzaes projects in Mexico. She is currently in Mexico for that reason. Joel Abraham will be traveling to Mexico to meet with Cindy to investigate what we will do when he begins bringing his students from Cal State Fullerton to Reserva San Nicolas. Tom Hata is currently in India with the Prakash lab exploring foldscope opportunities.
Fundraising
Charge
Secure funding to support an unconference series and set the stage for future plans. Future plans may include the possibility of two unconference gatherings in 2017 and hosting a pre-unconference day for local educators and community members to become involved in COPUS-related efforts. Pre-unconference ideas include a mini-STEAM festival, one-on-one meetings with local educators, and networking sessions designed to inspire local community educators and stakeholders to become part of the COPUS community. The overarching goal of our fundraising efforts will not only be to support future unconferences but, by securing additional funding for COPUS, we can work to strengthen collaborations between existing COPUS members and encourage new opportunities across disciplines and programs.
Team
Denny Casey, Anne Holland, Eve Klein, Gina Schatteman, Cindy Wilber, Lisa White (Group Communicator)
Progress Update as of December 2015
An initial goal of the Fundraising group is to seek funding to support series of unconference gatherings in 2016 and 2017 and set the stage for future plans. We are preparing an NSF meeting proposal for submission in early 2016 and future ideas include the possibility of two unconference gatherings in 2017 and hosting a pre-unconference day for local educators and community members to become involved in COPUS-related efforts. Pre-unconference ideas include a mini-STEAM festival, one-on-one meetings with local educators, and networking sessions designed to inspire local community educators and stakeholders to become part of the COPUS community. The overarching goal of our fundraising efforts will not only be to support future unconferences but, by securing additional funding for COPUS, we can work to strengthen collaborations between existing COPUS members and encourage new opportunities across disciplines and programs.
Plan Next Meeting
Charge
Plan the next Unconference!
Team
Monica Albe, Betsy Barent, Anne Holland, Yvonne Tsai, Jennifer Cutraro, Barry Greenwald, Lisa White, Karen Peterman, Denny Casey, Cindy Wilber, Colibri Sanfiorenzo-Barnhard, Gina Schatteman (Group Communicator)
Progress Update as of December 2015
Initial planning has begun — currently deciding on location and general format.