The Carpentries Task Force Policy

Context

The Carpentries uses Task Forces to explore ideas and make updates in policy, procedures and guidelines. Task forces bring together a small group of people focused on a particular topic for a set period of time. Task forces are proposed by the community, Lesson Programs, Carpentries Core Team and Executive Council, and are approved by the Executive Council.

Task Force Operations

To ensure sustainability, accountability and effective communication for all task forces, we propose the following guidelines.

Meetings

Each task force shall:

  • hold regular meetings, to be determined by the Task Force Chair

  • post meetings on the community calendar. Note that meetings do not need to be public

Requirements

Each task force requires:

  • a Task Force Charter that outlines the context, objectives and deliverables of the Task Force

  • a set timeline for the start and completion of the Task Force deliverables

  • an associated public facing GitHub project for information about the Task Force during its work, to be located in the Carpentries Task Forces GitHub repository

  • appointment of a Task Force chair

  • a “roles and responsibilities” document for the Task Force

  • a process for recruiting and selecting task force members

  • appointment of a Core Team liaison who serves as a point of contact and can attend Task Force meetings when deemed necessary

Communication

Each task force shall:

  • post meeting notes or minutes in the corresponding task force folder in the task forces GitHub repository. Minutes should be public, but can be private if the work of the task force requires it

  • utilise The Carpentries communication pathways

  • produce a Task Force report to be shared with the Executive Council upon completion of the deliverables as outlined in the Task Force Charter

Public Documentation

Each task force shall have a folder in the Carpentries Task Forces GitHub repository with the following information:

  • Task Force Charter

  • Meeting notes or minutes

  • Task Force report The task force chair is responsible for updating this information as necessary.

Internal Documentation

The task force should have internal documentation for the task force members that includes:

  • Onboarding information

  • Offboarding information

  • How the chair and other roles are selected

  • Information on recruiting or selecting task force members: e.g. language, rubric

Whenever possible, this internal documentation should be made available to the community.

Task Force Formation

The current mechanism for creation of a Task Force is for the Executive Council or Core Team to identify needs for information gathering or updates in current policies, guidelines or products, and collaboratively draft a Charter with relevant members of the community. Members of the community interested in proposing or leading a Task Force should get in touch with the Executive Council at carpentries-executive-council@carpentries.org. The Task Force comes into effect upon approval of the Task Force Charter by the Executive Council.

Task Force Termination

The Executive Council may terminate a Task Force at any time.

Task Force Actions Requiring Executive Council Approval

The task force will not undertake any of the following actions without obtaining approval of the Executive Council:

  • Creation of a supplementary Code of Conduct

  • Creation and/or release of position statements

  • Host branded events

  • Create and/or use a logo

  • Launch its own fundraising campaign

Note that the above list is not exhaustive. Task forces should consult with the Executive Council if there is any question about whether or not what they are doing requires approval.

Update Log:

Approved 2020-09-23 by the Executive Council