The Rebus Community Textbook Success Program comprises a series of 12 weekly sessions followed by 9 monthly check-ins, undertaken as a cohort of 6-10 projects. Each cohort must read and agree to the following conditions for participation.
These are an informal set of expectations and guidelines for the facilitator and participants in the Rebus Community Textbook Success program. The purpose of this memorandum is to be transparent about roles and responsibilities of all members of the cohort, including the facilitator, so that interactions and exchanges can be clear, meaningful, and valuable.
Expectations
Facilitator
The facilitator of the program’s role is to support participants’ open publishing journey, so they can carve their own pathways using Rebus’ flexible model and tools. They will:
- be responsible for organizing and running each session or check-in,
- guide participants through the Rebus publishing process,
- customize session content as best possible to the cohort’s projects and share relevant resources,
- get to know each project, including its successes and challenges,
- answer any questions relating to topics covered in the course, as well as anything else that comes up in relation to projects, whether during the sessions themselves, or in the cohort discussion space,
- draw on the expertise within the cohort and community and make appropriate connections between projects and community members who may be able to provide better responses,
- make the program a positive and productive experience for participants,
- model expected behaviour during sessions and check-ins and in the discussion space,
- manage the cohort discussion space and troubleshoot problems with Rebus Community tools, and
- enforce the expectations, guidelines, and if necessary, consequences to violations as outlined in this MOU.
Participants
The goal of the program is to help participants learn about open publishing and directly apply this knowledge to their project. Since there are no assignments or exercises structured into the program, following this short list of expectations will enable participants to get the most out of the program.
Faculty and student participants should:
- attend each session and check-in (some absences excused, as things may crop up both in work and life)
- participate in the discussion during the session and on the community forum. This means participants should come prepared with updates and questions on their work and be ready to share their experiences with others in the call
- use the Rebus Community project homepage and discussion space actively, to communicate with their team, provide updates on the project, and more
Institutional support participants should:
- attend each session and check-in (some absences excused, as things may crop up both in work and life)
- participate in the discussion during the session and in the cohort discussion space. This means participants should be:
- prepared to provide campus or institution specific details with your own projects
- willing to discuss their experiences with participants from other institutions
- act as community leaders in the sessions and cohort discussion space by modelling behaviour, answering questions, motivating projects, and encouraging public interactions
Community Guidelines
The sessions and cohort discussion spaces are for everyone in the group. Please read and follow these community guidelines:
- Be nice: “Nice” includes supporting your fellow creators, amplifying your peers’ voices, and assuming value in others’ opinions. “Not nice” includes personal attacks, abusive or offensive language, including profanity or sexually exploitative language insults, threats, and other things that would be considered “not nice.” Don’t use racist, ableist, sexist, or otherwise discriminatory language. Be yourself and ensure you help everyone feel welcome with your language and approach.
- Assume value: We are all working together to build a global community around OER publishing. Be sensitive to different methods, different approaches, different cultures. We share an enthusiasm for OER and want everyone to feel comfortable contributing.
- Be on topic: Post things in the right place, look to see if your question has been asked elsewhere, and contact a facilitator if you’re not sure where to post. Keep conversations focused on OER and related themes.
- Silence is golden: During sessions, we should leave some time between people speaking to allow the more introverted among us to jump in with any thoughts. There’s nothing to be uncomfortable about if no one is talking, so don’t feel pressured to fill in the silence.
- Be mindful: The facilitator will monitor discussions both online and during sessions so everyone can speak their fair share. But we are all encouraged to politely ask people to step back so others can join in. Consciously leave room for others to chime in, or for the facilitator to ask for a pause so the discussion can be opened more broadly.
- Don’t spam: You can promote your OER projects, but don’t overwhelm or take advantage of the shared space. Keep discussion and links focused on OER and related themes.
- Flag, don’t feed inflammatory posts: Don’t reply to posts that you feel violate the “be nice” policy. Replying usually makes things worse. Flag them for the facilitator.
Reporting
Contact your facilitator, Apurva Ashok, by direct message to report a violation of these guidelines.
Consequences
Violating these guidelines might mean a warning, a temporary ban, or a permanent ban at the discretion of the facilitators.
Agreement to MOU
Each participant (including the facilitator) in the May 2020 cohort is required to reply to this topic and indicate their agreement to follow the expectations and guidelines outlined above.
Please reply to this topic with the following text:
I confirm that I have read the expectations and community guidelines in full, and agree to participate in the program in accordance with them.
Feedback, Comments, or Suggestions
Something missing? Have more suggestions? Everyone’s voice and input matters. Please indicate what you’d like to add, or modify by replying to this topic.
