User:Jtneill/Projects/Student Wikimedian in residence program

What is it?
Tweet pitch

A Wikimedian in residence program could partner with universities and to support students as Wikimedians in residence through work-integrated learning (WIL) programs. WIL programs provide academic credit for internships that develop discipline-specific workplace skills and knowledge in partnership with external organisations. WIL is currently a strategic priority for Australian and international universities, so this is an opportune time to get a scalable program student Wikimedian in residence program off the ground.

How could it work?
For example, at the University of Canberra (UC), all undergraduate students complete 80- to 120- hour work-integrated learning internships in their respective disciplines. The university arranges partnerships with external organisations, with training and supervision typically provided by the organisations although this can also be done in conjunction with academic staff, as long as the student has meaningful engagement with the hosting organisation. For example, here are the University of Canberra work-integrated learning supervisor guidelines.

The internships are advertised to students like jobs and they apply with a cover letter and resume, and may also be interviewed etc. as part of the selection process. Internships can be completed year-round, but usually fit it into an academic teaching period, such as Summer, Semester 1, Winter, and Semester 2.

Student Wikimedians in residence would benefit from a structured training experience (e.g., leading to a WMF editing skills micro-credential) and co-developed project goals depending on the host organisation's needs, the student's discipline, and the student's individual interests and skills to be developed. Internships can be conducted remotely as long as there is sufficient supervisory support which could typically be one hour of meeting each week, with other asynchronous support. As projects scale, students can work in small groups.

Students who edit Wikimedia Foundation sites as part of other coursework may be particularly well suited to advancing into student Wikimedia in residence programs. For example, 3rd year psychology students at UC complete Motivation and emotion which involves authoring 3,000 word chapters on unique chapters on English Wikiversity.

When could it start?
A pilot program could be started at UC as early as Summer 2023/2024. A recommended timeline is:
 * Aug-Sep 2023 Identify hosting organisation(s), supervisor(s), and project(s)
 * Sep-Oct 2023 Submit expression(s) of interest for WIL projects
 * Oct-Nov 2023 Advertise internships, receive applications, conduct selections
 * Nov 2023 - Jan 2023 Conduct, supervise, and evaluate internships

Alternatively, Semester 1, 2024 could be targetted for launch, which would push the timeline back by ~3 backs.