I definitely agree that we should approach this with mainstream appeal in mind. If, after a few schools, we have a solid methodology, I think it would be great to work on the pitch to the Princeton Reviews of the world.
Great idea. On Sat, Oct 31, 2009 at 1:40 AM, Matthew Senate <[email protected]>wrote: > I absolutely agree Fred, the report card project is a great use of our > time--doing the research is a huge hurdle. I just think a large-scale > implementation of our findings in the format suggested would be > ill-distributed labor. Real change will come from directly communicating > with and convincing the institutions that currently exist and that we > recognize need to change. The suggestion I was making is to proceed with > the campaign remembering that the goal will be locating and lobbying those > who already rate and rank universities. Assembling a thorough and accurate > grading system will make adopting these metrics all the easier. > > - matt > > > I think it's also about demand -- articulating what "open" is to > > pre-college > > students is one thing, establishing to the publishers that its a > criterion > > that students will be evaluating universities on is another story. > > > > So I think the best is to have the data first, establish the demand, and > > then make the pitch to the publications. > > > > But I love the scale of your thinking, Matt. > > > > :) > > > > F > > > > > > ~ ~ ~ > > thoughts / http://fredbenenson.com/blog > > work / http://creativecommons.org > > sights / http://flickr.com/fcb > > sounds / http://www.last.fm/user/mecredis > > status / http://twitter.com/mecredis > > > > > > > > On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 3:01 PM, Samuel Klein <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> It's been many years since grenness started being a common idea in > >> activist > >> circles for an institution. Once we've put out an independent > >> assessment > >> and demonstated what sorts of metrics might be used -- and agreed on a > >> couple of them as fundamental -- people that hand out awards will have > >> something to work with. > >> > >> Getting a small consortium of friednly orgs to support/sponsor/write > >> about > >> the first report card on universities will help. I could see some of > >> them > >> helping gather data - herdict might help cover censorship, cc might help > >> cover licensing, a major OA group might cover journal access and > >> publishing > >> standards. > >> > >> SJ > >> > >> > >> On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 9:16 PM, Adi Kamdar <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> > >>> I know the Princeton Review rates "greenness" as well. > >>> http://www.princetonreview.com/green/press-release.aspx > >>> > >>> The problem I'm foreseeing is that sustainability is much more > >>> well-politicized issue than openness. It seems obvious that these > >>> ranking > >>> magazines picked that up, but it may be a while before openness is > >>> considered. I think this is the big reason why we should focus on > >>> tackling > >>> the preliminary rankings ourselves, show that it can be done, show how > >>> it > >>> can be done, and show why it's important. Plus, instead of having other > >>> organizations collect and publish findings (something that may not > >>> happen at > >>> all), we should find out and publish what we can (something that we can > >>> make > >>> sure happens). > >>> > >>> -Adi > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 8:58 PM, Matthew Senate > >>> <[email protected]>wrote: > >>> > >>>> I hate to bump this message, but I'd really like to get a response or > >>>> some > >>>> feedback about this idea. > >>>> > >>>> Any thoughts? Newsweek is just one, there are many more serious > >>>> rankings > >>>> that need to take OA, OERs, and the like into consideration. Are there > >>>> any > >>>> already? What do we know? > >>>> > >>>> - Matt > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > One of the s...@berkeley members (Michael Lissner) suggested an > >>>> > interesting strategy to better distribute the labor of evaluating > >>>> > Universities' "Openness." He suggested convincing groups that > >>>> already > >>>> > review and rank schools to include "Openness" in their evaluations. > >>>> He > >>>> > suggested for example > >>>> > getting people like Newsweek to include "Openness" just as they are > >>>> > beginning to include "Greenness." > >>>> > > >>>> > We should put together a reasonable and convincing argument that > >>>> describes > >>>> > what "Openness" is, which would be similar to the "report cards" > >>>> project > >>>> > below. But instead of simply implementing this on our own, we should > >>>> > pressure other groups to see: > >>>> > 1. Students actually care about these issues > >>>> > 2. Openness is an important aspect of any institution whose purpose > >>>> > includes public service > >>>> > 3. Given the technology and media now at our disposal, universities > >>>> have > >>>> > the responsibility to realize to the best of their ability the full > >>>> > productive potential of these tools in the name of education and > >>>> freedom > >>>> > > >>>> > Note that Openness is perhaps not the best term, since it could be > >>>> > confused with Transparency (which is another metric that should be > >>>> > included in evaluating universities--but that's a battle for another > >>>> day). > >>>> > > >>>> > - Matt > >>>> > s...@berkeley > >>>> > > >>>> >> Writes Kevin Donovan on our blog: > >>>> >> > >>>> >> As many of you know, following the Free Culture 2008 Conference, > >>>> >> Students for Free Culture began the Open University Campaign - an > >>>> >> initiative to increase collaboration, sharing, and openness at the > >>>> level > >>>> >> of higher education. With the academic year about to begin, we want > >>>> to > >>>> >> invite all interested parties to assist the with project; after > >>>> all, > >>>> we > >>>> >> wouldn't be very genuine if we didn't do this in an open manner > >>>> >> ourselves! > >>>> >> > >>>> >> ![Oucmini][1] > >>>> >> > >>>> >> **About the Open University Campaign** > >>>> >> > >>>> >> In October 2008, Students for Free Culture drafted and adopted the > >>>> >> Wheeler Declaration which declared that: > >>>> >> > >>>> >> _ > >>>> >> > >>>> >> "An open university is one in which:_ > >>>> >> > >>>> >> _1. The research produced is open access; > >>>> >> > >>>> >> 2. The course materials are open educational resources; > >>>> >> > >>>> >> 3. The university embraces free software and open standards; > >>>> >> > >>>> >> 4. The university's patents are readily licensed for free software, > >>>> >> essential medicine, and the public good; > >>>> >> > >>>> >> 5. The university's network reflects the open nature of the > >>>> Internet,_ > >>>> >> > >>>> >> _where "university" includes all parts of the community: students, > >>>> >> faculty and administration."_ > >>>> >> > >>>> >> Out of this agreement has grown the Open University Campaign, of > >>>> which > >>>> a > >>>> >> major goal is to produce objective, reliable indicators of > >>>> individual > >>>> >> universities' levels of openness. A primary method through which > >>>> this > >>>> >> will be accomplished is through "report card" style profiles of > >>>> leading > >>>> >> institution of higher learning, similar to [College Sustainability > >>>> >> Report Cards][2]. Students for Free Culture has already begun this > >>>> work > >>>> >> by defining principles of measurement, researching available > >>>> resources, > >>>> >> and developing surveys to be distributed to universities. > >>>> >> > >>>> >> **What Will the Open University Report Cards Entail?** > >>>> >> > >>>> >> Mirroring the Wheeler Declaration, the Open University Report > >>>> Cards, > >>>> as > >>>> >> currently envisioned, will evaluate schools on five topics: > >>>> >> > >>>> >> 1. Open Access: Are faculty required to make their scholarship open > >>>> >> access? Is the university press publish open access materials? > >>>> >> > >>>> >> 2. Open Educational Resources: Does the university create OERs? > >>>> Does > >>>> the > >>>> >> university use OERs? > >>>> >> > >>>> >> 3. Free and Open Source Software and Standards: Does university > >>>> >> computing use FOSS? Are students and faculty required to use > >>>> proprietary > >>>> >> software? > >>>> >> > >>>> >> 4. Intellectual Property: Is IP revenue transparent? Is IP used to > >>>> >> promote innovation, or restrict knowledge? > >>>> >> > >>>> >> 5. Network Management: Is the network neutral? Is user privacy > >>>> >> respected? > >>>> >> > >>>> >> Establishing credible criteria under which schools will be assessed > >>>> will > >>>> >> be essential to creating a respected resource. For example, Which > >>>> >> schools' open access policies are currently lacking important > >>>> criteria? > >>>> >> Or, To what extent should a school actively support FOSS? The > >>>> volunteers > >>>> >> currently involved with the project are working through these > >>>> questions > >>>> >> on [the wiki page, and we encourage you to join the > >>>> conversation][3]. > >>>> >> > >>>> >> **What the Open University Campaign Needs** > >>>> >> > >>>> >> In order to make this a successful endeavor, Students for Free > >>>> Culture > >>>> >> needs your involvement! > >>>> >> > >>>> >> * Are you a student who can _research official university [open > >>>> access > >>>> >> policies][4]_? > >>>> >> > >>>> >> * Are you passionate about FOSS and can _develop a [questionnaire > >>>> for > >>>> >> IT administrators about FOSS policy][5]_? > >>>> >> > >>>> >> * Are you statistically-inclined and can _handle data on > >>>> >> universities_? > >>>> >> > >>>> >> * Are you a web developer who could _create a public website for > >>>> the > >>>> >> Open University Report Cards_? > >>>> >> > >>>> >> * Are you a graphic designer who could _create posters to raise > >>>> >> awareness on campuses_? > >>>> >> > >>>> >> **In Closing…** > >>>> >> > >>>> >> The Open University Campaign recognizes that scholastic advancement > >>>> >> occurs most readily in an environment of sharing, openness and > >>>> >> collaboration. By providing a cross-index of leading universities, > >>>> the > >>>> >> project will add important comparative measurements to encourage > >>>> >> increased academic openness. Our hope is that these resources will > >>>> >> provide a platform from which openness activists can endeavor to > >>>> improve > >>>> >> the scholastic environment. > >>>> >> > >>>> >> Join us by jumping into the [wiki][3], signing up for the [Open > >>>> >> University mailing list][6], or emailing board (at) freeculture > >>>> (dot) > >>>> >> org with suggestions or questions! > >>>> >> > >>>> >> [1]: > >>>> http://freeculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Oucmini.jpg > >>>> >> (Oucmini) > >>>> >> > >>>> >> [2]: http://greenreportcard.org/ > >>>> >> > >>>> >> [3]: http://wiki.freeculture.org/Open_University_Report_Cards > >>>> >> > >>>> >> [4]: > >>>> >> > http://wiki.freeculture.org/Open_University_Report_Cards_Open_Access > >>>> >> > >>>> >> [5]: > >>>> http://wiki.freeculture.org/Open_University_Report_Cards_Survey > >>>> >> > >>>> >> [6]: > >>>> http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/openuniversity > >>>> >> > >>>> >> URL: > >>>> >> > >>>> > http://freeculture.org/blog/2009/10/27/call-for-participation-join-the-open-university-campaign/ > >>>> >> _______________________________________________ > >>>> >> Discuss mailing list > >>>> >> [email protected] > >>>> >> http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss > >>>> >> > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > _______________________________________________ > >>>> > Discuss mailing list > >>>> > [email protected] > >>>> > http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss > >>>> > > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> _______________________________________________ > >>>> Discuss mailing list > >>>> [email protected] > >>>> http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss > >>>> > >>> > >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> Discuss mailing list > >>> [email protected] > >>> http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss > >>> > >>> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Discuss mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss > >> > >> > > _______________________________________________ > > Discuss mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss > -- Kevin Donovan Georgetown '11: SFS SA Phone: 082.311.8512
_______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
