Great news and congratulations to Frank. --User:Meno25
On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 11:16 PM, Jay Walsh <jwa...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > Passing along for your information. This release is posted on the WMF wiki > at > > https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Frank_Schulenburg_named_executive_director_of_new_WEF > > An accompanying Q&A can also be found here: > > https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/QA_Frank_Schulenburg_announcement_February_2014 > > --- > > Frank Schulenburg named executive director of new Wiki Education Foundation > > (San Francisco, California) 12 February 2014 -- The Wiki Education > Foundation, a new nonprofit organization that supports the Wikipedia > Education Program in the United States and Canada, has named Frank > Schulenburg as its inaugural executive director. Schulenburg, formerly > senior director of programs at the Wikimedia Foundation, will begin > his new role February 18, 2014. > > "I look forward to leading the Wiki Education Foundation," said > Schulenburg. "We are off to a great start, and will build on the > strong success of the Wikimedia Foundation's Wikipedia Education > Program to further engage educators, researchers and students to > provide more high-quality content for Wikipedia's readers." > > Started by the Wikimedia Foundation in 2010, the Wikipedia Education > Program encourages students to contribute content to Wikipedia > articles on course-related subjects as part of classroom assignments > developed by their faculty and instructors. Over the past four years, > more than 6,000 students in the United States and Canada have > contributed content to Wikipedia as part of the Wikipedia Education > Program, adding the equivalent of 36,600 printed pages of content to > Wikipedia and significantly increasing the amount of high-quality > content that Wikipedia offers its half-billion readers. > > In response to that success and to give the program more focused and > specialized support, in 2012 the Wikimedia Foundation began a process > to spin off the United States and Canada work into its own, > independent nonprofit organization. The resulting Wiki Education > Foundation was created in late 2013, and Schulenburg will be its first > executive director. The Wiki Education Foundation will continue to > support the Wikipedia Education Program in the United States and > Canada, and will develop additional programs to promote academic > research and teaching that engage with Wikipedia. > > "I am delighted that Frank has agreed to lead the Wiki Education > Foundation as executive director," said Dr. Diana Strassmann, Carolyn > and Fred McManis Distinguished Professor in the Practice at Rice > University and chair of the board of the Wiki Education Foundation, > who began using Wikipedia as a teaching tool in her classes in 2007. > "Under Frank's leadership, the Wiki Education Foundation will continue > to expand engagement among educators, students, and Wikipedia, and > will continue to diversify the community of Wikipedians, while > improving the quality and depth of Wikipedia." > > "Frank is the perfect person to lead the Wiki Education Foundation," > said Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director Sue Gardner. "Frank's a > very experienced Wikipedia contributor with a long track record of > inventing and leading successful programs that make Wikipedia better > and more useful for its readers. I am sorry we will lose him from the > Wikimedia Foundation, but I look forward to seeing the Wiki Education > Foundation thrive and succeed under his leadership." > > A longtime Wikipedian and an employee of the Wikimedia Foundation > since 2008, Schulenburg has focused on broadening participation and > developing the public understanding of Wikipedia, especially among > subject matter experts. He has spoken globally about efforts to > increase the relevance of Wikipedia in academia. In 2006, he founded > Wikipedia Academy, an event aimed at cultivating dialogue between > Wikipedia contributors and academics. In 2009, he initiated the > Bookshelf Project, which created the first educational materials for > new Wikipedia contributors. In 2010 he designed and implemented the > Wikipedia Education Program. From 2012 on he was a member of the > executive management team of the Wikimedia Foundation, overseeing the > Wikipedia Education Program, Wikipedia Zero, and a new initiative to > evaluate the impact of programmatic activities across countries. > Schulenburg has been involved with Wikipedia since 2005, both as an > author and as a photographer. > > The Wiki Education Foundation board conducted an extensive search for > an executive director before selecting Schulenburg. The board includes > educators from a variety of backgrounds, Wikipedia volunteers, and > other key stakeholders. The Wiki Education Foundation is currently > supporting university instructors in the United States and Canada. > Interested instructors are encouraged to send an email to > cont...@wikiedfoundation.org. > > > About the Wiki Education Foundation > > The Wiki Education Foundation supports innovative uses of Wikipedia > and related projects in communities of teaching, learning, and inquiry > in the United States and Canada. The Foundation aims to improve the > breadth, scope, and quality of Wikimedia content; enhance student > information fluency; and increase the number and diversity of > contributors to the free knowledge movement by engaging educators, > researchers, and students. The Wiki Education Foundation has applied > for 501(c)(3) charity status. > > About the Wikipedia Education Program > > http://education.wikimedia.org > > The Wikipedia Education Program means the end of throwaway assignments > and the beginning of real-world impact for students. The premise is > simple: Instructors assign their students to contribute to Wikipedia > as part of their coursework. The Wikipedia Education Program is a > global initiative, with activities in more than 60 countries. The > Wikimedia Foundation launched the Wikipedia Education Program in 2011 > after a successful pilot. It supports the program with brochures, > online trainings, a MediaWiki extension enabling educators to track > student work, and other resources. > > About the Wikimedia Foundation > > http://wikimediafoundation.org > http://blog.wikimedia.org > > The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit organization that operates > Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. According to comScore Media Metrix, > Wikipedia and the other projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation > receive more than 490 million unique visitors per month, making them > the fifth-most popular web property worldwide (comScore, December > 2013). Available in 287 languages, Wikipedia contains more than 30 > million articles contributed by a global volunteer community of > roughly 80,000 people. Based in San Francisco, California, the > Wikimedia Foundation is an audited, 501(c)(3) charity that is funded > primarily through donations and grants. > > > Contact for press inquiries > > Frank Schulenburg, Wiki Education Foundation > > +1 (415) 517 0453 > fr...@wikiedfoundation.org > > Communications, Wikimedia Foundation > > +1 415-839-6885 ext 6633 > communicati...@wikimedia.org > > _______________________________________________ > Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately > directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia > community. 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