Dear Pine, Thank you for your concern about the Grant Advisory Committee (GAC). You are correct that there is a consistently low level of participation by GAC members and we are seeking to address this issue through a revamp of the process and available resources.
The Project and Event Grants (PEG) program accepts proposals on a rolling basis and we strive to provide timely responses to all requests. All GAC members are given notice and at least 2 weeks to comment on proposals. Often times, we work with requesters on improving their proposal to address GAC member concerns and accept it before the GAC goes back to change their initial assessments. Please note that the GAC is an advisory committee, not a decision-making body, and on rare occasions WMF staff's duty of care may lead them to disagree with their recommendations. We also welcome all community members to comment on PEG requests. This is a good opportunity to remind everyone reading this to not hesitate to comment on any open proposal. Open proposals can always be seen here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:PEG/Index/Requests#Open_submissions Best, Alex On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 10:56 PM, Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Tilman, > > 1. Would WMF please document in the FAQ that Global Education, excluding > the US/CAN program, is funded and managed through Grantmaking, and the > US/CAN Education Program is run through the independent Wiki Education > Foundation? > > 2. Would someone please produce a redline version of the AP that compares > the final AP to the version that was sent to the FDC? > > 3. I suggest that in the future that the Board be given at least one month > between their meeting for reviewing the AP and the proposed effective date > of the AP. Otherwise, if the Board's meeting date is within a few days of > the AP effective date, the Board may feel pressure to move quickly to > approve the AP, and if the Board doesn't pass the AP then unless I am > mistaken the Foundation has no spending or fundraising authority as of the > start of the next fiscal year. > > 4. The FAQ says that P&E grants are "reviewed by the 28-member Grant > Advisory Committee <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/GAC> or GAC)". > However, > as far as I can tell, GAC is functioning at a very low level. This grant > [1] for about US$7000 received only one vote among all 28 GAC members, and > it was an oppose vote, yet WMF approved the grant. This grant [2] for about > US$9000 had no support or oppose votes from GAC members, yet WMF approved > the grant. This grant [3] for about US$30,000 received one oppose, one > abstention, and one "no comment" among all 28 grant members, yet WMF > approved the grant. Something seems wrong here. I have heard that GAC is > being revamped but in the meantime I am concerned about such large grants > being approved with so little community review. My worst-case scenario is > that WMF approves something with expensive and damaging consequences like > IEP or AFT5 that might have been refused or might have been better designed > if it had been subjected to meaningful community scrutiny. Because the > Annual Plan seems to assume that GAC is working well, I feel that this is > an issue that needs urgent attention. > > Thanks, > > Pine > > > [1] > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:PEG/Metro/Institutional_Growth_and_Community_Fellow > [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:PEG/WM_ZA/WLM-ZA-2014 > [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:PEG/WM_AM/Wiki_Camp > > > On Mon, Jul 7, 2014 at 8:32 PM, Tilman Bayer <tba...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > > > Hi all, > > > > the Wikimedia Foundation's 2014-15 Annual Plan has just been published at > > > > > > > https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/File:2014-15_Wikimedia_Foundation_Plan.pdf > > > > accompanied by a Q&A: > > > > > > > https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/2014-2015_Annual_Plan_Questions_and_Answers > > > > The plan was approved by the Board of Trustees on June 29, 2014. > > > > -- > > Tilman Bayer > > Senior Operations Analyst (Movement Communications) > > Wikimedia Foundation > > IRC (Freenode): HaeB > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately > > directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia > > community. For more information about Wikimedia-l: > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l > > _______________________________________________ > > WikimediaAnnounce-l mailing list > > wikimediaannounc...@lists.wikimedia.org > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaannounce-l > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > < > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/guidelineswikimedi...@lists.wikimedia.org > > > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> -- Alex Wang Program Officer Project & Event Grants Wikimedia Foundation <http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Home> +1 415-839-6885 Skype: alexvwang _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
