Lesson Program Governance Policy

Note that the Trainers Leadership Committee will also follow this policy.

• Each Lesson Program will have a Lesson Program Governance Committee.

• Each Lesson Program Governance Committee will comply with the general committee policy as described in the Carpentries Handbook

• In addition, each Lesson Program Governance Committee:

  • Maintains a minimum of 3 members to serve as on the committee and act as a point of contact with The Carpentries Executive Council and Core Team.

  • Follows all general policies as outlined by The Carpentries, including, but not limited to, the Code of Conduct.

  • Determines the curriculum and core curriculum for (each of) the Lesson Program’s workshop(s), together with the corresponding Curriculum Advisory Committee or by delegating curriculum decisions to the corresponding Curriculum Advisory Committee.

  • Decides if and when new lessons are added to or removed from the Lesson Program or delegate the decision of adding or removing a lesson to the corresponding Curriculum Advisory Committee.

  • Decides if one or more Curriculum Advisory Committees are needed for their curricula and how they are structured.

  • Decides how and how often they engage the Lesson Program community/communities.

  • Decides between:

    • seeking approval from the Executive Council to elect members to the Lesson Program Governance Committee.

    • appointing members based on an application process.

  • Decides committee members term lengths.

  • Decides on requesting additional Roles and Responsibilities beyond those described in this policy from the Executive Council.

  • Works with The Carpentries Core Team to maintain documentation (including the lesson program website) with information about its goals, workshops and curricula.

  • Coordinates with The Carpentries to release and publish lessons with permanent identifiers on a regular basis or delegates this responsibility to the corresponding Curriculum Advisory Committee.

  • Maintains and develops lessons in accordance with Carpentries guidelines as outlined in The Carpentries Curriculum Development Handbook.

• The Executive Council:

  • Decides if a new Lesson Program can join The Carpentries as regulated by the The Carpentries Bylaws and the Lesson Program Policy.

  • Decides if a Lesson Program Governance Committee’s policies do not align with the CoC or other Carpentries policies.

  • Decides whether to approve a Lesson Program Governance Committee’s request to elect committee members by its subcommunity, instead of being appointed through an application process.

  • Decides whether to approve a request from a Lesson Program Governance Committee for additional Roles and Responsibilities beyond those described in this policy.

• Each Lesson Program Governance Committee has a Core Team Liaison assigned to it.