Wikibooks:Reading room/Archives/2024/March

Report of the U4C Charter ratification and U4C Call for Candidates now available

 *  You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. 

Hello all,

I am writing to you today with two important pieces of information. First, the report of the comments from the Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) Charter ratification is now available. Secondly, the call for candidates for the U4C is open now through April 1, 2024.

The Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) is a global group dedicated to providing an equitable and consistent implementation of the UCoC. Community members are invited to submit their applications for the U4C. For more information and the responsibilities of the U4C, please review the U4C Charter.

Per the charter, there are 16 seats on the U4C: eight community-at-large seats and eight regional seats to ensure the U4C represents the diversity of the movement.

Read more and submit your application on Meta-wiki.

On behalf of the UCoC project team,

RamzyM (WMF) 16:24, 5 March 2024 (UTC)


 * Hi @RamzyM (WMF). I am wondering if the staff at the Wikimedia foundation is paying any attention to discussions happening about the Universal Code of Conduct happening outside of Meta, such as https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy_talk:Universal_Code_of_Conduct?
 * I believe it is important to pay attention to discussions happening on individual wikis outside of META for at least two reasons:
 * Most active participants of these wikis do not pay any attention to discussions on META, but they are the ones who will be most affected by the enforcement of this "new" community-wide policy.
 * Also as I tried to explain to @Johan (WMF): Many of the people who have been blocked on META or globally locked altogether, are not vandals, spammers, or copyright infringers. Many are blocked without public open community discussion by one individual functionary, without any regard to the length of time or the contributions they have made.
 * I am sure that others are aware of the situation I am describing. So why am I the only person who says this openly? Ottawahitech (discuss • contribs) 18:24, 5 March 2024 (UTC)

Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees 2024 Selection

 *  You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki.
 *  m:Special:MyLanguage/Wikimedia Foundation elections/2024/Announcement/Selection announcement • 

Dear all,

This year, the term of 4 (four) Community- and Affiliate-selected Trustees on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees will come to an end [1]. The Board invites the whole movement to participate in this year’s selection process and vote to fill those seats.

The Elections Committee will oversee this process with support from Foundation staff [2]. The Board Governance Committee created a Board Selection Working Group from Trustees who cannot be candidates in the 2024 community- and affiliate-selected trustee selection process composed of Dariusz Jemielniak, Nataliia Tymkiv, Esra'a Al Shafei, Kathy Collins, and Shani Evenstein Sigalov [3]. The group is tasked with providing Board oversight for the 2024 trustee selection process, and for keeping the Board informed. More details on the roles of the Elections Committee, Board, and staff are here [4].

Here are the key planned dates:


 * May 2024: Call for candidates and call for questions
 * June 2024: Affiliates vote to shortlist 12 candidates (no shortlisting if 15 or less candidates apply) [5]
 * June-August 2024: Campaign period
 * End of August / beginning of September 2024: Two-week community voting period
 * October–November 2024: Background check of selected candidates
 * Board's Meeting in December 2024: New trustees seated

Learn more about the 2024 selection process - including the detailed timeline, the candidacy process, the campaign rules, and the voter eligibility criteria - on this Meta-wiki page, and make your plan.

Election Volunteers

Another way to be involved with the 2024 selection process is to be an Election Volunteer. Election Volunteers are a bridge between the Elections Committee and their respective community. They help ensure their community is represented and mobilize them to vote. Learn more about the program and how to join on this Meta-wiki page.

Best regards,

Dariusz Jemielniak (Governance Committee Chair, Board Selection Working Group)

[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2021/Results#Elected

[2] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Committee:Elections_Committee_Charter

[3] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes:2023-08-15#Governance_Committee

[4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_committee/Roles

[5] Even though the ideal number is 12 candidates for 4 open seats, the shortlisting process will be triggered if there are more than 15 candidates because the 1-3 candidates that are removed might feel ostracized and it would be a lot of work for affiliates to carry out the shortlisting process to only eliminate 1-3 candidates from the candidate list.

MPossoupe_(WMF)19:56, 12 March 2024 (UTC)