Higher Education Engagement Project Proposal

[tholewis]

Working Title: Higher Education Engagement Plan

Related issues or discussions:

Discussion held at GSF GitHub repository under the Community Working Group which includes link to draft plan.

Tagline: GSF’s engagement with higher learning institutions.

Abstract: Higher Education Engagement is a project to meet educators and learners where they are to become and educate Green Software practitioners by supporting them with content and engagement that is a holistic engagement with the Green Software Foundation.

Quote: “We are excited to engage with the Green Software Foundation in a way that is conducive to the needs of our institution ranging from free curriculum to mentor expertise for our students.” – University Dean

Audience: The primary audience for this project is the education audience of educators and learners. We will be using a needs assessment approach to make sure we are building an offering of various services (e.g., curriculum, expertise mentors, research support) that are desired by higher learning institutions. There are a variety of ways that higher education learning institutions get access to sustainability content, but we will provide a cafeteria plan of offerings that focus on Green Software (and not “Big S” sustainability).

ToC: This project will support the pillar of knowledge as a part of our ToC pillars as it will expand GSF training and expertise to higher education learning institutions by providing practical guidance and expertise on their education journey as a Green Software practitioner.

Governance: The Community Working Group will be the stewards of this project.

Operating Model: The project will operate based on:

• Consensus - Goal is everyone agree to every change so we are speaking with one voice when the deliverable is released.

Problem: Currently it is difficult to find authoritative information on Green Software, not to be confused with larger sustainability topics which can focus more around building data centers, using natural energy solutions, etc. Also, the needs of learners and educators is very different than perhaps passionate sustainability enthusiasts or certain industries. Also, there is great demand for providing scalable content for Green Software to educational institutions who has a variety of ways of interacting with content. With this project, we will be able to provide a holistic offering that is based on the needs of education institutions. It will also be focused on Green Software practitioners to guide them from awareness to education to practical application.

Solution: We have provided details of how we can move towards solutions to support this project within the University Learning Proposal document. The document also includes a set of design considerations which provide guiderails for the project to make sure that it is scoped appropriately while also allowing us to be flexible as we learn more through the needs assessment process and what is learned ad-hoc. Proposed activities are meant to be aligned to the overall goals of the project as mentioned above.

Closure: The goals and measurements will focus on the following:
• Satisfaction of activities and content from learners and educators.
• How many higher learning institutions are we engaging with.
• How much our content is being used.
• Deeper engagement with institutions such as our content being adopted into their curriculum.

FAQ: For more details, please check out the University Learning Proposal document.