User:Mike Cline/USCAN Working Group Drafts/Guiding Precepts

The following guiding precepts^[1], ^[2] are the behavioral and operational boundaries, rules which will govern the operations of the US Canada Education Program.

The overall scope of the US Canada Education Program follows the general principles of the Wikipedia movement: it will be community based, open and free of advertising. It supports the ideals of a free culture and our materials will be available under a free license.
We are a permanent, independent organization focused on:
- Encouraging and supporting employment of Wikipedia in higher education as a teaching tool.
- Upgrading the quality of Wikipedia encyclopedias and closely related projects by helping editors in the U.S. and Canada with academic resources.
We will help assure the quality of all our projects, and will help to resolve stakeholder disputes that might arise thru advocacy and facilitation.
We will strive to sustain WMF education program in non-profit colleges and universities in the US and Canada thru the recruitment academic teachers and staff as well as support personnel ("ambassadors") and providing the necessary resources for their success.
We will open new channels of communications to the knowledge industry in the US and Canada to encourage greater use and understanding of Wikipedia.
We will conduct and support training programs for US-Canada editors in using resources of higher education and related institutions such as research libraries. We will work with recognized Projects and Chapters when appropriate and interested.
We will support our programs by fund raising among foundations and private donors in the US and Canada; as well as government grants or contracts.
We aim to openly, and transparently consider the needs of all stakeholder groups in all our decisions.

^ Warden, John A. III (2002), "Guiding Precepts", Winning in FastTime: Harness the Competitive Advantage of Prometheus in Business and Life, Montgomery, Alabama: Venturist Publishing, pp. 77–89, ISBN 978-0-9711591-4-3
^ "Left to their own devices, people will behave in remarkably different ways and what seems bizarre behavior to one person may appear quite normal and proper to another. If an organization wants to channel behavior in a certain way, it needs to be explicit about what behavior it wants. In other words, it needs to have Guiding Precepts. Guiding Precepts tell the people in an organization what they should and should not do and the reasons behind either. To get the highest level of acceptance and adherence, Guiding Precepts should be developed (or discussed extensively after the fact) in an Open Planning environment." Warden, John A. III (2008), Strategic Thinking and Planning: A Concept Summary of Strategy and the Prometheus Process, Montgomery, Alabama: Venturist Publishing, p. 28, ISBN 978-0-9817946-0-0

[1] Warden, John A. III (2002), "Guiding Precepts", Winning in FastTime: Harness the Competitive Advantage of Prometheus in Business and Life, Montgomery, Alabama: Venturist Publishing, pp. 77–89, ISBN 978-0-9711591-4-3

[2] "Left to their own devices, people will behave in remarkably different ways and what seems bizarre behavior to one person may appear quite normal and proper to another. If an organization wants to channel behavior in a certain way, it needs to be explicit about what behavior it wants. In other words, it needs to have Guiding Precepts. Guiding Precepts tell the people in an organization what they should and should not do and the reasons behind either. To get the highest level of acceptance and adherence, Guiding Precepts should be developed (or discussed extensively after the fact) in an Open Planning environment." Warden, John A. III (2008), Strategic Thinking and Planning: A Concept Summary of Strategy and the Prometheus Process, Montgomery, Alabama: Venturist Publishing, p. 28, ISBN 978-0-9817946-0-0

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