Add SC Strategic Planning Recap post

Author: roelofsaj

_posts/2024-04-11-sc-planning.md

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "2024 Steering Committee Strategic Planning Meeting Recap"
+tags: [steering committee]
+author: Abbey Roelofs
+---
+
+In February, the [Steering Committee](https://us-rse.org/about/steering-committee/ continued the tradition of yearly strategic planning meetings. Like [last year](https://us-rse.org/2023-03-29-sc-planning/), we focused on the direction and areas of focus for US-RSE over the next 3-5 years.
+
+We started by reflecting on the highlights and successes of the past year, including the receipt of the Sloan Foundation grant, the creation of a new [Code of Conduct](https://us-rse.org/about/code-of-conduct/), hiring our first two paid staff members, hosting many events including our [first US-RSE Conference](https://us-rse.org/usrse23/), producing resources such as a [Hiring Guidebook](https://zenodo.org/records/8329337) and [Career Guide](https://zenodo.org/records/10073233), and starting the new [Community Funds](https://us-rse.org/funds-and-awards/) and [Community Awards](https://us-rse.org/community-awards/) initiatives. 
+
+We then transitioned over to identifying topics of focus for the coming year that will help us fulfill our [mission](https://us-rse.org/about/mission/). These included the following:
+
+### Creating a 5-year vision for US-RSE
+* We discussed how we envision growth in different aspects of our community, including membership, conference attendance, and locally-focused initiatives. 
+* We identified potential pathways to advocate further for RSEs, for example with training initiatives and conference attendances.
+* We discussed resources that US-RSE could potentially create or expand upon, as well as other communities US-RSE could partner with.
+* To obtain measurable growth of diversity in the RSE profession and in US-RSE, we will conduct an annual survey of our membership. We identified this as the next immediate goal for US-RSE.
+
+### Supporting and Sustaining Working Groups
+* Identifying different types of engagement opportunities (including passive roles that don't involve meeting attendance) for volunteers may increase participation and help spread the workload.
+* Encourage working groups to identify tangible tasks volunteers could help out with that don't require meeting attendance.
+* Better convey the level of effort expected when joining a Working Group.
+* Consider creating a recognition or incentive program to show Working Group volunteers that their effort is appreciated.
+
+### Investigating Individual and Organizational Membership Models
+* Introducing memberships for organizations could have mutual benefits, but membership rates and programs require careful consideration.
+* Paid individual memberships could increase funding and allow new programs, but we would need to address the concern that cost could be a barrier to joining. 
+  * We stressed that we want to keep US-RSE welcome to anyone and that we do not want to deter anyone from joining because of a paid membership model.
+  * Although we won't pursue this in 2024, future options could include free membership with optional paid tiers incorporating additional benefits.
+
+### Improving the Onboarding Process for New Steering Committee Members
+* New members of the Steering Committee need to feel independent and capable of contributing quickly, without lots of instruction from incumbent members or on-the-fly learning during meetings. 
+* Create a checklist of resources to which new members should be given access.
+* Create a reference document of information to know and expectations regarding responsibilities and norms within the Steering Committee.
+
+### Addressing Differences of Opinion Within the Community As We Grow
+* We are growing in number and diversity of opinion. How can we ensure that there is space for conflicting opinions while maintaining the welcoming nature of our community? 
+* This is not a novel challenge: talk to other organizations like ours to learn how they handle it.
+* Identify the roles and responsibilities of the Steering Committee, Executive Director, and Community Manager with regard to discussion moderation on Slack, in order to ensure inclusive and productive discussions.
+
+Working documents were created for each topic and at least one person from the Steering Committee was assigned as the responsible party to follow up on each topic going forward.
+
+We also identified a number of additional topics of interest, including Steering Committee involvement in the planning of the US-RSE Conference and long-term planning for the governance and election model of the organization. These were recorded for discussion at future Steering Committee meetings. 
+
+As always, if you’d like to help with any of the above goals, or just get more involved with the US-RSE Association, please reach out to the Steering Committee on Slack (`@sc`) or via email (<[email protected]>).