Amy Hodge on The Carpentries

Executive Council Officer Elections for 2020

Mon, 03 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Carpentries Executive Council has elected officers for 2020 and appointed a liaison to the Code of Conduct Committee. Congratulations to all of our new officers! You can learn a bit about each of them below.

The Executive Council is the governance arm of The Carpentries and is responsible for strategic and organisational planning, selecting and evaluating the Executive Director, financial oversight of the organisation, identifying revenue streams and resource allocation, approving and monitoring our programs and services, and enhancing our public image. The Executive Council is composed of nine (9) members, four (4) of which serve as officers. The Carpentries Handbook has details about the responsibilities of each of the Executive Council officers.

Executive Director Transition

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Announcement from The Carpentries

We are sharing the bittersweet news that Dr. Tracy Teal is moving on from her role as Executive Director of The Carpentries in January 2020 to pursue other opportunities. Dr. Kari L. Jordan, our current Senior Director of Equity and Assessment, will be serving as the Acting Executive Director until the next Executive Director has been identified.

“Tracy’s dedication to the mission and vision of The Carpentries and her embodiment of the values of the organisation have made her an exceptional and inspiring leader for The Carpentries,” said Amy Hodge, Chair of The Carpentries Executive Council. “She has deftly guided The Carpentries through its first years as a larger organisation, as well as through our transition to a new fiscal sponsor, Community Initiatives.”

A Call to Action: Nominate Yourself for the Executive Council Today

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Back in the fall of 2017, Erin Becker reached out to me about putting myself up for election for the new Carpentries Executive Council. For me, this suggestion seemed to come out of the blue. Sure, I had been involved with the Carpentries as an instructor and more intensely as a workshop organiser at my institution. But was I really well-suited to serve on the Executive Council for a non-profit organisation? It was something I had never done before and I will fully admit that I suffered from imposter syndrome regarding the value I would be able to bring to the organisation in this role. I also wondered, quite frankly, if there would be any value in it for me professionally or personally. Time is one thing none of us seems to have enough of these days, and it is important for each person to make careful decisions about how much of themselves they give to “all the things”.

The Carpentries Vision Statement

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

In January 2018, The Carpentries was formed as a unifying organisation for Software Carpentry, Data Carpentry, Library Carpentry and other lesson programs. Over time, we have built awareness for foundational coding and data science skills through our workshops, instructor training program, and community events, but we have not yet made clear our vision - What type of organisation do we want to be? Who and what do we represent? Our vision is more than just a statement; it spells out where we see The Carpentries in the future and guides our decision making and priorities in the present. Over the past two years we have developed programs and grown as a community. Today, thanks to everyone’s work co-creating these messages through conversations, discussions, and requests for comments, we are proud to release our vision statement.

Financial Updates

Tue, 28 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

We have completed our first year as a joint project, The Carpentries, and now have more concrete information we can use to evaluate and plan for our long-term sustainability. Financial sustainability is a primary consideration in keeping our programs going, as financial resources allow us to pay for people and infrastructure, support our community and Member Organisations, teach workshops, connect with each other and develop local capacity for training, update resources, and develop new programs. You can see more details about our projects and personnel time in this blog post.

2019 Election: Amy Hodge

Mon, 19 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000

About Me

As a current, elected member of the Executive Council, I’m very excited to be putting myself forward for re-election for a two-year term. It’s been a wonderful, engaging, and educational year for me on the Council, but now that we’ve gotten the new organization up and running, I’m eager to participate in more of the building activities I hope to see happening in the future.

I received a PhD in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale, after which I worked for nearly 10 years at science database companies. I’ve now been at Stanford University Libraries for the past six years, where my role is to help researchers, particularly in the sciences, with data management and sharing and with developing the skills they need to perform these tasks efficiently and effectively. Research in all fields is moving rapidly toward intensive data science, leaving many researchers struggling to keep up with learning all the new skills needed for the complex research questions they devise. The Carpentries can help many researchers improve the quality and robustness of their work.

No More Self-Organised Workshop Fees

Thu, 12 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

To bring Software and Data Carpentry Self-Organised workshop fees into agreement with one another, the 2018 Executive Council passed a motion to eliminate the $500 fee charged to host organisations for Self-Organised Data Carpentry workshops.

Why eliminate the Self-Organised workshop fee?

Until 2018, Data Carpentry and Software Carpentry operated side-by-side but independently, each with their own governing bodies and executive directors. While the two organisations shared some processes and staff, decisions about things like workshop fees were made independently. Along with the 2018 merger came a need to unify and streamline operations. Data Carpentry required a $500 fee, while Software Carpentry required no fee for Self-Organised workshop but rather requested an optional $500 donation. To eliminate the confusion this has created within our community and to encourage Self-Organised workshops, we have brought these two policies into alignment by eliminating the $500 host organisation fee from Self-Organised Data Carpentry workshops as well as the suggested $500 donation for Self-Organised Software Carpentry workshops.

Building Carpentries Engagement in Your Communities

Thu, 26 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

One of the things I enjoy most about The Carpentries is that the people who volunteer their time in so many ways come from so many different backgrounds and fields. Not only are there scientists and programmers from every discipline you can think of, but educators and librarians and people who have a passion for teaching and learning and inclusivity and the power of community.

The building of an organization like this takes time and dedication from many quarters, but produces something robust and powerful. You can help build this community further and spread the word to others about how to get involved by holding a community-building workshop at one of the conferences or events you regularly attend. It’s great fun, and you get to meet lots of people who are interested in The Carpentries and who you can help introduce to the myriad ways they can get involved. There are often spaces and times set aside at these events for people to suggest workshops to lead. Or the workshops can even be done in a less formal way by finding a group that wants to participate and grabbing a corner of the hotel bar during some conference downtime or a networking break.

North West University Mafikeng Data Carpentry workshop

Mon, 27 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Data Carpentry website

Data Carpentry workshop, 1-3 November, 2017

Background/Introduction

Conducting the first Data Carpentry workshop by members of NWU Mafikeng campus and teaching my (Caroline Ajilogba) first workshop was a great task with support from NWU and our mentor, Anelda van der Walt. The support from the co-instructors Martin Dreyer (NWU Potchefstroom) and Amy Hodge (Stanford University), and from helper Bennett Kankuzi (NWU Mafikeng) was great. Other helpers from the R study group at Mafikeng’s NWU campus, like Olubukola Aremu and Ayansina Ayangbenro, were available to enhance the workshop.

Amy Hodge: Nomination for 2018 Steering Committee

Mon, 20 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

2018 Election : Amy Hodge

A Little About Me

Hi all! My name is Amy Hodge, and I work for Stanford University Libraries. I have a PhD from Yale in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, and spent about 10 years working at science database companies, where I discovered the elegance of SQL and the perfect role for me in enabling people to do better science. Since my undergraduate days I’ve been involved in teaching, mentoring, and software training, and my involvement with the Carpentries is a natural extension of these activities and my desire to enable people to do better science.