Why we're doing this
Thanks to funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is launching a new Fellows Program for community engagement managers in science. In its pilot year, the goals of the program are:
- to gain a better understanding of the current landscape of community-building within science;
- to train and support an initial cohort of 18 community professionals;
- and to begin to professionalize and institutionalize the role of community engagement professionals within large scale scientific collaborations and scientific societies.
This survey is intended to provide an initial understanding of the current roles of those working to build communities within science.
Who can complete this survey?
This survey is for anyone who is currently working to build communities within science, wherever you are located. This may include any of the following examples and others:
- Supporting a multi-institutional research collaboration
- Connecting individuals as part of the member engagement and marketing activities of a professional scientific society or association
- Bringing together like-minded professionals as part of a science-focused community of interest or practice
- Bridging between your organization and others as part of a local, national, or international project involving scientists, policy makers, think tanks and others.
- Activities that may be described as "team science".
What will we do with the survey data?
This survey is a collaboration between AAAS, the world's largest general scientific membership organization, and The Community Roundtable, a professional membership organization with expertise in community management. For many years, The Community Roundtable has been providing two annual reports: one focused on the state of community management within corporate organisations and the other looking at the salaries and professional development opportunities for community managers. AAAS has decided to partner with TheCR to benefit from their deep expertise in surveying community management as a profession.
All survey responses will be treated confidentially. We will not add you to any mailing lists or forward your data onto anyone else without your permission. Analysis of the survey data will be carried out by AAAS and the Community Roundtable to provide a report about the state of community management within STEM fields. This report will be made freely available. Findings of our report may be compared with similar surveys that TheCR has conducted in the past.
Tips for completing the survey
- The survey should take no more than 15 minutes to complete - less if you skip sections that do not apply to you.
- Any "links" in the survey are actually prompts that you can hover over for more information about what the term means.
- If you encounter a technical problem or have questions about the survey, please email: communityfellows@aaas.org
Once you're done, please pass the survey link onto another scientific community-builder. The more data we can gather about the current state of community management within science, the better equipped we will be to deliver useful resources
via the AAAS Community Engagement Fellows Program.
Thank you!