User talk:Peter Schmitt/Charter

I put this page on my watch list. D. Matt Innis 22:48, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

RE deleting user pages

This is our current policy on user page deletion. We're particularly concerned that an editor who has been involved in article creation and approval not be able to remove their user page without very good reason, though we leave the door open in case someone has a very good reason, ie. liability or reputation. D. Matt Innis 23:30, 20 November 2009 (UTC)

your opinion please

WOuld appreciate your feedback on this addtion to the Professionalism section of the charter as a result of the conversation from this section of the talk page. D. Matt Innis 00:34, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

I hope I have answered, at least partially, in the comments. Peter Schmitt 17:06, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

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Mission statement

The Citizendium is a collaborative effort to compile an (public domain) online encyclopaedia that presents (a compendium of) human knowledge organized and structured in a way to serve as a convenient, reliable, and well-written source of information.

Fundamental principles

Content

The Citizendium shall be useful for a broad audience and therefore shall strive to present each topic as accessible as possible.

All articles shall be as comprehensive, neutral and objective as possible. They shall be written carefully and include all relevant perspectives without bias. The Citizendium is not a place for advocacy or for advertisement.

As far as possible, special needs — such as those of visually or otherwise impaired users — shall be taken into account. <--! I was just now asked to agree to the "honor code" at UT Austin. It states: "The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness and respect toward peers and community. -->

Collaboration

The Citizendium shall be a collaborative project.

Everybody shall be invited to contribute — as a Citizen registered under his real name — according his possibilities and his competence to any of its content at any time. But in order to guarantee correct and reliable content, it shall be reviewed by experts, and their evaluation shall be respected.

All Citizens are expected to cooperate as colleagues and to settle any dispute in a civil and constructive manner. However, Citizens need not be reluctant to contribute — even boldly — to the project because any accidental mistake can be repaired.

License

The content of the Citizendium shall always be free to use, reuse, and redistribute.

Content that originated elsewhere may also be incorporated into the Citizendium if such reuse is permitted by the copyright owners.

All contributions to the Citizendium shall be a permanent part of the collaborative effort of which the history shall remain available, but no individual credit shall be expected.

Personnel and governance

The Citizendium shall be devoted to transparent and fair governance and simple procedures.

Special roles will not be created without excellent reason.

Visitors

All Readers of the Citizendium are invited to send in comments after a quick process of self-registration as Visitor.

Citizens

All contributors — henceforth called Citizens — shall be required to register using their real names (which will define their user name), and thereby agree to the core values of the Citizendium as stated above.

Active Citizens

A Citizen is active as long as he contributes to the Citizendium in any form.

Authors

An Author is any Citizen who is contributing content.

Technicians

A Technician is any Citizen who contributes to the development and maintainance of software (templates, scripts, bots).

Editors

Editors are Citizens who — because of their recognized expertise (in specific areas) ;— are responsible for the scope, quality, and structure of the content presented by the Citizendium.

To this end they are — within the limits set by the Editorial Council — entitled to evaluate articles and to make decisions about specific questions or disputes concerning particular articles.

Constables

Constables are Citizens of mature judgment who have been appointed to enforce the Citizendium's rules concerning behavior and procedures as specified in this Charter and by adopted guidelines.

Editorial Council

The Editorial Council shall be responsible for guiding content and establishing content policy. To this end, it will oversee the work of the Editors, organize the reviewing process, and establish general principles and guidelines (on quality, structure and style).

The Editorial Council shall consist of at least seven active Citizens — $n\geq 4$ Editors and $n-1$ Authors who are not Editors. A quorum shall consist of $n$ members.

Members of the Editorial Council may not simultaneously serve on the Management Committee or be Constables. The members of the Editorial Council will be elected by vote of active Citizens, with two-year terms renewable once consecutively.

The Editorial Council will appoint one of its members as the Editorial Lead, who will represent the Citizendium externally on matters of content.

Workgroups

The Editorial Council shall elaborate a strategy and policy on topic-specific and task-specific collaboration. To this end, it shall create workgroups in order to arrange and organize collaboration in specific fields of content or for specific tasks.

Management Committee

alternatively: Administrative Council

A Management Committee shall be responsible for matters concerned with the non-internal policies of the Citizendium, such as the legal, financial and technical operations necessary for the project to fulfill its mission, and for external alliances and communications. To this end, it may appoint Administrators and Representatives whose activities it will oversee.

The Management Committee shall consist of at least five Citizens, who may not simultaneously serve on the Editorial Council. A quorum shall consist of three members. The members of the Management Committee shall be elected by vote of active Citizens with two-year renewable terms. The Management Committee will appoint one of its members as the Management Lead, who will represent the Citizendium externally on all matters except content.

The Committee, with advice from legal and audit advisers, will designate those members that can enter into contracts or expend funds on behalf of the Citizendium. Substantial expenditures will require more than one signature.

Editor-in-Chief

An Editor-in-Chief shall have the duty to ensure day-to-day smooth functioning of the Citizendium by making interim decisions (if needed) and acting as mediator/Ombudsman in case of dispute.

Furthermore, he shall represent the Citizendium externally. (?, replacing the Managment and Editorial Lead)

The Editor-in-Chief shall be nominated by the union or the Editorial Council, the Managment Committee and the Constable Council, and shall be appointed by vote of all active Citizens, for a term of office of four(?) years (renewable once.

Constable Council

The group of Constables are responsible for upholding (enforcing) the rules and procedures of the Citizendium. (Constables shall not intervene in matters of content.) To this end it may establish rules and procedures. As a last resort, Citizens in persistent breach of the spirit of the Citizendium's spirit principles can be expelled from the project.

The enforcement of these rules shall be carried out with reasonable pragmatism and leniency, and without prejudice as to Citizen status or official position. Constable authority covers all Citizens including those with official positions.

On a temporary basis only, a Constable may act to avoid damage even if this action is not covered by a rule.

Constables may not simultaneously serve in the Editorial Council or the Managment council Constables may be nominated by any Citizen(?) and are appointed by vote by active Citizens.

Dispute resolution

Any decision of an official or of a body may be appealed.

Disputes shall be settled at the lowest possible level, such as by bringing in peer Editors or Constables. Next, the Ombudsman/Editor-in-Chief shall be contacted for non-binding mediation. Should that fail, the matter shall go to the appropriate body — the Editorial Council for content matters and the Constable Council for behavioral and administrative matters. As a last resort, both Councils together may appoint members to an arbitration panel, for final arbitration as defined below.

Final arbitration

In the event of a dispute that could not be resolved at a lower level, appeals boards may be constituted on an ad hoc basis. They will consist of three members nominated by the Editorial Council and three members nominated by the Constable Council, who shall not have been involved in the specific dispute. An Ombudsman appointed by the Councils shall preside; that official shall direct the Board and will be non-voting other than to possess a tie-breaking vote.

Languages

The official language of the Citizendium is English. Branches in other languages require approval by the Editorial Council and have to be based on this English-language charter or an approved translation.

Legal status

The Citizendium shall be owned and controlled by a non-profit organization.

Legislation

Rules and guidelines

The official bodies are required to restrict rules and guidelines to the necessary minimum and keep them simple and clear.

Citizens may demand that rules and guidelines are submitted to approval by vote by all active Citizens.

Future amendments

This Charter shall be open to amendment at any time subsequent to its ratification.

If a change of the Charter is proposed, the Editor-in-Chief shall organize the open discussion of this proposal, the drafting of the amendment, and the final vote. The decision to accept the amended text shall be taken by popular vote of the Citizenry, and requires a two-thirds majority of votes validly cast.

Expansion

Any Council may propose its enlargement. Additional members shall be elected by the same rules.

Replacement

Should all election rules be collected here under the title "Elections"?

Should an official become inactive his replacement shall be a close-runner-up of the previous election, or a new election takes place.

Final clause

Electorate

All Citizens who have registered before the start of the election period are entitled to vote on the adoption of this charter.

Ratification

If this Charter has been ratified by two thirds or more of the votes validly cast in a referendum for this purpose, it shall be certified by the Editor-in-Chief within a week after the closing of the referendum.

Entry into force

This Charter shall enter into force on the day following ratification.

Interim guidance for the transition period

Until the new Charter takes effect and new guidelines have been adopted, the current rules shall remain in force.

Editorial Council and Management Committee

For both bodies, the intention is to elect half of the members each year. To allow this, of the first group, a number corresponding to the quorum will be selected, by lot or personal agreement, to serve one-year terms.

Citizens with pseudonyms

Citizens currently registered with a pseudonym will be granted up to one year of time to re-register for a new account under their real name. One year after the entry into force of this charter, all pseudonym accounts shall be locked by the Constabulary.

External partners

The Management Council shall elaborate a strategy and policy on collaboration with external partners, paying particular attention to fostering the collaboration with instructors by way of Eduzendium, and with external experts or professional organizations for the purposes of providing or reviewing content at the Citizendium.