A Vision for the Member Liaison Position

In my first week as the Kuali Member Liaison I was exposed to a myriad of communications tools, and issues related to each one. The size of the Kuali community, the diversity of member types and the complexity of communication paths are both daunting and exciting. There is a lot to do, and I couldn't be more excited by the challenges that lie ahead.

My broadest mission is to streamline communications within the Kuali community. When people hear "Kuali," I want them to think about a supportive community where it is easy to find the information you need, get your questions answered, and encounter reliable partners to assist you in evaluating, implementing and maintaining Kuali software. I want Kuali to be the pudding that proves that open-source software does not come at the expense of support, that a community can provide far better assistance than a 1-800 number.

I plan to work on two fronts simultaneously in order to be an effective Member Liaison. The first, most obvious front is to be a communicator, a go-to person for any sort of information, a keen listener and a proactive messaging hub. This front includes the production of content for the Kuali website, Confluence and other sorts of publications, which have a strong impact on the Kuali brand.

The second front will be to manage our communications infrastructure, working closely with Farooq Sadiq, Kuali’s Configuration Manager. The tools we use to communicate and how we use them have a major impact on our ability to collaborate and support each other. Farooq and I have already begun to define a technology road map that will bring Kuali into the modern age of identity management, providing a “single version of the truth” for biographical/demographical data on Kuali people, expanding Kauli's ability to collaborate with other institutions, and streamlining administrative processes such as account provisioning.

Apart from regular communications, some of the deliverables that I intend to provide include:

• A strategic communications plan defining my goals for the next year and how I plan to achieve them
• A road map outlining milestones and time frames related to changes in our communications infrastructure
• A simplified group structure to govern Confluence spaces, listservs, calendars and other communication tools
• An organizational map that helps people wrap their head around the structure of the Kuali community
• Expanded and improved website content
• A streamlined member on-boarding and account provisioning process including a well-defined governance framework
• Single Sign-On infrastructure, so people will have a single password for all Kuali resources
• A one-stop Communications Center where people can go to understand and access Kuali’s communication tools
• Proper portfolios for Kuali’s vendors and applications to help facilitate administrative tasks
  

As I gear up, I will be seeking perspective and advice from the entire community. Please feel free to share your opinions with me in any way you wish – a phone call, email, IM, skype, or comments on this blog. (See my profile for contact information.) In particular, these are some of the questions that I will be asking:

• What are the strong and weak points of Kuali’s communication framework?
• Are there particular tools that you would like to see Kuali use?
• How could we improve how we are using our current tools?
• What does the Kuali brand mean to you?
  

I look forward to hearing what you think!