[ADMIN] Call for/announcement of new mkm moderation team members

Periodically, the mkm moderation team acquires new moderators through
public announcements and unsolicited offers of assistance. This message
is to open a call for applications for a new moderator, to announce the
addition of one new moderator (Karen Glaesemann) through unsolicited
application, and to describe the requirements, selection, and training
process for these moderator positions.

Welcome aboard, Karen! We look forward to working with you and also to
reviewing applications from other interested individuals.

--The mkm moderation team

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS:

Beginning immediately, the mkm moderation team will accept applications
from interested mkm readers who would like to serve our community by
working as moderators. Later in this post you'll find a short description
of moderator duties and answers to some questions.

If you would like to apply, great! Simply send your name or posting
handle, any biographical information that you think we may find helpful,
and a short statement about why you'd like to join the team. If we want
more information, we'll contact you. Send this information to
.

If *you* want more information from *us*, either send an e-mail to
or post a followup message on this thread. We'll
answer posted questions publicly, and we'll answer e-mailed questions
privately.

Applications should be sent by Friday, August 29. After that date, we'll
advise all applicants of the status of our process. Whether or not we
undertake any sort of "e-interview" or other screening process may depend
upon the number of applicants. The mkm charter calls for a new moderator
candidate to pass a majority vote of the current moderators. We
anticipate an announcement to the 'group regarding our decision in
September. If no one applies or no applicants pass the charter
requirements, we will postpone further additions.

ADDITION OF A NEW MODERATOR

Also beginning immediately, Karen Glaesemann will begin training in
anticipation of joining our moderation team as a moderator. She will
follow the training/orientation process described below.

REQUIREMENTS/SELECTION/TRAINING PROCESS

Q. How many moderators are you adding?
A. In addition to Karen, we envision adding one moderator.

Q. Are you looking for any type of person in particular?
A. Not in particular. Certainly, preference will be given to people who
have been known to be involved with or reading the group for some time; in
other words, we want these folks to be known and trusted names to the
group members. Additionally, if possible, we will look to expand our
diversity and maintain balance. Finally, skill and willingness to draft
moderation team correspondence are needed, so applicants with these
qualities are especially encouraged.

Q. What's the time commitment?
A. The moderator role usually is not time consuming; we estimate we each
spend approximately 5-15 minutes per day online reviewing posts and
handling e-mails related to the moderation process. At times (when
traffic is high, when threads become contentious, or when moderation
policy is being set by a consensus process) this commitment may grow to as
much as 30-45 minutes/day -- provided an individual has that time to give.
If not, other team members usually are available to pick up the slack.
Decisions are usually made by consensus; if not, a vote of available
moderators is taken -- the silence or absence of one or more moderators at
a given time is neither unusual nor problematic for our process.

Q. What's involved in moderating the group?
A. Moderation decisions are made based on the charter and posting
guidelines, which are available at www.misckids.org. Moderators read
posts via a secure website; usually it's simply a matter of reading and
clicking -- accepted posts are automatically sent to the 'group and
rejected posts are sent back to the poster with pre-written messages
explaining the reason for the rejection. On more difficult calls,
moderators may write short comments, visible to the next moderators who
see the post in question.
Beyond that, moderators also engage in occasional e-mail discussions
about specific posts, moderation policy, etc. Whole weeks can go by with
virtually no e-mail discussion at all. At other times e-mail traffic can
be as much as 10-15 e-mails (and very rarely more) per day.

Q. Are there any other specific requirements?
A. Other than needing daily access to e-mail and the mkm moderation
website, team members must be willing to be listed (with a short bio) on
the mkm.org website and list a working e-mail address on the website so
that group members can contact individual moderators.

Q. How will moderators be chosen?
A. By charter, new moderators must be approved by a majority of the
current moderators. Once we have assessed all applicants, we will follow
that procedure.

Q. How does the training process work?
A. New moderators are assigned a mentor (a current active moderator,
ideally someone who has been through the process of being new to the team)
who works with them to learn the moderation process. For an unspecified
period of time (we find this varies from a few weeks to a few months,
depending on moderator comfort level as well as posting volume), new
moderators have access to the moderation website as observers only. New
moderators then follow the moderation discussions on the website as well
as within the e-mail list in order to learn how decisions are made. When
the new moderator and the current team reach mutual agreement that the
training period has been adequate, the new moderator becomes active.