FAQ

It is not difficult to get students interested initially, but it is difficult to keep the momentum going because much of the participation in YouthMappers is self-driven. Mapping needs and tasks are circulated throughout the network and listed on the YouthMappers Project Page, but there are moments during which chapters may not find active mapping campaigns and it is during these times they can take on individual chapter activities. In the past, chapters have mapped their university campus for disability accessibility or mapped a local "issue" in their community. We highly encourage individual projects as they allow students to make use of the mapping techniques they are learning and apply them through the entire process of  creating and completing a mapping task.

1. Justify mapping for your members by discussing:

1. 1. • The local benefit fo completing the mapping project

      • Talk about important role of open source software and data

      • Explain the benefits of your mapping activity from a professional development perspective if you are collaborating with an agency or company

      • The immediate and overall purpose of your mapping project

   2. Through YouthMappers you can connect with new groups of people: 

      • By contributing to OpenStreetMap you join a community of over six million users. 

      • As a member of a YouthMappers chapter you are also part of a specific student network of over 5,000 mappers. 

   3. Mapping also promotes connection with the members of the community you are mapping in. Hosting mapping competitions or mapathons are a great way to engage chapter members and community members:

      • Collaborate with another chapter to host an event (consider virtual options and use the chapter directory to contact other chapters) 

      • Make a mapping task into a relay race among members or other chapters for extra excitement. 

   4. Get faculty involved in the planning and execution of chapter activities:

      •  Link your chapter to other programs or clubs on campus.

      • Link a mapping activity to a research activity in another department

      • Collaborate with clubs on an activity other than mapping.

      • Add YouthMappers contributions to the academic curriculum.

      • Provide extra credit for YouthMappers related activities.

      • Reach out to  secondary schools and teach a younger generation about mapping.

   5. Make chapter events fun and interactive: 

      • Diversify activities! Have social events that aren’t all about mapping. Team building is also important!

      • Offer free food/snacks when possible.

      •  Allow and encourage students to have a voice in chapter decisions.

      • Train on practical and tangible tech skills. 

      • Train on soft skills too, communication is important!

   6. Explain the impact of your chapter activities: 

      • Are you addressing local needs of your community? Explain to your members how your community is being helped.

      •  Provide evidence on the positive effect of your contributions.

1. 1. By being a YouthMappers chapter in good-standing, your chapter members are eligible to apply to fellowship programs from the network. If a chapter member is selected for a fellowship, capitalize on all they learn through the fellowship and integrate their education into future chapter activities. 

   2. Connect your chapter with professionals in the field either remotely or in person. This can take the form of both soft and hard skill training.

   3. Encourage online training that is tailored to the use of specific OSM tools. This may migrate mappers from data creation to making real time analysis with the data they create.

   4. Establish contacts with national and international organizations on projects.

   5. Create road maps on how to request opportunities for internships with local organizations or international organizations with local presence (field office).

   6. Learn about ideas for new activities from the network. The blog features interesting, student-led activities and projects.

   7. Create relationships with YouthMappers in other chapters. You can do this by hosting a  cross cultural exchange or field work in your country.

1. 1. Learn from colleagues, and share their techniques with your chapter. 

   2. Encourage members to use new methodologies in their research to broaden their research skills.

   3. Educate members on the importance of open mapping tools, find online tutorials, and stay current on updates!

   4. Invite experts from different disciplines as guest speakers - connect with them to learn from them. 

1. 5. Partner with  students in other fields and organize mapping or research activities with them.

   6. Hold collaborative training camps with other chapters and members.

   7. Invite other YouthMappers for a discussion to share experiences and knowledge. Chapter members come from many disciplines and each chapter engages in different acivities that use open source mapping tools.

1. 1. Ensure that you have at least 3 to 5 active and passionate members who will remain a part of the chapter after officers  graduate and are excited to assume more leadership responsibilities.

   2. If your chapter is larger, consider holding elections! 

   3. Encourage students of all grades/ages/years to tak on the rold of a chapter officer. It is important that leadership represents a mixture of different years, so that after a graduation all of the chapter leadership doesn’t graduate at once.

   4. Make sure that the members of the chapter know the "ins and outs" of the YouthMappers network so that they're well equipped to lead after chapter officers graduate. Pass down important information through meetings and presentations. Consider writing a guide with important information to leave with the new chapter officers. Guides can have training schedules or training content from previous semesters. 

   5. Share log-in credentials for the chapter email address and social media accounts. 

   6. Once new chapter officers are selected or elected, share contact information of the new chapter leadership to info@youthmappers.org. It is important to keep the chapter connected to the network.  

   7. Continue to attend chapter meetings as an alumni and chapter mentor to help with the transition. Inspire current members to participate in chapter decision making.

Every chapter must find the most suitable way to organize themselves that suits their needs and skills. Identify what the needs of the chapter are and create roles to meet those needs. All roles require a willingness to support a variety of organizational functions and a willingness to collaborate. 

1. Every chapter should have at least one chapter officer and a faculty advisor.

2. Ideas for chapter officer roles:

   1. • President - the role of the president is to organize mapathons and speakers, as well as help facilitate chapter meetings and mapping activities. The president is the first point of contact with the YouthMappers network, with the faculty advisor, guest speakers, and any representattives of organizations that wish to speak or collaborate with the YouthMappers chapter. They are also responsible for reaching out to local organizations and build connections with the geospatial/humanitarian community. 

      •  Vice President - the Vice President supports the President and attends meetings, helps to organize Mapathons, and connects with other organizations to promote collaboration with the chapter and the broader geospatial/humanitarian community. 

      • Treasurer - Responsible for coordinating fundraising and/or requesting funds for chapter events and activities. Responsibilities can include organizing fundraisers, identifying external resources and organizations to support the chapter, keeping a log of expenses and income, and assisting with organizing the food orders for activities and/or events when necessary. The treasurer should meet regularly with other officers and the faculty advisor to communicate updates on chapter finances. 

        1. 1. Additional names for this role: Resource Coordinator

      • Secretary - Compiles and update chapter announcements from meetings, upcoming events, and GIS-related news for the chapter. They are the main point of contact between the chapter and other university student organizations or offices. They would work with the chapter president to build relationships with other student groups and local organizations. 

      • Training Coordinator - coordinators roles revolve directly around planning prior to and assisting students for mapathons. Responsibilities would include organizing trainings, selecting tasks to best fit the chapter's skill levels, and editing training slides to best teach students. Should be willing to assist newcomers and experienced mappers alike. Communication with other chapter officers is important to meet expectations when organizing trainings for mapping activities in collaboration with outside organizations. 

        1. 1. Additional names for this role: Technical Correspondent 

      • Outreach Coordinator - They develop relationships with other YouthMappers chapters to organize inter-chapter events across the network. This officer would work closely with communications roles. 

        1. 1. Additional names for this role: Inter-chapter Representative, Organizing Secretary

      • Communications Coordinator - manages social media accounts and forwards information from YouthMappers headquarters to chapter members. Monitors YouthMappers headquarters communication, and supports inter-chapter relationships. Shares updates on chapter activities with local community, OSM community, and YouthMappers network.

        1. 1. Additional names for this role: Social Media coordinator, Communications & Social Media Secretary

      • Information Officer - maintains and organizes a shared repository of all chapter files (e.g. annual chapter reports, membership and attendance rosters, presentations,training materials, chapter constitutions/agreements, photos.) This individual will serve as the point of contact for gathering and disseminating the above information

        1. 1. Additional names for this role: Literature & Content Secretary

      • Mentors - it is possible to receive mentoring from another faculty member from a differen department or with a different speciality. When the faculty advisor could focus on university administrative support, the mentor could support technical training or other specialized support

      • Recruitment Manager - manages recruitment of chapter members

      • Election Manager - conducts annual elections

      • Alumni Coordinator - manages LinkedIn page for chapter, collect job opportunities from alumni, collects alumni contact information and includes alumni in activities. With the help of alumni, organize resume writing and interview trainings.

      • Social Coordinator - hosts and is the point of contact for non-mapping, team-building events. This role would be responsible for coordinating and organizing events and activities such as dancing (Bala!), trivia, movie nights, and other events, festivals, or seminars on campus that bring chapter members together. 

      • Co-Chairs- more than one director may help divide the workload, and allow for leaders to fill different roles based on their skills/talents.

3. Consider having Co-Chairs for chapter office roles. This may help divide the workload and allow for leaders to fill different roles based on their skills/talents.

4. Consider implementing Alternative Organizational Methods

• Working Groups: Create network-wide working groups/committees in addition to existing officer roles, to supplement and enhance the network (Model after HOT or OSMF). Examples: technical or data working group (create training materials for different open source GIS tools), outreach and membership working group, and translation working group.

• Members at Large: Conduct General Body Meetings regularly to discuss the semester agenda, events, hold elections, etc; these meetings must have meeting manager (see role listed above).

5. Strategies for organizing chapters

• • Membership: Recruit and target members specifically for roles that need to be filled (ex: survey the chapters membership about skills and talents).

  • Evaluate the branding and logo for your chapter. Do students across campus know about your club and what it represents? Consider creating a tagline that describes your chapter.

  • If the chapter leadership is struggling consider reorganizing and renaming roles. Some  possible  new names could be director, manager, and coordinator.

  • Visualize/draw the organizational structure in a web diagram. All officers will visually see how their roles interact, and thus increase accountability and communication among the chapter leaders.

  • Keep a roster of members and their contact information, which includes  OSM usernames, events attended, and specific skills (ex: JOSM, Field papers/tools, QGIS).

  • Keep shared files (ex: Google Drive, DropBox) and ensure they are accessible to all members. The shared folders should include information on leadership roles, chapter and guest presentations, report responses, and photos.

6. Maintain a “living documents" that can be edited and improved. For example a "Living Agenda” using Google Docs that would contain information on deliverables for all chapter officers so that chapter members can see what individual and group action items exist. It is helpful to break up information into short and long term goals.

7. Regularly communicate with chapter members about upcoming opportunities/events and send reminders about tasks. Some of the useful group chats and task management tools are: Trello, Slack, Asana, and GroupMe.

Faculty advisors typically advise during mapping projects and may be needed to participate in organized mapathons, this depends on the skill level of the students participating in a mapathon and how much assistance and training they need. It is hard to quantify the exact number of hours but advisors would mostly be needed around times of activities and/or for training sessions.

Faculty advisors, if they have the background knowledge, can advise students on mapping techniques and assist with any research needs if they arise for a particular project. However, sometimes the role of the faculty advisor lends itself to support student initiatives by advocating for students' activities on campus as a liaison between students and university officials for setting up events.

Ideally, students should lead mapathons - organizing logistics, and all related activities. If there is some limitation beyond the student's reach, then the advisor should step in and assist students (this could be technical as discussed in point #1 or related to organization/advocacy as described in point #2). Again, much of this depends on student needs at a given moment.

Many of our faculty mentors are those who are already teaching related coursework on their campuses and they sometimes help encourage participation by offering extra credit or orienting some assignments towards support for the chapter’s mapping focus, if they are able to do so in the context of the formal curriculum. They can also reach out to other faculty in their department,  another campus department, and/or another university to spark collaborations or support the students in growing the chapter.

In rare cases, advisors can design and offer new classes or special independent study opportunities for outstanding students. Also in rare cases, faculty might be able to include support for the chapter in research proposals or do other things to elevate the program. In general, though they are a sounding board and advocate to help guide student leadership and add overall value.