Coop community values
Written by: The Coop Team - Fred Hutch Bioinformatics & Data Science Cooperative
We are pleased to release this draft of the Coop community values, which support our mission of training and building community to accelerate data-intensive biomedical research.
At the Coop we:
Center the community
The Coop is a decentralized, non-hierarchical organization that relies on community input, passion, and knowledge. The Coop community includes Hutch employees, affiliates, and collaborators who are interested in data-intensive research. We center community interests by listening as much as explaining, and communicating across campus about computational interests and needs. We support members of the community in sharing and documenting their knowledge and experiences. Simply put, the community is the Coop.
Promote open science
The ethos behind open science is integral to the mission of the Coop. We believe that fostering a culture of transparency and sharing is critical to solving the complex biomedical and technological questions we face. The Coop is committed to using open-source tools for both training and research whenever possible, and otherwise increasing community infrastructure and accessible knowledge to facilitate open science. The Coop uses open science to advance research among our community members, but also gives back to the global open science community.
Prioritize learning over knowing
We believe that everyone brings a unique and important perspective to our community. All knowledge, whether technical (like computer coding) or biological (about data and research questions) is valuable. Rather than identifying a select group of people as ‘knowers’ or ‘experts’, the Coop is a space where input from individuals of all areas of research and levels of expertise are valued. We acknowledge and reward the courage and vulnerability our community members show in asking questions or not knowing an answer immediately.
Champion inclusivity and accessibility
One of the main goals of the Coop is to make data-intensive research accessible to all groups and individuals at Fred Hutch. Accessible means that information to assist in computational research is discoverable and interpretable. Additionally, a goal of accessibility requires acknowledging and actively addressing systematic barriers to entry and success in data-intensive research throughout our society, including issues related to anti-Blackness, disability justice, and sexism. The Coop is committed to learning how to best serve a community with diverse and dynamic needs.
Facilitate building connections
Community members involved in data and computational research at Fred Hutch are found in all divisions, including administrative groups, and each scientific department or project. The Coop is a space, both physical and virtual, for our diverse and distributed community to build connections and collaborate across campus. Whether brand-new to computing, or a programming expert, we help community members connect with like-minded colleagues, and identify patterns of common interests in research and methodologies. We connect our computational community with the outside world by publicizing their work, especially at the trainee level, to highlight the contributions they make to exciting and high-profile research.
Share your thoughts!
Given our previous post describing the process and rationale for this project, how do you feel about our values? What is important to you about our community, and what are we missing?
We welcome any comments or feedback on our values. You can reach out to us at coophelp.
Based on community feedback:
- We’ve updated the value “champion accessibility” to “champion inclusivity and accessibility”.
- We have begun developing a Code of Conduct to translate our values to explicit behavioral expectations.
As of 10/03 these values have been formally adopted and have been posted on the About page.