Institutions Onboarding

Most steps depend on the status of the Institution in Airtable ‘Institutions’ table, so they are activated when this status changes.

Step 1: When a Form of Interest is Sent

1. The institution fills up the form from ‘Institutions’ table.
2. The form sends automatically an email to education@wordpressfoundation.org.
3. Airtable automation “Institutions 1 – Application Received” sends an email asking the contact to book a meeting (the person of contact from the team responsible for the calendar link depends on the institution country, see Airtable ‘Countries’ and ‘Team members’ tables) or continue as discussed during the previous call (see this template as reference).

Step 2: When called scheduled

1. Manually update To Follow Up = Yes in the ‘Institutions’ table.

Step 3: After the call

1. Manually update ‘Status’ column in the ‘Institution’ table to:

• Interested – ‘Agreement Sent’
• Not interested – ‘Not moving forward’
• Maybe later – ‘Revisit Later’

Step 3.1: ‘Agreement Sent’ status added

1. Agreement document is sent to the institution.
2. Institution is expected to review and sign the agreement.
3. Follow up communication as needed until agreement is signed.

Step 3.2: ‘Not moving forward’ status added

1. Nothing else happens.

Step 3.3: ‘Revisit Later’ status added

1. The automation “Institutions – Revisit Later – Follow up date” set up the ‘Days to Follow-Up’ column to 60.
2. A 2 months in the future date is set up automatically in the ‘Follow-Up date’ column.

Step 4: Agreement signed

Step 4.1: ‘Confirmed’ status added

1. Manually update ‘Status’ column in the ‘Institution’ table to ‘Confirmed’
2. Institution is now officially onboarded and ready to begin the program.
3. Further communication and coordination begins as per program requirements.

Step 4.2: Upload the signed agreement

1. Navigate to the Educational Institutions folder in the program’s Google Drive.
2. Create a new folder for the institution and upload the signed agreement.

Step 4.3: Gather participation information 

1. Follow-up with our institutional contact to confirm or request:

• Expected number of students
• Expected start dates 
• The institution’s logo for display on the WordPress Credits page

You can use or modify the text below to help gather all the required information to prepare for student registration: 

We’re looking forward to working with you! For next steps, let’s set up a call in [X] days to go over any additional resources or information you might need as we get started on welcoming students from [Institution Name] into the program.

Some additional information that will help us get started?

• Can you share an estimate for the number of students expected to enroll and the dates they will enroll? We currently accept registrations from partner institutions on a rolling basis on the first week of each month.
• Once students begin enrolling, we’ll begin onboarding them to the program via an orientation call. If any academic advisors or other employees from your school will be joining, can you share their contact information so we can coordinate? 
• Can you share a logo for us to include on our program page to highlight you as one of our participating institutions? 

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

2. When the school begins to open the program for enrollment, post an announcement in #wpcredits to welcome both the institution and new students. 

Step 4.4: Third-party platforms 

Some schools partner with a third-party platform to share the WordPress Credits program with their students. Check in the WP Credits 1Password Vault to see if we have an existing account with any of these platforms.

If you need to create an account on behalf of the WordPress Credits program, be sure to:

• Use the program’s shared email address and/or save the login information in the related Vault.
• Reference the WordPress Foundation as the organization, including site links and organization descriptions.
• For the program description itself, you can use the following sample text:

Project Description

In the WordPress Credits program, students learn by contributing to the WordPress.org open-source project: https://make.wordpress.org/ 

Below is an overview of what to expect from the program:

• Complete onboarding and setup, including creating WordPress.org and SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/ accounts, learning how the project works, and building a personal WordPress website.
• Follow structured learning pathways, covering WordPress fundamentals and contribution-specific training.
• Carry out real contribution tasks, such as testing, development, translations, documentation, design, community, or other project work, depending on skills and interests. Students choose the contribution team they join based on their studies and interests.
• Contribute publicly to open sourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL., with all work done for the WordPress project and not for the benefit of any company or individual.
• Report progress regularly, including time spent, tasks completed, and lessons learned.
• Work with a mentor, through check-ins, feedback, and guidance.
• Submit a final reflection, summarizing learning outcomes and completed contributions.
• Upon successful completion, students receive a certificate of completion issued by the WordPress Foundation, which institutions may use for academic validation.
• Your final deliverable will be a live or recorded presentation.

Skills you will develop:

• Technical skills related to WordPress and your chosen contribution area
• Asynchronous communication in a multicultural, distributed environment
• Project and time management in a remote setting
• Clear written and presentation skills
• Problem solving and collaboration in open source workflows

Required skills: 

• Time management
• Proactivity
• Willingness to learn
• Clear written communication
• Ability to follow instructions
• Problem-solving mindset
• Openness to feedback