Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Universities/COTF

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A mortarboard This article is part of WikiProject Universities, an attempt to standardise coverage of universities and colleges. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this notice, or visit the project page, where you can join the project or contribute to the discussion.
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This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Wikipedia:WikiProject Universities/COTF page.
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Things To Do
  1. Continue upkeep of University Portal
  2. Work on articles that need cleanup. A randomized short list is here
  3. Create a page for each and every university and college and add {{infobox University}} for it. See the missing list for those institutions still awaiting articles.
  4. Place {{WikiProject Universities}} on every related talk page.
  5. Ensure Featured articles are consistent with the article guidelines.
Shortcut:
WT:UNI/COTF

Contents

[edit] About COTF

So, I based most of this off of Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. Congress/COTW. Now, I'd ask them about how they originally coded everything and how they managed the past collaboration topics, but it turns out they haven't updated since March 2007, so I have decided to just take what we have agreed on in the discussion on the WP:Uni/Talk Page instead. - Jameson L. Tai talk ♦ contribs 06:13, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

Very nice! Is there a way to make the COTF box at the top of the page reflect the start and end dates for the current COTF? Esrever (klaT) 16:32, 5 December 2007 (UTC)
I'll see if I can put that information in :-) - Jameson L. Tai talk ♦ contribs 22:51, 5 December 2007 (UTC)
How does that look?  :-) - Jameson L. Tai talk ♦ contribs 23:02, 5 December 2007 (UTC)
Very nice! Esrever (klaT) 23:05, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Clarification on work

This is a great part of the project, but it would help to have more clarification what editors can do with articles that are selected for COTF. Do they just focus on them? Are there specific things that need to be improved? The easier we make it for new contributors the more likely they are to help. —Noetic Sage 04:29, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

Well, the point of having three articles to focus on in the period of 14 days is to basically get into the mood, get into their niche, and start editing. We have a B-Class improvement drive to improve B-class articles to GA or even FA grade. We have a start/stub class improvement to at least push the article to a B-class article. And in case the random selections get boring, we try to focus on what the general consensus wants to edit next by having the ENT (Editor Nominated Topic) so that if the editor does not feel comfortable or does not feel motivated in editing random articles, at least he/she could participate in improving an article that a majority of the active editors in the WikiProject has interest(s) in.
What we're looking for:
  • Upgrading Start-Class or Stub-Class articles to B-Class: (Borrowed from WikiProject Florida)
  1. Referencing and citation
  2. Coverage and accuracy
  3. Structure
  4. Grammar
  5. Supporting materials
  • Upgrading B-Class articles to GA/FA grade:
  1. NPOV
  2. Well-structured and written
  3. Well-Rounded Coverage of University/Subject area
  4. (See GA/FA requirements)
  • General guidelines
  1. Help verify/supply new sources
  2. Update figures. (Enrollment figures and number of awards fluctuate every semester/year. It drastically affects the accuracy of this encyclopedia to make sure the data displayed in the article is up-to-date.
  3. Check to see if the article is following the suggested WikiProject Universities article structure breakdown
  4. Make sure the article is NOT an advertisement. The last thing we need is a misplaced online university trying to solicit to students through our services. If it is written like an advertisement, fix it. If you cannot, notify us on the appropriate subject header on this talk page.
  5. Be Bold
And most importantly...

[edit] COTF 1 Talk Topics

[edit] University

[edit] CSU East Bay

[edit] Beijing Institute of Technology

  • I'll need some help going over the translations. Google translate did very little in terms of translating Chinese to English, so I pretty much had to re-translate it myself. Since I've spent so much time on this thing, I'd like a couple pairs of eyes to look over just so we don't leave behind random grammatical/word choice errors. If someone can take a look, that'd be great. Thanks! - Jameson L. Tai talk ♦ contribs 09:28, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] General Discussion

So how effective is this COTF program? Please list the faults and room for improvement here. I'd like to hear your feedback as well as possible ways to attract other editors to join the bandwagon. - Jameson L. Tai talk ♦ contribs 07:14, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Active COTF editors?

Why the need for a list of active COTF editors? Why need they be contacted? Wouldn't it make more sense to just ask us to include this page on our watchlist and have discussions and questions posted here? --Midnightdreary (talk) 13:20, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

I tend to agree. Rather than messaging everyone they should be checking the COTF page anyway if they really want to participate. Important happenings can go there. —Noetic Sage 19:43, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] COTF 2 Talk Topics

[edit] Harvard University

[edit] Boston University

[edit] Syracuse University

[edit] General Discussion

[edit] COTF 3 Talk Topics

[edit] Florida Institute of Technology

  • Post discussion/questions here.

[edit] Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

  • Post discussion/questions here.

[edit] Norfolk State University

  • Post discussion/questions here.

[edit] General Discussion

  • Post general discussion/questions here.

[edit] COTF 6 Talk Topics

[edit] University of Phoenix

Archived Comments from Nomination (blanked when selected for ENT)

Comments
  • (A school with 280,000 students deserves an article worth its size and impact on adult education) --17reasons (talk) 21:32, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
  • Actually, for a school without proper notable accreditation is questionable, especially one of their most popular programs (MBA) is not even accredited by a professional organization like the AACSB. And for a user without a user page and without a proper talk page to bring this up, is also questionable. I will not remove this nomination as stated in nomination documentation, but the level of collaboration on this particular subject may be lower than usual. - Jameson L. Tai talk ♦ contribs 23:16, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
You know, I don't necessarily see a problem with focusing on University of Phoenix - but the editor who nominated should understand that the controversy surrounding it will be one of the most important elements in its article. Considering U of P's prevalence across the country, its (inflated?) number of enrolled students and the nation-wide controversial attention it has garnered, it might deserve a larger article... it just might be a bitter pill to swallow when it's all done. --Midnightdreary (talk) 23:31, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
I guess it's just a classic case of "Be careful of what you wish for"... - Jameson L. Tai talk ♦ contribs 05:25, 14 January 2008 (UTC)
Exactly, lol. --Midnightdreary (talk) 14:37, 14 January 2008 (UTC)
  • This article is looking much better than it did two weeks ago. Talk about a hot topic, you have to tread lightly with the editors as edit wars and vandalism are common. There was a lot of erroneous information on the page leading to confusing and conflicting thoughts about the content. Referencing and citation, is improved, a little more work to be done on the formatting. Other start class issues have been improved. Attention needs to be given to B class issues, specifically NPOV, and well-rounded coverage. I did not even begin to look into the heart of the Criticism and Controversy sections, other than obvious and false information about the schools accreditation. As to the accuracy of any of the other sections, I have no idea. The regular editors guard this information so much, trying to change any of it is challenging. I think at the heart of the problem that this University is the prime property of a major publicly traded company and some people do not think profit and education should go together. (See Discussion question below). There are editors on the site that seem to focus a lot of editing efforts on for-profit educational institutions like this one and their contributions do not always have a neutral tone. Medicscout (talk) 15:37, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
  • Post discussion/questions here.
Since this school has inherent difference from traditional colleges, (working adult education, large online student body, no research focus, profit/shareholder return orientation), should the outline used be modified from the structure in WP:UNIGUIDE? Working NPOV into this article will be challenging and will find resistance.Medicscout (talk) 15:40, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
I do not believe UOP should receive any special treatment, especially when many other universities offer online courses and degrees in their respective distance learning programs. NPOV should be in every article. Resistance will be greeted with the standard Wikipedia treatment. I don't think we'll have any problems. - Jameson L. Tai talk ♦ contribs 09:22, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] United States Military Academy

  • Post discussion/questions here.

[edit] Rollins College

  • I think this school will be much more enjoyable to work on than UOP. Referencing and citation needs some work, there is a Notes section randomly in the middle of the article. I am working on the structure to comply with WP:UNIGUIDE.Medicscout (talk) 15:39, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
  • Post discussion/questions here.

[edit] General Discussion

  • Post general discussion/questions here.

[edit] Sorry

Sorry I am late in choosing the next COTF. My birthday was on the 30th and the 31st I was sick all day. I'll work on this when I get back home. (I'm in the middle of a lecture at the moment...lol) - Jameson L. Tai talk ♦ contribs 20:12, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Next COTF

When's it coming? :)—Noetic Sage 05:04, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

I am assuming after March 14th, when spring break is over. PGPirate 14:12, 11 March 2008 (UTC)
On March 5th (yeah I posted it a little late, but) I did post this message on top of the COTF page.
Caution The WikiProject Universities COTF is taking a two week break in recognition of Spring Break!
Activity will resume 14 Mar 2008.
Don't Worry, i am working on this. - Jameson L. Tai talk ♦ contribs 15:26, 11 March 2008 (UTC)