Position Title: Policy & Abuse Volunteer
Organization name: Organization for Transformative Works
Committee: Policy & Abuse
Reports to: Policy & Abuse Chair
Time Requirements: 5 hours/week minimum; additional hours for first few weeks for training.
Role overview: The Policy & Abuse Committee is dedicated to helping users and fielding the complaints that come in about content uploaded to the Archive of Our Own. The Policy & Abuse volunteer answers and adjudicates these complaints, following the TOS in rendering a decision, notifying all involved parties of the decision, and recording changes to member files as needed.
Principles:
- Responsiveness – we aim to respond to users’ messages in a helpful, polite, and timely manner
- Transparency – we aim to be as open as possible to both users and other OTW committees
- Confidentiality – we are committed to respecting users’ privacy and handling sensitive information confidentially
Key responsibilities:
- Investigate and collaborate on Policy & Abuse reports.
- Take on tasks within the committee appropriate to skills and experience.
- Learn new skills that may be necessary for fuller participation in the committee.
- Communicate with fellow volunteers in regards to their progress on assigned tasks and projects.
- Work with other volunteers inside or outside of Policy & Abuse to complete tasks and projects.
- Help develop policies for the committee in conjunction with other Policy & Abuse volunteers and related committees.
- Keep track of messages coming through on the Policy & Abuse list and respond where appropriate.
- Communicate with chairs in regard to availability, progress on tasks, and any issues that arise that may impact committee work.
- Manage Fannish Next of Kin requests.
Experience:
- Experience with AO3 as a user required.
Skills:
- English fluency required
- Willingness to learn about the OTW, Policy & Abuse policies & procedures, and the platforms used by the OTW for internal and external communication.
- Patience and ability to respond to users in a courteous and professional fashion under all circumstances
- Sufficient time to spend on Policy & Abuse matters
- Good communication (writing) skills
- Willingness to make difficult or unpopular decisions
- Ability to work collaboratively or independently, depending on situation
- Respect for privacy
Training requirements:
- New Policy & Abuse volunteers will be provided information and training in each of the following areas:
- Policy & Abuse procedures and policies.
- Policy & Abuse Committee’s internal documentation.
- Policy & Abuse Committee’s software tools.
- Policy & Abuse’s basic tasks, including as many Policy & Abuse requests workflow walk-throughs as deemed necessary by the trainee.