Championing Data Literacy Through Networked Communities: Multi-Campus Carpentries Models

Data professionals most effectively champion data by building sustainable communities beyond individual institutions. This panel examines how multi-campus Carpentries networks enable distributed instruction and peer mentoring across institutional boundaries. We compare the established UC Carpentries model (10 campuses, 500+ annual learners) with emerging efforts at SUNY and across the Northeast, demonstrating how federated governance and shared resources amplify data literacy beyond what single institutions can achieve.

Representatives from three UC campuses demonstrate how distributed instruction operates across IT, libraries, and academic departments, examining the transition from siloed programs to coordinated networks. We highlight shared infrastructure (GitHub templates, registration workflows), sustainable governance (monthly meetings, rotating coordination), and instructor pipeline development (from helpers to instructors to coordinators), with integration into broader UC initiatives such as Love Data Week and UC GIS Week.

Scott Peterson discusses taking the UC model he helped develop to SUNY, which elements transfer, and which require modification for different institutional contexts. A Northeast representative explores cross-institutional coordination beyond single-university systems, including the merger of the New England Software Carpentry Library Consortium and the development of instructor capacity from scratch.

The panel addresses sustainability of distributed leadership, preventing program collapse when key people leave, balancing centralization with campus autonomy, championing FAIR/CARE principles through pedagogy, and working within resource constraints. Facilitated discussion with an audience Q&A session that helps attendees apply networked community principles to their contexts, including university systems, regional consortia, and informal networks.

Participants gain practical strategies for building a collaborative data-literacy infrastructure that endures beyond individual positions and transcends institutional boundaries.