Disinfo Squad Expectations

Welcome to the Disinfo Squad!

You have joined an amazing group of people at Albertsons Library who are genuinely excited and proud to serve our great community. Through our work we are contributing to the library’s mission. Albertsons Library leads in developing partnerships to:

• Connect to resources, tools, and expertise any time anywhere
• Create, experiment, explore, and innovate to solve problems
• Cultivate diverse knowledge and skills for life-long success

We are also contributing to meeting the objectives of a grant project, the Boise State University & Wassmuth Center for Human Rights Alternative Reality Game and Media Literacy Initiative, which has been funded by the US Department of Homeland Security. Homeland Security has identified domestic terrorism as a major threat to our democracy, and dis/misinformation as a component in radicalizing people to commit violent acts. Through this project we have the opportunity to do great things by helping our communities deal with the false and misleading hate-based narratives that can lead people to extremism. In this document we will discuss the expectations we have of you, but also what you can expect from us as a student employee at Albertsons Library.

What You Can Expect of Us

CONDUCT
We will provide a welcoming environment in which you can work in accordance with Boise State’s Maintaining an Effective Learning Environment and Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harrassment policies. Furthermore, we understand that life has challenges and circumstances change. Please communicate with us and we will do our best to support your continued contributions to this project.

WORKPLACE & MATERIALS
The library has a variety of spaces to accommodate different styles of working. There are a number of “first come, first served” study rooms throughout the library, but you can also reserve a study room here. The library also has a variety of technology to check out should you need it for some aspect of your work. Laptops are available on a first come, first served basis, but audiovisual equipment must be reserved. The grant has funded the purchase of laptops that can be used during our labs if we are not in a computer lab and you don’t have your own.

COMMUNICATION
Your point of contact will be Elizabeth Ramsey, so if you have any questions about your duties or library services, please reach out to her at elizabethramsey@boisestate.edu. Elizabeth will outline your weekly independent assignments and deadlines, authorize your time entries, and lead our in-person labs. You can expect a same-day response to communications during regular business hours, Monday-Friday, 9-5. Responses outside those hours may take up to 24 hours.

TRAINING & EXPERIENCE
The training and experience you receive through your participation in this project will serve you well in both your academic and professional careers. Elizabeth will meet with each of you at least once each semester to ensure that you are receiving the support you need to complete the tasks at hand and perform your best. You can expect to meet more often if it becomes apparent that you need more support to meet the standards of the project. At the end of the project you can count on Elizabeth to act as a reference for you as you pursue additional opportunities.

WEEKLY DEADLINES
You can expect that each week’s new assignments will be available in Canvas in ample time to meet the weekly submission deadlines. These assignments will prepare you to fully participate in our in-person labs. Assignments will be clearly described including a generous estimate for the time they will take to complete. Expect to take up to 6 hours total to complete them. Completion of these assignments will be essential to participate fully in our lab meetings and to meet our project deadlines. Elizabeth will review your work on each week’s assignments prior to our weekly lab meetings.

Our Expectations of You

CONDUCT
Basically we expect you to act in line with Boise State’s Student Code of Conduct and the group norms that we will establish in our orientation meeting. We expect you to participate actively in our lab discussions. Communication online and in-person should be timely, respectful, and in-line with the team norms we’ll develop early in the project. Information shared online or in our in-person labs should be confidential and should not be shared outside those spaces unless all concerned are in agreement that it is public information.

TIME & ATTENDANCE
Because this project has set objectives, budget, and time limits there is no such thing as make-up work. We will be working quickly and steadily to meet our project objectives. If you miss a deadline for independent assignments we’re unable to pay you for that time. If you miss an in-person lab we’re unable to pay you for that time.

We expect that you’ll submit complete and thoughtful work online by the weekly deadlines. Because email is the primary way we’ll communicate, we expect that you’ll check your email daily and respond to emails within 24 hours. We also expect that you’ll attend every in-person lab on time, staying for the entire scheduled hour(s) or such time as we agree our work is complete.

Communicate with Elizabeth as soon as you can if you need help in completing the work. Also contact Elizabeth if you are unable to complete the work or attend a lab meeting. We expect that you’ll enter your time accurately and by the payroll deadline every two weeks – you’ll receive a reminder email marked IMPORTANT: ENTER TIME a few days before the due date. You will be trained in order to be sure you can enter your time properly.

You can expect that our lab will not meet formally during exam-free week or finals week, but celebratory gatherings are a possibility 🙂