OPEnS Promotion Guide

OPEnS Staff learn skills and gain experience over time that add value to our Lab, projects, and community. We wish to acknowledge these achievements as best as possible. We are a grant-funded, educational institution - not a company - so we hope to do our very best to add value to your resume as well as your pay as possible.

Promotion will be achievement-driven. Everyone brings very different roles and skill sets to our projects and lab infrastructure, so a one-size-fits all approach will not work. The alternative is assembling a promotion Portfolio. Contents of your portfolio are detailed below. When you are ready to apply for promotion, you will do two things: 1) Portfolios will be submitted in digital format on Google Drive Folder to the Lab Director for review. Please expect a 2 week turn-around, more if the director is out of town. 2) Schedule a follow-up interview with the Lab Director to go over performance and content of your portfolio to see if you qualify. In some cases, an interview and portfolio may be declined without review if the portfolio is incomplete, or there is not enough content to make a fair judgement. Reasons for decline will be clearly communicated.

Tiers of OPEnS Achievements that unlock merit-based increases (raise amounts are added to the Lab base pay rate):

• Advanced Prototyper, Programmer, or Systems Designer - Complete portfolio submitted and successfully reviewed by Lab Director. $1.25/hr pay raise, Title to put on resume
• Lead Researcher - First Author or (Co-author if load is split equally, closely monitored by Director) publication submitted to peer review journal for review in consultation with Lab Director. $1.00/hr pay raise, Title to put on resume
• Co-Researcher - Listed as co-author on a published peer reviewed article, significant contribution must be documented. $0.50/hr pay raise, Title to put on resume
• Scholar - First Author publication officially accepted for release. $0.50/hr pay raise, Title to put on resume
• Field Tech - Lead or assist with OPEnS Field Deployment. Title to put on your resume
• Assembly Manager - Plan and lead an OPEnS build party. Title to put on resume

Content of Promotion Portfolio

• 1-page executive summary of your achievements in the lab. This will be a concise narrative outlining your key achievements
• Timeline, 2 options or combination based on focus:
  • A copy of your project timeline page from the master OPEnS Timeline Spreadsheet, all details completely filled out indicating the progress of your project
  • In the case of non-project-oriented staff such as Loom Programmers, include a timeline of dates and major achievements you wish to be considered
• Github Repo
  • A useful Readme
  • Code - has been validated working by 3rd party
  • CAD (PCB, 3D)
  • Docs
• Github Wiki with all relevant content and updates, all links work
• Portfolio of media (publication-quality photos, field deployment photos, video of operations)

Idiomatic Content (Include if relevant, consult with Director if unsure)

• Links to datasets collected with your device with appropriate proof of validation (sensors reflect real life in the field). Time-series plotted preferred
• Documentation that your project remained 100% fully functional in the field for 4 consecutive weeks without intervention.
• Build Guides
• Operation Manual
• Troubleshooting Manual
• Documentation log of Resolved GitHub Issues
• Demonstration of Github pull requests or project adoption from 3rd party organizations

Provisional Promotion

A verbal project review may be conducted with the Lab Director to assess if all portfolio requirements have been met, but for some reason circumstances prevent formatting and submitting the portfolio in a timely manner. In these circumstances, an immediate provisional pay increase between $0.25 - $0.50 / hr may be approved toward completion of the requirements for Advanced Prototyper, Programmer, or Systems Designer. The title and difference in pay increase to the $1/hr total will be awarded after review of the portfolio.