---
# System prepended metadata

title: Slack Channel Cleanup

---

# Slack Channel Cleanup

Hi all, presenting the Education Slack channel reorganization :trumpet: . This change has been vetted by all Education people managers, and we're in agreement that this is a good next step. One of our main goals with this restructure is to greatly reduce the number of channels, create clarity on how we use Slack as a team, and provide an extensible structure for channels within Education, so the next time you are wondering if you should create a channel (and how), you should be able to rely on this framework. 

**Next steps and timeline for this project:**

1. 5/22/23 Sync to discuss proposal/changes and determine rollout timing.
2. 5/24/23 Update structure based on manager feedback 
3. Final manager approval by EOD Thursday 5/25/23
4. Post Discussion informing team of changes on Friday 5/26/23 .
5. 5/26/23-5/30/23 Educats should make sure any important information stored in Slack channels is placed more permanently in an issue or Discussion.
6. 5/31/23 Action owners implement changes.
7. Mid-August Revisit structure with a survey to all Educats for feedback.


# Education Slack Guiding Principles
* Work should be transparent and in the open; private channels/DMs can be used for non-work related connection, and/or sensitive topics but most work should happen in our core public channels.
* Slack is ephemeral, as important things are uncovered/discussed they are preserved in a discussion or issue on GitHub. 
* We want to keep the number of Education channels to a minimum. If you think a new channel could be warranted, follow [the guide below](https://hackmd.io/_ATKqQqHSSqVqlcUg_stnQ?both#Channel-Creation-Framework) to help in the decision making and naming process.
* We don't create a channel for each project or initiative, but utilize existing core channels.
* Utilize threads. When a topic is being discussed in one of our core channels, respond in a thread to keep the conversation contained. Managers will be gently reminding folks to thread conversations, but as a team we can all kindly help each other with this approach.
*  Utilize team aliases and @mention folks when you want their eyes. Given the volume that we may see in some channels, it is now a team norm to be @mentioned when your eyes are needed. 

## Should I create a new channel?

Part of the intention behind this effort is to greatly minimize the number of Slack channels that the Education team utilizes. If you are wondering if you should start a new channel, first ask yourself these questions:

1. Is this topic something that should live in a discussion or issue? Discussions are useful for decision making, documenting change, etc. Issues are the right medium for tracking work. Slack is useful for real time communication that is ephemeral and doesn't need to be documented long term.
2. If Slack still seems like the right place, does this topic belong in one of our [existing core channels](https://hackmd.io/_ATKqQqHSSqVqlcUg_stnQ?both#Core-Channels)? If yes, create a thread in that channel. If you're not sure, reach out to your manager and they can guide you to the right channel.
3. If none of the above works for your use case (event planning, partner channel, etc), it's time to create a new channel. 

## How to create a new channel

Prefix all education channels with `#edu-` so they are easily identifiable as belonging to Education. 

For any channels that are ephemeral and have an end point in time add `-temp` to the channel name as well, as in, `#edu-temp-channelname`. If this type of channel recurs annually (think annual events) add the year as well. `#edu-temp-eventname23`.  

When you create the channel, set a clear topic and a known end date (if applicable).

# Core channels
Below is the list of core channels we want to utilize as a team.

`#education`
This is where Education communicates to the company, and where the company communicates with Education. It's our front door and where we provide support.

> A Note on Support: As a Phase 1 of the Slack channel cleanup we will pin pertinent support info in the channel. We acknowledge that how we handle support could use more thought than a sub-bullet within the context of a Slack overhaul (h/t to jessrudder's thoughtful [comment](https://github.com/github/education/discussions/1466#discussioncomment-5775823) on this discussion), and a separate Discussion will be opened to continue that conversation in more detail. Anyone who feels passionate about this area of work should raise their hand :smile:. 

`educats`
Place for team wide discussion, announcements, updates, team building, chatter, inflating the `.sparkle` economy etc.

`#edu-global-campus`
Encompasses any feature and programs work that rolls up into the Global Campus umbrella product e.g. Octernships, Campus Exchange, Campus Experts, Events, Learning Paths, Onboarding, Experiences, Student Journey, etc.

`#edu-honor-roll` 
Encompasses any feature and programs work that rolls up into Honor Roll.

`#edu-classroom`
Encompasses any feature and programs work that rolls up into Classroom, e.g. CLI, Codespaces, etc.

`#edu-marketing-site`
Encompasses any feature and programs work that rolls up into the marketing site, including the current redesign and ongoing iterations, changes, etc.

## Team aliases
@edu-programs (all edu programs team members)
@edu-eng (all edu engineers)
@edu-product (all edu product managers)
@edu-design (all education designers)
@global-campus-eng
@classroom-eng
@honor-roll-eng

## Total channel list with changes
This list encompasses ALL of the Education channels and any upcoming changes that will take place on 5/31/23

| Name | Current Purpose | Members | Public/Private | Action | Action Owner 
| ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- |
| #classroom | Managing Classroom work | Classroom EPD | Public | name change: #edu-classroom | @nixpad |
| #classroom-ops | PRs, issues, deployments for Classroom | Classroom team | Public | name change: #edu-classroom-ops | @nixpad | 
| #edu-leads | Edu leadership team | ----------- | Private | keep as is | -- | 
| #edu-marketing-site-revamp | Ongoing marketing site work | EPD + programs | Private | rename #edu-marketing-site, make public| @kvignali | 
| #education | All education updates are posted here via Discussions, folks from the rest of GitHub can interact with the Education team here  | All of education + other GitHub folks who drop in | Public | bookmark/pin support documents | @nixpad |
| #education-alerts | For all monitoring alerts related to education-web and classroom | edu-web and classroom engineers | Public | name change: #edu-alerts | @snankani |
| #education-ops | Robots posting about deployments, etc. | edu-web and classroom engineers + curious Educats | Public | name change: #edu-ops | @snankani |
| #education-web | Managing the work to improve education.github.com | Global campus and honor roll EPD | Public | name change: #edu-global-campus | @kvignali |
| #education-web-epd-banter | silliness | edu-web EPD group | Private | name change: #edu-web-epd-banter | @kvignali |
| #github-embassy | (external channel) A place for Hack Clubbers to talk all things GitHub | Hack Club members + edu programs | public | rename to edu-github-embassy (if possible)| @elisemoe |
| #github-graduation |  A place to plan, track, and celebrate GitHub Graduation, an event hosted by the GitHub Education team. | Edu program and community managers | Public | name change: #edu-temp-graduation2023 | @elisemoe |
| #hackcon2023 | Discussion of GitHub Education's engagement for MLH Hackon 2023 in US and India | just @dysomatic right now | Public | name change: edu-temp-hackcon2023 | @dysomatic | 
| #honor-roll | team/work chatter | Honor roll team | Public | name change: edu-honor-roll | @kvignali | 
| #education-imprintengine | Communications with imprint engine re: edu swag | Imprint engine staff + program/community managers| Public | update to #edu-temp-imprintengine | @kvignali |
| #mlh-education | MLH partnership | MLH team + Programs | Public | update to #edu-mlh | @elisemoe |
| #replit-ghc | Replit partnership | Replit team + Programs | Public | update to #edu-replit-ghc | @elisemoe |



# Channels to Archive

### Active channels that need further advisement 
| Name | Purpose | Members | Public/Private | Action | Action Owner |
| ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- |
| #campus-program | GitHub Campus Program pipeline updates and support | GCP team members/Sales/AEs/AMs | Public | archive for #education | @elisemoe | 
| #education-analysts | Education Analysts + first responders connecting over issues | Education analysts + edu-web engineers/product | Public | what's possible here? because these folks are contractors are they not allowed to be part of #education where other support will take place? Need more context | ----------- |


### Active channels to Archive
| Name | Purpose | Members | Public/Private | Action | Action Owner | 
| ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- |----------- |
| #classroom-cli | Managing Classroom/CLI work | Classroom EPD | Public | archive for #edu-classroom | @nixpad |
| #classroom-codespaces | Managing Classroom/Codespaces work | Classroom EPD | Public | archive for #edu-classroom | @nixpad |
| #edu-bookclub | Discussing Polished Ruby Programming | curious educats | Public | archive for #educats | @kvignali |
| #edu-epd-leads | OKR and management discussions | Education EPD leads | Private | archive | @kvignali |
| #edu-eppd-campus-experts| Engineering+program+product+design can discuss our campus expert work | EPD + programs | Public | archive for #edu-global-campus | @elisemoe |
| #edu-programs-in-progress | ----------- | ----------- | Private | archive for #educats | @elisemoe |
| #education-community | Campus Experts, Stream Team, Education Discord and Discussion, regional events and sponsorships | Education Program + Community team members | Public | archive for #education or #educats? | @elisemoe |
| #education-epic-updates | Epic updates from education-web | ? | Public | add bot to #edu-global-campus and #edu-honor-roll, respectively? | @snankani |
| #education-gcpe | Global Campus and Partnership Engagement | global campus program and community managers | Public | archive for #edu-global-campus | @dysomatic |
| #education-joy | Inflating the education sparkle economy | Educats | Private | continue to `.sparkle` away in #educats | @kvignali |
| #education-lt | Edu + ECOSS leadership | ----------- | Private | archive | @elisemoe |
| #education-private | important announcements and discussions for the Education EPD team, as well as chit chat and fun banter  | ----------- | Private | archive for #educats | ? |
| #education-product | Edu product managers connecting | Edu product managers | Private | archive | @kvignali |
| #education-product-transition | channel to discuss octernships as the team transitioned | EPD + programs | private | archive for #edu-global-campus | @kvignali |
| #education-programs | Programs team channel chatter | Edu programs team members |  Private | archive for #educats | @elisemoe |
| #education-roulette | Random pairings with other Educats every two weeks | interested Educats | Public | `team` `fun` | archive for #educats | @kvignali |
| #education-team | ----------- | ----------- | Private | ----------- | archive for #education + #educats | ? |
| #education-web-standups | Geekbot runs daily async standup  | edu-web engineers | Public | bake into #edu-global-campus and #edu-honor-roll as needed | @snankani |
| #gc-octernships | Private discussion of octernships?  | programs/EPD | Private | archive for #edu-global-campus | @kvignali |
| #global-campus-student-journey | Discuss upcoming phase of work in Global Campus around the student journey | EPD + programs | public | archive for #edu-global-campus | @kvignali |
| #octernships | Public discussion of Octernships | Programs | Public | archive for #edu-global-campus | @kvignali |

### Inactive Channels to Archive
| Name | Purpose | Members | Public/Private | Action | Action Owner
| ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- |
| #campus-experts-profile-app | ? | 2 programs team members | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #campus-experts-profile-app-ops | campus expert app deploy bot | the bot | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #campus-party-brasil | plan GitHub's presence at Campus Party Brasil | Programs team members | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #classroom-feedback | Auto posts user feedback on GitHub Classroom | 1 SE, Accessibility | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #edu-admin-research | channel for research of Uni Admins | 1 deactivated account | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #edu-msft-ea | Coordination and launch around the MS EA | 0 | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #edu-summer-oss | Planning around Summer Student Program | 0 | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #edu-web-q3-dev | ? | 0 | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #educat-copenhagen22| ECOSS summit channel for Educats | Educats | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #education-field-day | Planning and Organisation around GitHub Field Day | 1 programs team member | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #education-web-efficiency-improvement | edu-web efficiency | 0 | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #github-twilioquest | ----------- | ----------- | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #github-replit | GitHub Education + Repl.it | none | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #gcp-actions | ? | 2 PMs in other parts of org | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #ie-edu-africa | international expansion discussions | 1 programs team member | Public | Archive | @kvignali |
| #osca-github | plan for the GitHub presence at OSCA Fest 2022 | 2 programs team member | Public | Archive | @kvignali|






























