Polkadot Blockchain Academy - retroactive funding for wave 3 of the Academy held at UC Berkeley this Summer.
Beneficiary:On behalf of the Polkadot Blockchain Academy (PBA) I am posting this treasury proposal for retroactive funding for the third wave of the Academy. The Polkadot Blockchain Academy at UC Berkeley ran from July 10th to August 10th 2023, in partnership with the Berkeley RDI centre. The program educated 75 students, 55 developer track students and 20 students went through the pilot of the founders track syllabus.
The goal of the Polkadot Blockchain Academy is to help speed the adoption of Polkadot by seeding the ecosystem with educated developers and aspiring Polkadot ecosystem team founders. Currently we offer in person education such as the course held at UC Berkeley, we are also creating online content and have recently made the developer track syllabus materials available for all online.
Below is a link to the proposal in detail.
Comments (16)
Proposal Passed
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Aye (152)0.0 DOT
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Nay (33)0.0 DOT
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After reviewing the reimbursement proposal, I am concerned about the financial aspects in relation to the described impact. The training course, lasting only one month, is requesting 1 million USD, equating to an expenditure of 14,000 USD per student. Given that other organizations have already sponsored educational content and most instructors, the allocation of 850,000 USD solely for accommodation and facilities appears excessive. While I appreciate the goal of nurturing talent within the ecosystem, I find it hard to justify these costs considering the outlined impact. The insistence on an in-person format, especially in an expensive venue, seems unreasonable. It excludes individuals without the means to travel or those tied to jobs but keen on entering the ecosystem. I would be more supportive if the courses were held online, promoting inclusivity and allowing global participation. Additionally, one month is nowhere near sufficient to integrate the body of knowledge required to be proficient in any area. I hope that an online-focused course with a longer duration becomes the way forward as it would significantly enhance the Academy's impact. In my view, a proposal requesting such a significant amount should be subject to community approval before implementation. In this case, I do not believe the cost is justified.
while I like the idea, the fact that you will not provide invoices is concerning considering some of the costs you quote are quite high and in my opinion random. $12,309.91 for swag, $31,240.46 for the Graduation ceremony and other unspecified social events, $54,615.31 for marketing. Another huge issue is the total cost you stated is not correct, you claim the total spent was $1,064,730.58 but if you add up the Cost column the total is actually $1,089,604.48. If you are going to ask for a million dollars and not provide invoices at least take the time to verify that the one page of your proposal relating to cost is actually correct. Before I vote I will give you the opportunity to provide invoices, otherwise I will have to vote Nay