(this note is similar to one that I sent to the Eclipse
Foundation Members and Committers list)
We have started the process of applying as a mentoring
organization for the Google Summer of Code on behalf of the
Eclipse Foundation. The Google Summer of Code programme connects
post-secondary students with our open source projects by pairing
students with mentors. Essentially, the programme funds the
students to work with you. The Eclipse Foundation has
participated in the programme since 2006 and has taken a lot
value out of that participation.
After we've been accepted as a mentoring organization, we'll
make a call for mentors. The first stage of mentoring is to
review and rank student proposals; and (optionally) volunteer to
be a mentor for specific student projects. This process requires
that we evaluate student project proposals and make a call
regarding whether or not we believe that the student has the
skills and dedication to the complete the task.
You will only be required to mentor those students that you've
opted to mentor (assuming the student's project proposal is
accepted by the process). As a mentor, you will be required to
check in regularly with the student, provide assistance in
various forms, and complete both a midterm and final assessment.
We've gotten some valuable work out of the students over the
years. Many of the students that we've worked on have continued
as contributors to our open source projects, and many have
become committers (and mentors for other students). By way of
expectation management, however, you should regard participation
in this programme primarily as that of relationship building
rather than a means of getting a bunch of work done for free.
If you've read this far, then you're probably interested. Most
of our future communication regarding this project will occur on
the soc-dev
mailing list (including links and information regarding
how to apply as a mentor). If you'd like to keep up with the
status of our participation in the programme, ask questions, or
just lurk, please sign up for that mailing list.
If you need more information, we maintain a wiki
page. We'll be updating the content on that page over the
next week or so. Feel free to add your project to the "Ongoing
Projects" section of that document, and please do add a section
for your project to the ideas
page (this is the page where students are sent to find
ideas for their project proposals). It is, of course, a wiki, so
feel free to play with the format to draw attention to your
ideas.
Thanks for your attention. We're looking forward to another
great year with Google Summer of Code.
Wayne