Proposing an Outreachy Project#

This section documents the process of proposing and submitting projects for Outreachy rounds.

Who can submit a project proposal#

Anyone in the JupyterHub community can submit a project proposal by following the process outlined below. Just because you have a project idea, it does not mean that you are required to mentor it. In an ideal world, those who propose projects would also mentor them. However, the world is not ideal and sometimes folk don’t have the time to mentor even if they have a good project idea. Instead, we can hopefully generate a board of project ideas that can provide inspiration to those who do have the capacity to mentor.

See also

You can view the List of Project Proposals

Project proposal and scoping process#

If you have an idea for an Outreachy project, you can open a scoping issue using the “Propose a Project for an Outreachy round” issue form. Opening an issue allows it to be compiled into our List of Project Proposals.

The issue for will ask for a short summary of the project idea, whether or not you have capacity to mentor the project yourself or if someone else can claim it, and a link to a collaborative document where you are scoping the proposal. You can populate the document from this template which duplicates the Outreachy project submission form. The issue can then be used to request feedback on the proposal, or coordinate with co-mentors.

Labelling project proposals#

We use labels to distinguish projects from one other types of issues on the repository, and their status with regards to scoping and submission. This is because we can generate a URL that filters issues on labels and can be easily distributed. For example https://github.com/jupyterhub/outreachy/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+sort%3Aupdated-desc+label%3Aproject-proposal

  • GitHub labels: Each new project proposal created with the form receives this label

  • GitHub labels: If the project proposal is in need of a mentor to steward it through the Outreachy round, this label can be used to signal boost that need

  • Status labels: We have various status labels that can be used to differentiate where a project proposal is within the . These are:

    • GitHub labels: The proposal is still being scoped and written up

    • GitHub labels: This project proposal has been submitted to the Outreachy platform and will be receiving applications

    • GitHub labels: This project proposal was successful in finding a suitable intern and will be mentored

    • GitHub labels: A suitable intern was not found for this project proposal and will not be mentored. These project proposals may be resubmitted to future rounds.

Claiming a project proposal in need of a mentor#

If you would like to claim a project proposal that is looking for a mentor:

  1. Comment on the relevant issue stating that you would like to mentor this project

  2. Check with the original proposer regarding their capcity to mentor? Would they like to co-mentor the project with you, or do they have no capacity at all?

  3. Remove the needs: mentor label from the issue

  4. Begin scoping the project and completing the project proposal template. The original proposer may have some cycles to help do this if they had a specific vision.

Submitting the project to the Outreachy platform#

Once you’re happy with the abstract and details for your project proposal, feel free to create an account on the Outreachy platform and submit your proposal. It will then be approved by the Community Coordinator, and you can begin preparations for The Outreachy Contribution Period.

Attention

There will be a specific link for mentor sign-up once the community is registered to participate. Your Community Coordinator should be able to share this link with you.

Resubmitting an unsuccessful project proposal#

If a project proposal was unsuccessful in finding a suitable intern, the following actions should be taken:

  1. Add the status: no intern found label to the issue

  2. There are then two pathways:

    • If you are the original proposer and you do have capacity to mentor in the next round, notify your Community Coordinator that you will be resubmitting the proposal

    • If you do not have capacity to mentor the next round, add the needs: mentor label to indicate that the proposal is available to be claimed

Assigning a co-mentor#

Once you have submitted your project, you can invite someone to be a co-mentor with you. They will receive an email invitation to create an Outreachy account and accept co-mentoring responsibilities. Co-mentoring is encouraged to spread the responsibility and guide newer mentors into the role.

Closing project proposal issues#

Once an intern has been selected for the project, it’s proposal issue can be closed.