Thank you for this summary. It is very useful.
Would you mind commenting more on lessons learned about the selection of candidates? We need the right now for
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreach_Program_for_Women
On 11/18/2012 05:17 AM, Sumana Harihareswara wrote:
Quim Gil is the administrator for our participation in the Outreach Program for Women, so I'll let him discuss how he wants to manage that and how he'll be setting expectations appropriately. :-)
As commented in another thread, I have just drafted
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:Mentorship_programs
I think mandating two mentors per participant is a very good idea, Quim, what do you think?
Defaulting to two is ok, but we can be flexible here - in both ways. Sometimes a single mentor can be trustworthy, sometimes not even two will convince us. ;)
Just like with candidates, there is no magic formula for mentors (neither for program admins) :)
Also: instead of making newbies write fixed proposals with schedules, these OPW internships can follow broader charters and flex to accommodate students' interests and abilities, and it's easier to rescope iteratively to ensure that something useful gets produced by the end of the three months.
I like a lot your "People are more important than code" meme but we need to find a balance here.
I agree that the candidate shouldn't spend much time with formalities like defining whether task X will take exactly 2 or 3 weeks. Still, it is good (for everybody) to go through that exercise before presenting a proposal. It filters those excessively lazy or unskilled and it helps the candidate and the mentor to see whether the generic idea survives a first reality check.
Still, your concerns are valid, and I have tried to address them in the list of selection criteria.
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:Mentorship_programs#Criteria
So here is my proposal: there should be in place some plan of action, ideally for every project, in case it goes overlong and doesn't get completed in time.
Good idea. Also included in the selection criteria.