About SUMO

What is SUMO?

SUMO is a program that offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source projects. This program is strongly inspired from Google Summer of Code(TM). This web page has been adapted from the one I found on their website to reflect SIDE-Labs goals and requirements.

This project has no link at all with Google Summer Of Code (TM), except the fact I inspired myself a lot from their program.

What are the differences with Google Summer Of Code (TM)?

There are two main differences:

1. While GSOC targets coding activities, SUMO targets domain modeling as well. Ideally, half the projects should be coding ones, the other half being modeling ones.
2. SUMO targets not only summer interships, but also 'all the year' projects. 2 sessions are scheduled, one during the summer, the other one during automn. According SUMO's success, a third session could be scheduled on winter. No spring session will be created because young people also need time to meet each other :-)

What are the goals of this program?

SUMO has several goals:

• Create and release open source model & code for the benefit of all
• Inspire young domain specialists to begin participating in open source modeling
• Inspire young developers to begin participating in open source development
• Help open source projects identify and bring in new contributors and committers
• Provide students the opportunity to do work related to their academic pursuits during the summer (think "flip bits and models, not burgers")
• Give students more exposure to real-world software development scenarios (e.g., distributed modeling and development, models & software licensing questions, mailing-list etiquette)

Is SUMO a recruiting program?

Not at all. SIDE-Labs aims at becoming a foundation in a very near future. Nevertheless, to be completely transparent, SIDE-Labs may use the results of the program to help identify potential recruits for itself or its partners, but that's not the focus of the program. The only focus point is, the more models & code out there, the more everyone benefits.

Additionally, we think that participation in SUMO will make sutdents more attractive to potential employers. We'll be really pleased if SUMO program may help somebody to get a job. It is another way to see sustainability finally :-)

How many mentoring organizations does SIDE-Labs expect to take part in the program?

We expect to work with 25 organizations this year.

How many students does SIDE-Labs expect to take part in the program?

We expect to fund approximately 50 student projects this year.

When can I apply for SUMO?

We'll begin accepting applications from open source mentoring organizations on May 10, 2010; we'll stop accepting organization applications on May 31st.

The student application period begins May 24, 2010 and ends June 4th.

Students must absolutely fulfill the project template available there.

How does the program work?

Here are the steps: 1. Open source projects who'd like to participate in SUMO in 2010 should choose an organization administrator(s) to represent them 2. Organization administrators will submit the project's application for participation online 3. SIDE-Labs will notify the organization administrators of acceptance, and an account for the organization will be created on the SUMO 2010 site 4. Students submit project proposals online to work with particular mentoring organizations 5. Mentoring organizations rank student proposals and perform any other due diligence on their potential mentees; student proposals are matched with a mentor 6. SIDE-Labs allocates a particular number of student slots to each organization 7. Students are notified of acceptance 8. Students begin learning more about their mentoring organization and its community before coding work starts 9. Students begin coding work at the official start of the program, provided they've interacted well with their community up until the program start date 10. Mentors and students provide mid-term progress evaluations 11. Mentors provide a final evaluation of student progress at close of program; students submit a final review of their mentor and the program 12. Student uploads completed code to SIDE-Labs Code hosted project

How do evaluations work?

SIDE-Labs will pre-publish the evaluation questions for both students and mentors. Mentors will fill out mid-term and final evaluations for their students via the SUMO 2010 site. These evaluations will be visible in the system to the mentor and the mentoring organization's administrator(s). Students will fill out a mid-term and final evaluation of their mentors online as well, and their evaluations will only be visible in the system to the mentoring organization's administrator(s). Program administrators from SIDE-Labs will have access to all evaluation data.

In almost all cases, students will never see their mentor's evaluation of their progress, nor will a mentor see a student's evaluation of her/his mentorship. However, in the case where the mentoring organization's administrator and a student's mentor are one and the same, the student's evaluation will be shared with the mentor. Organization administrators are expected to review mid-term and final evaluations and to provide course corrections where necessary.

In some cases, SIDE-Labs's program administrators may need to share the results of evaluations with the student and mentor, such as to arbitrate when payment should not be made. Should this need arise, all parties will be notified in advance.