Calico 2024

What is the program’s timeline?

What are Calico’s goals?

Calico has several goals:

1. Create and release open source code for the benefit of all
2. Inspire young developers to begin participating in open source development
3. Help open source projects identify and bring in new developers and committers
4. Provide students the opportunity to do work related to their academic pursuits
5. Give students more exposure to real-world software development scenarios (e.g., distributed development, software licensing questions, mailing-list etiquette)

Is Calico a recruiting program?

Not really. We expect sponsors to use the results of the program to help identify potential recruits, but that’s not the focus of the program. The intention is to expose participants to the latest coding techniques and tools for the benefit of the wider software community.

We hope that participants will become more attractive to potential employers, and business partners, not just sponsors.

How many students are expected to participate each year?

We have set a target of 3 students to work with for Calico.

How does the program work?

Here are the steps:

1. Students submit project proposals online to work with The Palisadoes Foundation.
2. The Palisadoes Foundation ranks student proposals and performs any other due diligence on their potential students; student proposals are matched with a mentor.
3. The Palisadoes Foundation makes its final decision on which students to accept into the program.
4. Students are notified of acceptance.
5. Students begin learning more about the repositories and our community before coding work starts.
6. 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.
7. Mentors and students provide mid-term progress evaluations.
8. Mentors provide a final evaluation of student progress at close of program; students submit a final review of their mentor and the program.
9. Students provide links to their uploaded GitHub code and reference links to their pull requests.

When can I apply for Calico?

Please refer to the deadline mentioned in the timeline section of this page.

How do evaluations work?

There are a few simple steps we follow:

1. Palisadoes will pre-publish the evaluation questions for both students and mentors.
2. Mentors will fill out midterm and final evaluations for their students and submit them to the Palisadoes Foundation. Program administrators from Palisadoes will have access to all evaluation data.
3. Students will fill out a midterm and final evaluation of their mentors online as well. Program administrators from Palisadoes will have access to all evaluation data.
4. Any student who does not submit an evaluation by the evaluation deadline will fail that evaluation, regardless of the grade the mentor gives the student.
5. If a student submits his or her evaluation on time but the mentor does not, then the student is in an “undecided” state until the program administrators can speak to the mentor and determine the student’s grade.
6. Students who fail the mid-term are immediately removed from the program: it’s not possible to fail the mid-term, stay in the program, and then have a final evaluation.
7. 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.
8. The Palisadoes Foundation administrators are expected to review midterm and final evaluations and to provide course corrections where necessary.
9. The Palisadoes Foundation administrators may choose to speak to students about their midterm and final evaluation responses directly.
10. In some cases, Palisadoes’ 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.
11. In the unlikely event that a mentor and the Palisadoes Foundation’s administrators do not agree on a student’s grade for any evaluation, the decision of the Palisadoes Foundation administrators is the final one.
12. In the also unlikely event that a student does not agree with a mentor’s evaluation decision at either the midterm or the final, the student may choose to submit his/her entire project plan, timeline and code sample to Palisadoes’ program administrators. Palisadoes will choose an advising engineer who is not working with to review the code and arbitrate the decision. The decision of Palisadoes’ independent engineer is final.

How does a student apply?

There is no application form. You submit a proposal using this template as a guide. The form contains details on the application process. Submit your proposal this address before the application deadline:

We expect the best proposals to be from students who took the time to interact and discuss their ideas before submitting a proposal, so make sure to check out our Ideas list to get to know our repositories better. In addition to a proposal, students will be required to sign a Student Participation Agreement and submit their Proof of Enrollment forms.

What should a student proposal look like?

Your proposal should include the following:

1. Your project proposal,
2. Why you’d like to execute on this particular project,
3. The reason you’re the best individual to do so.

Your proposal should also include details of your academic, industry, and/or open source development experience, and other details as you see fit. An explanation of your development methodology is a good idea, as well. It is always helpful to include contact information as well, as it will not be automatically shared with your would-be mentors as part of the proposal process.

Please use the recommended template for your proposal. It is linked from the ideas page. Check the forms section of this page.

Regardless of what you include in your proposal, we recommend you speak to our team on on our slack channel to get a better idea of what we are looking for in a proposal to give you the best chance of success in your proposal.

Can a student submit more than one proposal?

Yes, each student may submit up to five proposals. However, only one proposal will be accepted. Quality is better than quantity.

Can students already working on an open source project continue to work on it as part of Calico?

Yes, as long as they meet all other requirements for program eligibility. Students should be sure to note their previous relationship with the project in their proposals. New work will need to be done for the project as part of participation in Calico.

Can students already working on an open source project continue to work on it as part of Calico?

Yes, as long as they meet all other requirements for program eligibility. Students should be sure to note their previous relationship with the project in their proposals. New work will need to be done for the project as part of participation in Calico.

Can a student work on more than one project?

No, each participant may only work on one project and is only eligible for one stipend.

What happens if two students are accepted to work on the same project, e.g. from the Ideas list?

That’s fine, a little duplication is par for the course in open source. The Palisados Foundation administrators will have the final say in which project becomes the final solution.

Are proposals for documentation work eligible for Calico?

While we greatly appreciate the value of documentation, this program is an exercise in developing code; we can’t accept proposals for documentation-only work at this time.

Are there any age restrictions on participating?

Yes. You must be at least 18 years of age when you register to participate in Calico.

Who is eligible to participate?

• You must be a Jamaican student residing in Jamaica for the duration of the exercise.
• Students must also be eligible to work in the Jamaica for the duration of the exercise.
• Palisadoes defines a student as an individual enrolled in or accepted into an accredited institution including (but not necessarily limited to) high schools, colleges, universities, masters programs, PhD programs and undergraduate programs.
• You should be prepared, upon registration, to provide Palisadoes with transcripts or other documentation from your accredited institution as proof of enrollment or admission status. Please see the document on Proof of Enrollment if you have questions about what form(s) we required.
• Computer Science does not need to be your field of study in order to participate in the program.You may be enrolled as a full-time or part-time student.
• While in the program you will not be employed by Palisadoes.

Who is eligible to participate?

• You must be a Jamaican student residing in Jamaica for the duration of the exercise.
• Students must also be eligible to work in the Jamaica for the duration of the exercise.
• Palisadoes defines a student as an individual enrolled in or accepted into an accredited institution including (but not necessarily limited to) high schools, colleges, universities, masters programs, PhD programs and undergraduate programs.
• You should be prepared, upon registration, to provide Palisadoes with transcripts or other documentation from your accredited institution as proof of enrollment or admission status. Please see the document on Proof of Enrollment if you have questions about what form(s) we required.
• Computer Science does not need to be your field of study in order to participate in the program.You may be enrolled as a full-time or part-time student.
• While in the program you will not be employed by Palisadoes.

Is my school acredited?

You can read more about accreditation for universities in Jamaica or you can ask yourself the following questions about your institution:

1. Does Jamaica consider that institution to be a valid university/college/etc capable of bestowing academic awards?

AND

2. Does that institution consider you a student to the extent that it issues you with material such as identification cards, or written letters confirming that position?

Please note that participating in online courses, even if they are with accredited universities, does not alone constitute enrollment. You must be/will be a matriculated student at the university.

Who is not eligible to participate as a student in Calico?

Palisadoes employees, interns, contractors, or family members thereof.

Who is not eligible to participate as a student in Calico?

Palisadoes employees, interns, contractors, or family members thereof.

I have been accepted into an accredited post-secondary school program, but have not yet begun attending. Can I still take part in the program?

As long as you are accepted into or enrolled in a college or university program as of the Calico enrollment date, you are eligible to participate in the program. Students will be asked by Palisadoes to provide proof of enrollment during registration.

I graduate in the middle of the program. Can I still participate?

As long as you are accepted into or enrolled in a college or university program as of the Calico enrollment date, you are eligible to participate in the program. Students will be asked by Palisadoes to provide proof of enrollment during registration.

Can students who have participated in Calico in past years apply again this year?

Yes, provided you meet all other eligibility requirements, you are welcome and encouraged to apply for this year’s instance of the program. You might also want to consider becoming a mentor instead.

I would like to participate in Calico as both a mentor and a student. Is this possible?

No. We’ve given this question a lot of thought, and we’ve decided it is best not to allow participants to act as a mentor to another Calico student while they are working on their own Calico student project.

We want to make sure that each project and student receives sufficient attention, and we’re concerned that this split in focus could create a bad experience for those involved. Please choose whether participation as a mentor or a student is more appealing to you and plan to apply accordingly.

How much time is required to participate as a student in Calico?

The amount of time you will need depends on both the scope of your project and our requirements. While we may offer some flexibility around milestone completion dates, you should expect your project to be your primary focus during the summer. If you have a great internship starting soon or you’re planning a month long backpacking trip, you likely won’t be a good candidate for the program.

Should students contact the Palisadoes Foundation before the program begins?

If you’re interested in contributing to a particular open source project, there’s no need to wait for Calico to start; start talking in the project’s Slack channel, subscribe to our development mailing lists, take a look through the bug tracker and submit a patch. If you see something that you think would make a particularly good project for Calico, why not suggest it to us?

Will I get paid if my code is not integrated in the Palisadoes Foundation’s repositories?

Yes. Whether or not the project uses the produced code does not impact the student stipend, only passing evaluations do.

Is Calico considered a job or any form of employment?

No. This is an activity that the student performs as a student developer for which he/she is paid a stipend.

Can I participate in Calico and not be paid?

No. We welcome you to volunteer whenever you like, but participating in Calico means you must accept the stipend.

Who owns the code produced by student developers?

Each student must license all Calico code under an Open Source Initiative approved license of the the Palisadoes Foundation’s repository.

What licenses do I have to choose from?

Only the license applied to repository will be applicable.

What language(s) should a student program in?

Talk with potential mentors about this and other technical style questions. Of course, the Python people will prefer Python submissions, and so on. Students should let the us know in their proposals what languages they’re thinking about using.

Where does development occur?

All development occurs online; there is no requirement to travel as part of the program. Palisadoes makes no provisions for office space or travel to mentoring locations. Any such travel is undertaken outside the scope of the program.

All code development must happen in the open and all code must be made available publicly. Students may mirror development on their personal infrastructure if they wish. Students must also provide a copy of their code to Palisadoes to be publicly hosted by us.

How do payments work?

Palisadoes will provide a total stipend of 1,500 USD per accepted student developer.
The aim is that mentors will receive a contribution in future years as acceptance grows.

1. Stipends are paid in three parts, one after each successful evaluation.
2. First Evaluation (paid ~July 29): 45%
3. Final Evaluation (paid ~September 20): 55%
4. Please note that Palisadoes cannot issue any payments until the proper tax-related documentation is submitted. The forms required will be provided to you and you do not need to submit them until you are asked to do so by Palisadoes. More detailed documentation on payments will be sent to you.

I would like to use the work I did for my Calico project to obtain course credit from my university. Is this acceptable?

Absolutely. If you need documentation from Palisadoes to provide to your school so you can obtain course credit, we can provide it to you. We will not provide documentation to you until we have received a positive final evaluation from your mentor.

Isn’t it unusual for open source developers to be paid?

Not really. It is a common occurrence. Some contributors run their own consultancies, others tinker for some cash on the side, others work for large companies.

What documentation is required from students?

We will need the following documentation from all students:

1. A transcript/proof of enrollment in school. A pdf or electronic file of the transcripts is acceptable.
2. We will need the following documentation only from students accepted into the program:
3. For students based in the United States, we will need a completed IRS form W9.
4. For students based outside the United States, we will need a completed Foreign Certification form.
5. Detailed instructions for obtaining and returning your tax form to Palisadoes will be sent to the private students’ mailing list. We will need to have all of this documentation on file before issuing payments to accepted students.

Ideas Lists

Your application form will ask you to propose an idea for the project. Here is a list of ideas that need to be completed. Feel free to consider these or create your own.

Tutorials

Many of the projects may use applications and concepts with which you are not familiar. Please check The Palisadoes Foundation YouTube channel for helpful foundation tutorials provided by each project.

How can I volunteer to help?

We usually have two volunteers each year who provide help to us. Most of the activities are concentrated in the spring and summer months.

The responsibilities include:

1. Follow up with students and mentors on the submission of documentation. this includes:
   1. Signing Memorandums of Understanding with students and mentors
   2. Signing of Milestones for projects
   3. Submission of mid-term and final mentor and student evaluations.
   4. Getting short biographies and photos of students finally selected for the program.
2. Following up with the Jamaica Computer Society to verify our bank account balances and ensure students are paid on time.
3. Occasional social media postings. (Mostly reminders for students to submit documents, posting of information about trips to sponsors)
4. Coordinate student visits with sponsors. These need to be planned 2 to 3 months in advance.
5. Get photos of students working and enjoying campus life while using information technology that we can use for newsletters, social media, flyers etc.
6. Get students to signup for our mailing lists and follow us on social media.

This is a great opportunity for students to get involved and understand how an international non-profit operates. Successful volunteers are always in demand by our sponsors.