Outreachy report #38: October 2022
We received an outstanding amount of initial applications this round: 4,426 of them, in fact! This October, we focused our efforts on reviewing every single application and supporting applicants, mentors, and coordinators throughout the contribution period.
Two things delayed the announcement of approved initial applications:
- A thousand more applications than expected;
- Delays in setting up initial application reviewers papers (contracts and other essential documentation).
As the initial application format we launched in 2018 matures, I worry about how initial application review will scale up in the next 2-3 years. Our first cohort with a dedicated community manager has resulted in a surplus of applications we haven’t seen before in such a short period of time; while recruiting more initial application reviewers make sense, I worry we’re hitting one of the oldest, most fundamental software engineering problems: the mythical man-month.
Initial application reviewing is such a complex task it takes one or two cohorts for reviewers to hit a high reviewing speed. We’ve worked towards building a training framework that introduces them to fundamental concepts and interfaces, but some things can only be achieved after a couple of weeks or months of experience. It’s very difficult to prepare them to the true myriad of experiences and stories we receive every round.
Throwing more people to fight this problem is an entincing proposition, but we need to strengthen our processes before inviting more cooks to this kitchen.
This cohort has also highlighted the necessity of creating a policy for sudden changes in time commitments, especially those of students. Nigerian students submitted their applications in the midst of a national strike; that strike ended a couple of days after the contribution period started. As of now, many of them won’t be able to commit to the full 30 hours/week, but they were so numerous this round they may be the only candidates engaging with specific projects.
That calls for Outreachy to think about our reaction and our policies in the face of global events. I understand our program has always been more reactive than proactive due to having a very small team. However, to keep our program sustainable and resilient, we need to switch gears.