Accord Project Summer of Code 2022 | Program Rules - accordproject/technical-steering-committee GitHub Wiki

Accord Project Summer of Code 2022 (the “Program”) is sponsored by the Accord Project (“Accord Project”).

Definitions.

“Acceptance Date” means the date accepted Project Proposals are announced on the Program Website, as set forth on the Program Timeline.

“Coding Period” means the period of time designated for APSoC Contributors to complete their projects.

“Community Bonding Period” means the period for accepted APSoC Contributors to get to know their Mentors and prepare to begin work on their Projects, as set forth on the Program Timeline.

“Evaluation” means an evaluation by the Mentor of their APSoC Contributor’s work or an evaluation by the APSoC Contributor of their Mentor, as applicable.

“Final Phase” means the final half of the Coding Period for a given Project.

“Final Project Materials” means a APSoC Contributor’s final source code and associated documentation for their Project.

“Final Results” means the list of APSoC Contributors who passed all of their Evaluations.

“APSoC Contributor” means the individual who registers for the Program as a APSoC Contributor.

"APSoC Contributor Agreement” means the agreement between Accord Project and an Accord Project Contributor that is presented during registration.

“Ideas List” means the list of ideas for Projects publicly published by an Organization on the Program Website.

“Members” means the Organization Administrators and Mentors for an Organization.

“Mentor” means the individual who registers for the Program as a mentor for an Organization.

“Mentor Agreement” means the agreement between Accord Project and an Organization Administrator or Mentor, as applicable, that is presented during registration.

“Organization” means the open source organization that registers for the Program as an organization.

“Organization Administrator” means the individual who registers for the Program as an administrator for an Organization.

“Organization Application” means an application from an Organization for its acceptance in the Program, including a completed profile.

“Organization Agreement” means the agreement between Google and an Organization that is presented during registration.

“Organization Project Criteria” means the criteria for grading Project Submissions that an Organization determines at its sole discretion.

“Participants” means Organizations, Organization Administrators, Mentors, and APSoC Contributors.

“Payment Processor” means the third party payment processor selected by Accord Project to process payments under the Program.

“Phase 1” means the first half of the Coding Period of a given Project.

“Program Administrators” means Accord Project’s administrators for the Program.

“Program Period” means the period of time between May 1, 2022 and December 2, 2022.

“Program Timeline” means the timeline for the Program on the Program Website.

“Program Website” means the website for the Program located at https://accordproject.org/.

“Project” means an open source coding project to be worked on by a APSoC Contributor as an individual. For the avoidance of doubt, Projects do not include projects for documentation only.

“Project Proposal” means a APSoC Contributor’s proposal for a Project.

“Project Submissions” means the work product that a APSoC Contributor submits for a Project, including the Project Proposal and any software and documentation, including Final Project Materials.

The words “include” and “including” as used herein mean “including but not limited to.” Privacy.

Accord Project will process the personal information provided during registration and in any subsequent communications to administer the Program (including verifying eligibility to participate in the Program, running the Program and sending notifications regarding the Program).
Accord Project will also use aggregated, non-personally identifiable information from Participants’ written responses to evaluations, surveys and feedback in order to analyze Program effectiveness and make adjustments to the Program.
The display name that Participants create during registration will be displayed publicly on the Program Website and any archives of the Program Website, and will be shared with Organizations for the purpose of communicating with the Accord Project Contributors to answer their questions and reviewing their proposals and work.
Accord Project Contributor’s Project Submissions and contact information (email address and display name) will be shared with the Organizations (including Members) they submit proposals to in order to administer the Program.
Accord Project may publicize your participation in the Program and the results of the Program, including announcements of accepted Project Proposals, the text of accepted Project Proposals, and the resulting code from your work on the Project. Accord may display your information, including your display name, Project abstract, and Final Project Materials, on Accord Project-run websites, including the Accord Project Open Source Blog (https://accordproject.org/news/) and the Program Website.
The personal information provided during registration and in any subsequent communications will also be processed by Accord Project’s trusted service providers for the purpose of delivering stipends to successful Accord Project Summmer of Code Contributors and Organizations based on Accord’s instructions and in compliance with Accord Project’s Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.
Participants can access, update, and remove their personal information in their Program profile. For Organizations, Accord Project may publish your participation in the program and your Organization details supplied in your application, including organization logo, description, technology tags and topics, Ideas List, website, and your organization’s preferred contact methods for users. The Accord Project's Privacy Policy (https://accordproject.org/privacy) further explains how data is handled in this service.

Program Administration.

Changes to the Program.

Accord Project may suspend, cancel, or modify the structure of the Program if technical difficulties or events beyond Accord’s reasonable control prevent or make it unfair to run the Program in accordance with these Program Rules.
Accord Project may modify these Program Rules to reflect any modifications to the Program. Any changes made will be effective immediately upon notice, which will be given by posting the revised Program Rules on this page. Continued participation in the Program after such notice will be deemed acceptance of such changes.

Verifying Eligibility.

Accord Project reserves the right to verify a Participant’s eligibility and to adjudicate on any dispute at any time. Participants must provide Google with any proof of eligibility requested by Google. Refusal or failure to provide such proof within 2 business days of Accords’s request via email, may result in removal from the Program.
Accord Project may review all proof of eligibility during the Program at its discretion. If any such review determines, at Accord Project’s sole discretion, the APSoC Contributor provided false or erroneous proof of residency or falsely stated their country of residence in their registration, or falsely stated their previous acceptance into APSoC as a Contributor or Student, the Accord Project Contributor will be removed from the Program immediately and not receive any stipends and not be eligible to participate in any future Accord Project Summer of Code programs.

Communications.

All communications between Accord Project and the Participants, including the Program Website and email communications, will be in English.

Conduct.

Participants must use professional and courteous conduct when interacting with other Participants and Program Administrators. If a Participant does not use such conduct, Accord Project may remove the Participant from the Program.

Program Removal.

In addition to any terms regarding removal from the Program stated in these Program Rules, Accord Project may remove a Participant from the Program if Accord Project reasonably believes that the Participant has attempted to undermine the legitimate operation of the Program, including:

Providing false eligibility information during registration;
Breaching or refusing to comply with these Program Rules;
Threatening or harassing Accord Project or other Participants including Organizations’ employees and representatives;
Tampering or interfering with the administration of the Program or with the ability of other Participants to participate in the Program;
Providing false country of residence during registration;
Submitting Project Proposals through multiple Google accounts;
Submitting content that: is not original; violates the rights of a third party; is lewd, obscene, pornographic, racist, sexist, or otherwise inappropriate to the Program; or violates any applicable law.

If a Participant is removed from the Program for any reason:

the Participant will no longer be eligible to receive stipends from Accord;
Accord Project may delete the Participant’s profile and other data from the Program Website; and the Participant may be prohibited from participating in any future programs run by the Accord Project Open Source Programs Office.

Organizations.

Eligibility. To participate in the Program, an Organization must: run an active and viable open source software project have already produced and released software under an Open Source Initiative (OSI)-approved license;not be based in a United States embargoed country, or otherwise prohibited by applicable export controls and sanctions programs.

** How to Apply.** Organizations who wish to apply for acceptance into the Program must: accept the terms of the Organization Agreement, and submit an Organization Application.

Organization Application.

The Organization Application must be submitted by an Organization Administrator through the Program Website during the application period described in the Program Timeline.
Each Organization may submit one (1) Organization Application. Acceptance.
Accord Project may accept or reject any Organization at its sole discretion.
Accord Project will announce the Organizations accepted to the Program on the Program Website.

Responsibilities.

Each accepted Organization will perform all necessary additional steps required for the Organization to participate in the Program, including:

providing an Ideas List;
determining the Organization Project Criteria, provided that the Organization may not discriminate on the basis of age, race, creed, color, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, marital or veteran status or any other basis that is prohibited by applicable law; and
assigning two or more persons, as applicable, to: serve as the Organization Administrators;
evaluate Accord Project Contributor Project Proposals submitted to the Organization in accordance with Section 7.4 below and decide which Project Proposals to accept;
help Accord Project Contributors integrate with the Organization’s community during the Community Bonding Period;
serve as Mentor(s); and
serve as alternate Mentors in the event an existing Mentor is unable to fulfill their responsibilities.

If Accord reasonably believes that an Organization has failed to meet the foregoing responsibilities, Accord may remove such Organization from the Program.

Each Organization is responsible for its Organization Administrators and Mentors. If Accord reasonably believes that an Organization Administrator or Mentor for an Organization has failed to meet any of the responsibilities set forth in Sections 5.3(a) or 6.3(a) below, as applicable, Accord is not required to issue any stipends to the Organization.

Organization Administrators.

Role.

Each Organization must have at least two (2) Organization Administrators.
All Organization Administrators must accept the terms of the Organization Member Agreement.
An Organization Administrator who has the full legal authority to bind the Organization must register the Organization for the Program and accept the terms of the Organization Agreement on behalf of the Organization.

Eligibility.

Requirements. To participate in the Program, an Organization Administrator must:

be eighteen (18) years of age or older upon registration for the Program;
be a contributor to an active and viable open source project run by the Organization; and not be a Accord Project Contributor in the Program.

Ineligible Individuals. An Organization Administrator may not participate in the Program if they are:

a resident of a United States embargoed country;
ordinarily resident in a United States embargoed country;
otherwise prohibited by applicable export controls and sanctions programs;
or an immediate family member (including a parent, sibling, child, spouse, or life partner) of an accepted APSoC Contributor in the Program with the same Organization or a member of the same household (whether related or not) as an accepted APSoC Contributor in the Program with the same Organization.

Responsibilities.

The Organization Administrators for an accepted Organization will:

act as the main points of contact between Accord Project and the Organization and will respond to any inquiries from Accord Project within thirty-six (36) hours;
oversee the overall progress of the Organization and its APSoC Contributors throughout the Program;
perform administrative tasks regarding the Program for the Organization, including publishing the Organization’s Ideas List and designating one or more Mentors for each accepted APSoC Contributor through the Program Website;
oversee and manage Mentors to ensure that they meet their responsibilities as set forth in Section 6.3 below; complete the necessary forms required to receive (or decline) the applicable stipends by the posted deadlines as set forth by Accord Program Administrators;
complete the followup questionnaire from Accord sent at the six month and one year mark post program; and
review the “Roles and Responsibilities” document published on the Program Website and be sure they, and each of their Mentors, are meeting the responsibilities outlined therein.
If Accord reasonably believes that an Organization Administrator has failed to meet any of the foregoing responsibilities, Accord may require the Organization to designate a replacement Organization Administrator.

Mentors.

Role.

Mentors must be designated by an Organization Administrator through the Program Website. Mentors must accept the terms of the Organization Member Agreement.

Eligibility.

Requirements. To participate in the Program, a Mentor must:

upon registration for the Program, be eighteen (18) years of age or older
be a contributor to an active and viable open source project run by the Organization; and not be a APSoC Contributor in the Program.

Ineligible Individuals.

A Mentor may not participate in the Program if they are:

a resident of a United States embargoed country;
ordinarily resident in a United States embargoed country; or
otherwise prohibited by applicable export controls and sanctions programs.
an immediate family member (including a parent, sibling, child, spouse, or life partner) of an accepted APSoC Contributor in the Program with the same Organization or a member of the same household (whether related or not) as an accepted APSoC Contributor in the Program with the same Organization.

Responsibilities.

Each Mentor for an accepted Organization will:

participate in the Community Bonding Period;
provide guidance to their APSoC Contributor(s) on their Projects for the Organization;
use best efforts to respond to APSoC Contributor requests within thirty-six (36) hours;
provide Evaluations of their APSoC Contributor(s)’ work as described in Section 8.1 below in accordance with the Organization Project Criteria; and
review the “Roles and Responsibilities” document published on the Program Website and be sure they are meeting the responsibilities outlined therein.
If Accord Project reasonably believes that a Mentor has failed to meet any of the foregoing responsibilities, Accord Project may require the Organization Administrators to designate a replacement Mentor and remove the former Mentor from the Program. APSoC Contributors.

Eligibility.

Requirements.

To participate in the Program, a APSoC Contributor must:

be eighteen (18) years of age or older upon registration for the Program;
for the duration of the Program, be eligible to work in the country in which they reside; and
not be an Organization Administrator or Mentor in the Program.

Ineligible Individuals.

A APSoC Contributor may not participate in the Program if:

They are:

a resident of a United States embargoed country;
ordinarily resident in a United States embargoed country; or
otherwise prohibited by applicable export controls and sanctions programs.
They are an employee (including intern), contractor, officer, or director of: Accord or its affiliates, or
an Organization or any of its affiliates.
They are an immediate family member (including a parent, sibling, child, spouse, or life partner) of a Mentor or Organization Administrator with the same Organization or a member of the same household (whether related or not) as a Mentor or Organization Administrator with the same Organization.
They have previously participated as a APSoC Contributor in Accord Project Summer of Code two (2) or more times. *They are not new or beginner contributors to open source coding projects.

How to Apply.

APSoC Contributors who wish to apply for acceptance into the Program must:

accept the terms of the APSoC Contributor Agreement, and submit a Project Proposal.

Project Proposals.

APSoC Contributors may submit Project Proposals to Organizations through the Program Website during the application period described in the Program Timeline.
Each APSoC Contributor may submit up to three (3) Project Proposals; however, only one (1) Project Proposal may be accepted per APSoC Contributor.
Project Proposals may, but are not required to, be for Projects on an Organization’s Ideas List.
If a Project Proposal is for a Project that the APSoC Contributor is already working on, the APSoC Contributor must note this in the Project Proposal. Any work done on the Project prior to acceptance of the Project Proposal will not be considered for

Evaluations.

Acceptance.

Project Proposals will be reviewed by the Organizations to which they were submitted. An Organization may accept or reject any Project Proposal at its sole discretion. In the event that two (2) or more Organizations wish to accept Project Proposals from the same APSoC Contributor, the Organization that ranked the Proposal the highest will be granted the APSoC Contributor for their Organization. Accord Project will announce the Project Proposals accepted to the Program on the Program Website. Each APSoC Contributor with an accepted Project Proposal will be matched with at least one (1) Mentor from the applicable Organization.

APSoC Contributors without an accepted Project Proposal may not continue with the Program and their Accord Project Summer of Code 2022 account will become inactive.

Responsibilities.

Each accepted APSoC Contributor will perform all necessary additional steps required for the APSoC Contributor to participate in the Program, including:

participating in the Community Bonding Period;
providing Evaluation of their Mentor as described in Section 8.1 below;
working diligently to complete the Project as it may be modified with the agreement of the Organization;
following the coding and documentation standards set out by their organization;
actively participating in the Organization’s community and adhering to the Organization's rules and codes of conduct; and
publishing their Project code in a publicly accessible location and under an Open Source Initiative approved license of the Organization’s choice.
If Accord reasonably believes that a APSoC Contributor has failed to meet the foregoing responsibilities, Accord may remove such APSoC Contributor from the Program.

Program Participation.

Evaluations.

Multiple Mentors.

If a APSoC Contributor has more than one (1) Mentor:

the APSoC Contributor is only required to submit an overall Evaluation of the Mentors; and only one (1) Mentor is required to submit an Evaluation of the APSoC Contributor. If more than one (1) Mentor submits an Evaluation, only the final Evaluation submitted before the deadline will be accepted. Form.
Evaluations must be in the form of responses to questions provided by the Accord Project.

Deadlines.

APSoC Contributors and Mentors must submit Evaluations through the Program Website by the deadlines set forth in the Program Timeline. Evaluations are given at two (2) points: after Phase 1, and at the end of the Final Phase.

Visibility.

Except for any fields labeled “shared with APSoC Contributor” (“Shared Comments”), Evaluations submitted by a Mentor will only be visible to the Organization Administrators, the APSoC Contributor’s other Mentor(s), if applicable, and the Program Administrators. The APSoC Contributor will only see a pass/fail grade result and any Shared Comments.
Evaluations submitted by a APSoC Contributor will only be visible to the Program Administrators. The Organization Administrators and Mentor(s) will only see the parts of the evaluations explicitly indicated Viewable by Mentors and/or Organization Administrators.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in subsections (i) and (ii) above:

Accord may make Evaluations available to other Accord Project employees, third parties, or the Organization or APSoC Contributor, as applicable:
upon the APSoC Contributor’s or Organization’s prior written consent, as applicable; or
if Accord deems such action necessary to administer the Program (e.g., where the Program Administrators need assistance from other Accord Project employees in their review to reconsider a APSoC Contributor’s grade or where the feedback may be vital to arbitration with the APSoC Contributor or Organization regarding payment or non-payment of a stipend).

Accord Project may use Evaluations internally to improve Accord Project Summer of Code.

Grading; Missing Deadlines.

The Mentor will evaluate the APSoC Contributor’s Project Submissions based on the work from the beginning of the work period until the start of the evaluation period. Any work done during the evaluation period itself will be considered for the next evaluation period.
The Mentor will evaluate the APSoC Contributor’s Project Submissions against the Organization Project Criteria. If a APSoC Contributor receives a failing grade on the Phase 1 Evaluation, the APSoC Contributor will be removed from the Program.
If an Organization Administrator does not agree with the grade given by the Mentor to a APSoC Contributor, the Organization Administrator may submit an updated Evaluation, which will supersede the original Evaluation. This updated Evaluation must be complete before the original Evaluation deadline.
If a Mentor fails to submit an Evaluation by the applicable deadline, the Organization will not receive the $500 USD stipend for that APSoC Contributor mentored.

Final Project Materials. APSoC Contributors must submit their Final Project Materials through the Program Website by the Final Evaluation deadline. If a APSoC Contributor fails to do so, the APSoC Contributor will be deemed to have received a failing grade on the final Evaluation, regardless of the actual grade the APSoC Contributor received from the Mentor.

Payment.

Stipends. Subject to subsection (b) below, APSoC Contributors and Organizations may receive stipends from Google as follows:

APSoC Contributors. Stipends for APSoC Contributors are at Accord Project's sole discretion, and are adjusted to cost of living based generally on the country in which the APSoC Contributor is currently residing. APSoC Contributors will be required to provide proof of residency in their country when registering for their Payment Processor account, which is how they will receive their stipends. Each APSoC Contributor who has received a passing Phase 1 Evaluation may receive a stipend after the Phase 1 Evaluation deadline.
Each APSoC Contributor who has received a passing Final Phase Evaluation and who has submitted the Final Phase Evaluation of their Mentor on time may receive a stipend after the Final Phase Evaluation deadline.
Stipends are issued by the 30th of the month to all APSoC Contributors who received passing evaluations from their Mentor for that month. If an evaluation is submitted by a Mentor after the 27th of the month the stipend payment will be issued to the APSoC Contributor by the 30th of the next month.
Organizations. At the end of the Program, Organizations may receive (i) a $500 USD stipend per APSoC Contributor mentored, by making a request through the form provided by Accord Project by July 1, 2022. Accord Project is not required to pay amounts requested after this date.

In order to receive payment, Organizations must register with Accord Project’s Payment Processor, by July 15, 2022. The Payment Processor will issue payments for the relevant amount within thirty (30) days of the end of the Program. Organizations must complete the relevant tax forms by July 31, 2022 or they forfeit all funds.

Accord Project can not issue any funds to government or public university employees in the United States.
Accord Project can not issue any funds to Accord Project led Organizations.
If the Organization is part of any Federal government Accord Project can not issue any funds.
If the Organization is unable to create an account with Accord Project’s Payment Processor, Accord Projectcan not issue any funds to that Organization.
Accord Project is not required to pay any stipends to any APSoC Contributor or Organization who violates any applicable law or regulation, including money laundering regulations.
APSoC Contributors and Organizations must be able to create an account and pass the Payment Processors compliance checks. If a APSoC Contributor or Organization does not pass the Payment Processor’s compliance check they cannot receive any stipend for the Program.
Tax Documentation. Tax-related documentation must be submitted by June 30, 2022 for APSoC Contributors and July 31, 2022 for Organizations. APSoC Contributors or Organizations submitting tax-related documentation after the above dates will be disqualified from receiving any stipends. Accord Project is not required to issue any payments if tax-related documentation is submitted after these dates.
APSoC Contributors. APSoC Contributors must submit tax-related documentation during their registration with the Payment Processor.
Organizations. Organizations must submit tax-related documentation as part of their registration with the Payment Processor.
Final Results. Google will announce the Final Results on the Program Website.

Disclaimer.

PARTICIPANTS’ USE OF THE PROGRAM WEBSITE AND PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM IS AT EACH PARTICIPANT’S SOLE RISK. THE PROGRAM WEBSITE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. ACCORD PROJECT DISCLAIMS ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES (EXPRESS OR IMPLIED), INCLUDING ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ACORD PROJECT IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INCOMPLETE, FAILED, OR DELAYED TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION DUE TO THE INTERNET, INCLUDING INTERRUPTION OR DELAYS CAUSED BY EQUIPMENT OR SOFTWARE MALFUNCTION OR OTHER TECHNICAL PROBLEMS.

Translations. In the event of any discrepancy between the English version of these Program Rules and a translated version, the English version will govern.