Student Outreach Strategy §
Pattern Summary §
Develop an outreach strategy that use diverse activities to raise awareness of the OSPO and engage with a broad cross-section of students across the institution.
Problem §
An academic OSPO wants to build consistent, authentic connections with the student body while advancing the OSPO’s goals.
Many students don't know what open source is and may not be familiar with how it can be relevant to them.
Without proactive outreach, awareness of open source opportunities remains low and student participation in OSPO initiatives will be limited.
Pattern Category §
- Awareness
- Community building
- Education & Skills
Context §
A research university creating large volumes of research outputs across every discipline.
An OSPO has been established.
The OSPO may lack full-time staff dedicated to outreach.
Forces §
- The OSPO team hopes to meaningfully engage with students and foster a university culture of collaboration and sharing.
- There may have been limited engagement with broader audiences due to resource or staffing limitations.
- Students may not have knowledge of the existing Open Source Program Office at their university.
- There may be administrative support available for paid student positions.
Solution §
Develop an outreach strategy that targets a broad student cohort using a variety of activities.
The solution below outlines some activities to consider:
Hire Student Ambassadors §
Recruit Student Ambassadors who are familiar with open source and community building.
Student Ambassadors can educate their fellow students in peer-to-peer interactions, with approaches that are personalized and less intimidating than information heavy emails or lectures.
Create Social Media accounts §
Build a community on popular social media platforms to connect with and notify students about events, workshops, resources and programming.
Instagram is a popular social media choice amongst students for interaction with organizations. Increase engagement and reach a larger audience through Instagram posts, stories and by following student organizations.
LinkedIn is another popular social media platform for students to connect with professionals and discover opportunities. Using a LinkedIn account to connect with other open source organizations or offices (while holding collaborative events) supports students to learn about professional opportunities in the open source world.
Host Tabling Events §
Hosting a table at events either independently or in collaboration with other student organizations is an effective method of connecting with students.
Tables provide a fun and informal way to raise awareness of the OSPO's services. Short interactive games at the table can be used to educate students about the relevance of open source.
Event tabling at central locations on campus is particularly effective for outreach to diverse groups of students.
Organize 'First Contribution' Workshops §
'First Contribution' Workshops offer a simple introduction to open source and demonstrate open source fundamentals in an engaging way.
Organize a workshop where students can learn a simple activity that can be uploaded onto a public website.
Host Movie Nights §
Host movie screening events where students can relax and learn about open source. Screening movies like The Internet's Own Boy, a documentary about Aaron Swartz, can inspire conversation about building community and collaborations.
Resulting Context §
Using multiple outreach activities enhances the OSPO's potential to reach a wider and more representative student population.
Additional Learning from the GW Open Source Program Office §
We wanted to reach as many students as possible while helping them to understand what our OSPO offers. We found that the most effective ways to reach students included hiring Student Ambassadors, creating social media content, hosting tabling events, organizing workshops and hosting movie nights. These methods were easily applicable and offered a fun and interactive way to raise awareness of the OSPO and the importance of open source.
The OSPO hired 2 graduate students and 2 undergraduate students as Student Ambassadors. The OSPO now has its own Instagram and LinkedIn accounts.
Our Student Ambassadors hosted a table at the George Hacks Makerspace event and have hosted a movie night.
We also used this open source art repository as a 'first contribution' activity. This was a great success with students seeing their masterpices uploaded live as part of a collaborative open source art collection.
Known Instances §
The GW Open Source Program Office, The George Washington University
References §
Related Patterns §
- Event Tabling
- Host an Open Source Conference
- OSPO Student Ambassador Program
- Student Showcase Sessions at OSPO Events
Contributors & Acknowledgements §
- Sunil Shah, George Washington University, https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4567-8679
- Rosemary Pauley, George Washington University, https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9354-4301
- Nouha Elyazidi, George Washington University, https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8067-8803
- Jood Alfadhel, George Washington University, https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2827-4036
- Ciara Flanagan, https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3153-7673