[Outreachy announcement] Outreachy policy changes in response to COVID-19

[Sage Sharp - Outreachy Organizer]

The Outreachy organizers are putting new policies in place to deal with the impact of the global crisis caused by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

The Outreachy application period is open until April 7. We're aware that many applicants have been impacted by policies to prevent spread of the pandemic.

Primary schools and child care facilities around the world are closing. Some Outreachy applicants are parents caring for young children during these sudden closures. Universities and college dorms around the world are closing. Outreachy applicants who are students may have to move or face uncertainty about their future school term schedule. Additionally, some applicants have been cut off from mentors during internet outages related to lock-downs.

We are here to support you during these turbulent times. We encourage you to continue applying to Outreachy. Paid remote work will help you stay home and stay safe.

Outreachy has posted new policies to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on our applicants, interns, and alums:

https://www.outreachy.org/blog/2020-03-27/outreachy-response-to-covid-19/


Policy Changes
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The summary of our new policies is:

1. May to August 2020 interns who are impacted by COVID-19 will only be required to work 30 hours a week. Interns who are not impacted are encouraged to work 40 hours a week.

2. Students who have an approved initial application will typically be considered eligible for an Outreachy internship, even if their school terms have shifted.

3. All applicants should update their final application with any changed time commitments. We will be adding two new questions to the final application form in the next couple of days. The new questions will allow you to provide updated time commitment information.

4. Final applications are due April 7. Please submit your final application ASAP. Applicants who miss the final application deadline due to an internet disruption or a move related to COVID-19 should contact the Outreachy organizers. We can manually create your final application. Please do not abuse this policy to plan on submitting your final application late. We cannot accept requests to create late applications past April 14. Late applications will be added on a first-come-first-served basis, as time allows for our small staff.

5. If you are an applicant who is impacted by the global pandemic, please reach out to your mentor and community coordinator. They have been briefed on the situation and are very understanding.

6. All travel using the Outreachy travel stipend is prohibited until further notice.

7. Alums and interns with an active travel stipend will receive the remainder of their stipend from Conservancy. May 2020 interns will receive their travel stipend as part of their initial payment.


Intern Payment Changes
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For the May 2020 round, Outreachy interns will have different payment amounts. The payment schedule will remain the same:

 - $2,000 initial payment paid by July 10, 2020
 - $2,000 mid-point payment paid by Aug. 8, 2020
 - $2,000 final payment paid by Sept. 19, 2020

We hope these new policies will help alums and interns work from home and stay safe.

Sage Sharp, Outreachy Organizer