One of the things that I clearly am too worried about is how I interact with open source community in a meaningful way and how that is reflected in my evaluation as a member of the faculty.
I am evaluated on the excellence of my teaching and my research. At Allegheny, the former is considered more important, but it all matters. Writing code and contributing to an open community process is not something that is easy to evaluate and, further, not something that my colleagues in Computing even understand well. I can say that with some confidence, because I have learned so much in the short time we’ve been here at POSSE.
Clearly, though, this is one of the conversations I need to have with my colleagues and my Dean when I return to Allegheny. If I want to be in a position to help my students take part in the open source community, I need to serve (I believe) as a knowledgeable guide into the space. That means that I have a working understanding of the practices and cultures that they will be encountering. And the only way that will happen, to some degree, is if I am involved myself.
Perhaps I’m wrong in this—gregdek or another POSSE participant will correct me if I am—but digging in and playing in the sandbox matters. And if I am going to do that, it is going to take time to get involved, and I will want to sustain that activity over the coming 3-5 years at the least. Any project I do on that timeframe, that absorbs a significant amount of my energies, needs to be acknowledged by my institution as having value.
A disclaimer
It is true that I could just contribute. I could continue to teach without integrating open source, and do my research on things completely unrelated. I can strive to be an excellent husband and father, and … stop sleeping and eating. Ultimately, for me to take part in this, I suspect it must count towards my professional development at the College in a meaningful way.
I’ll let you know how/if/when I’m wrong. I probably in, somehow.