Scholarship

The Fedora Scholarship program recognizes one high school senior per year for contributions to the Fedora Project and free software/content in general.

The Fedora Scholarship is intended to assist in the recipient's college or university education. To this end, the recipient will receive $2,000 USD per year for each of the four years that he/she is in college.

Additionally, the recipient will receive funding for travel and lodging at the FUDCon nearest to his/her location each year of the scholarship, should he/she choose to attend.

Funding for the Fedora Scholarship comes from Red Hat's Community Architecture team.

Eligibility
Students who will begin an undergraduate degree program at a college or university in Fall of 2011 are eligible to apply, with several exceptions. Please review the full terms & conditions of the 2011 Fedora Scholarship program to determine your eligibility before applying.

How to apply
Apply by emailing scholarship AT fedoraproject DOT org with the responses indicated below included in the body of your email. Include "Fedora Scholarship Application" in the subject line. Applications that do not fit this criteria will not be considered.


 * 1) Name:
 * 2) Age:
 * 3) Fedora Account System username:
 * 4) Write a personal statement (500-1000 words) indicating why you would like to be considered for the scholarship.
 * 5) Give the names and contact information of two references from within the Fedora Project. References are not allowed to sit on the selection committee. In case of a conflict, selection committee nominees can choose whether they wish to be committee members or references - the same person cannot be both for a given academic year.
 * 6) (optional) Give the names and contact information of up to two other references from outside the Fedora community you would like the selection committee to contact.
 * 7) Submit a resume. Your resume should include contributions to Fedora or other free software projects. It can be attached in .txt, .pdf, or Open Office format; documents in other formats will not be considered.

Timeline

 * 12:00:00 AM, November 10, 2011 Eastern Time -- Application window opens.
 * 11:59:59 PM, February 24, 2012 Eastern Time -- Application window closes.
 * April 9, 2012 -- Recipient will be notified privately, and preparations for public announcement (interview, press release) will begin.
 * May 31, 2012 -- Public announcement of the recipient.

Selection Criteria
The selection committee will judge applicants based on:


 * 1) Quality of contributions made to Fedora and other free software projects
 * 2) Consultation with the references provided
 * 3) The amount of time the applicant has been contributing to Fedora
 * 4) Quality of the application materials

Selection Committee
The 2010 Scholarship was administered by Mel Chua, the Fedora Marketing lead at the time. The 2010 selection committee was:


 * Paul Frields, current Fedora Project Leader
 * Chris Tyler, Professor at Seneca College and former Fedora Board member
 * Ricky Zhou, past Fedora Scholarship winner
 * Luke Macken, Fedora Software Engineer

The 2011 Scholarship was administered by Ian Weller, the 2010 Scholarship winner, starting the trend of having past winners administer the scholarship. The 2011 selection committee was:


 * Ricky Zhou, 2008 Fedora Scholarship winner
 * John McLean, 2009 Fedora Scholarship winner
 * Paul Frields, former Fedora Project Leader
 * Jared Smith, current Fedora Project Leader
 * Tom Callaway, Fedora Engineering Manager and Fedora Board member
 * Chris Tyler, Professor at Seneca College and Fedora Board member
 * Rahul Sundaram, Fedora Ambassadors regional coordinator for Asia-Pacific and former Fedora Board member
 * Clint Savage, Fedora Ambassadors regional coordinator for North America
 * Robyn Bergeron, Fedora Marketing lead and Fedora Program Manager
 * Ryan Rix, Fedora Campus Ambassadors coordinator
 * Kevin Fenzi, Fedora Infrastructure lead
 * Luke Macken, Fedora Software Engineer

All previous recipients of the Fedora Scholarship have the option to serve on the selection committee unless they are serving as references for an applicant for the current scholarship cycle.

Previous recipients

 * 2008: Ricky Zhou
 * 2009: John McLean
 * 2010: Ian Weller
 * 2011: Ricky Elrod

Administration
The Fedora Scholarship is administered by Ian Weller of Red Hat's Community Architecture team. For what this entails (for future administrators as well as others curious about how to offer a similar scholarship program) see the Scholarship administration SOP.