April 2, 2025

This message is distributed to All Instructors, All Researchers, Specialists, & Project Scientists, Postdoctoral Scholars, and Graduate Student Researchers. (Click here to view description of distribution groups.)

The following is being sent on behalf of Alan Grosenheider, Interim University Librarian and Scott Grafton, Interim Vice Chancellor for Research
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The University of California launched the UC Open Source Program Office (OSPO) Network in 2024, a groundbreaking initiative funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to create a UC-systemwide network of Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) and revolutionize open source practices in academia. At UCSB, the initiative is led by the UCSB Library’s Research Data Services department.

We’d like to invite all UCSB faculty, researchers, staff and students who are open source software and hardware contributors to support this important initiative by completing a short survey and sharing their perspectives on challenges and opportunities in participating in open source communities as part of academia. 

If you have ever contributed to an open source project, be it through code, bug reports, mentorship, community building, advocacy, documentation, designs, donations, translations, etc… we want to hear from you! The survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete, and responses will remain anonymous.

Participate in the survey:
https://ucsb.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1KRVBUa3BlkeilE

We appreciate you taking the time to support this initiative. Your insights will help us build a robust network of open source support services across UC, filling gaps in UC’s existing infrastructure for open source discovery, education, and sustainability. 

If you have any questions, please contact the survey organizers at ospo@library.ucsb.edu. If you’d like to receive periodic updates on UCSB Open Source Program activities, please sign up for the new mailing list.

Many thanks,
Alan Grosenheider, Interim University Librarian
Scott Grafton, Interim Vice Chancellor for Research