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[edit] It sounds like we need two midterms :-)

From a conversation on the GSoC mentor's list, August 2009:

On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 11:05 AM, Reimar Bauer <r***> wrote:

On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 5:57 PM, ron minnich<***> wrote:

It sounds like we need two midterms :-)

No we don't

If someone plans to disappear after midterm he/she will do. We have to

judge on given results and not on promised work.

I would prefer to have an additional option.

Instead of dropping that student at midterm he/she should continue

without payment. And if he/she did everything he/she promised he/she

can get the midterm and final at once or only the midterm or only

another 500$.

This one has come up repeatedly, so I thought I would reiterate why it's not something we are going to do:

1) We don't have the human resources here to track payments at that level. We're not the accounting department, so we do the best we can with limited time.

2) Most importantly, students need to pay rent, eat and cover other bills. If I were a student, no matter how motivated, I would give up at the midterm if I only had a *chance* to get paid in another month or so. I know I need to pay my bills. In that situation, I'd also know I was behind schedule on my project, which doesn't give me a great deal of hope that I'll be paid at the end of term.

If a student produces adequate work up until the midterm evaluation, then it is fine if he gets the midterm payment. It stinks that folks disappear directly after midterm evals, but it happens every year and seems inevitable. Try to figure out why the student disappeared and if this information can better help you in your screening process for future GSoCs. In some cases, you are just going to find that it's bad luck and there's nothing you could have done to improve the situation.

Cheers,

LH