Contribution Guidelines

Owned by Nicolette delMuro
Last updated: Oct 11, 2021
3 min read

 

Updated: September 2021

Overview

Standards development is a collaborative process that builds on contributions from the community. This document outlines the principles and practices that govern contributions for the NSPA Data Standards Initiative.

Scope of Contributions

General Input Regarding Scholarship Data

We actively solicit input regarding the NSPA Program Data Standard data model in advance of, during, and following initiative group meetings. However, we welcome input and contributions to the NSPA Scholarship Program Data Standard at any time.

As a matter of practice, we record all suggestions for improvements and additions to the standard regardless of source and timing. For example, the NSPA Conference has been an excellent source of suggestions for additions to the standard. We typically weight the input and feedback from Data Standards Initiative members more heavily than those from the general scholarship community — but we operate on the principle that the best ideas should win.

We track changes and change requests in the NSPA Tracker, a Jira-based system. A report of open tickets is available to the public here.

Proposed Changes to the NSPA Data Standard

Prior to a new version or major draft of the NSPA Data Standard, we publish a list of proposed changes. At that time, we actively solicit input on the proposed changes — and welcome additional contributions, even if unrelated to the proposed changes.

Requests for Comment

From time to time, the NSPA team, or one of the working groups, will publish a request for comment on a specific issue. The problem description or proposed technology approach will be published online, with specific questions for feedback. A request for comment will be sent to all NSPA Data Standards Initiative members and any organizations or individuals with special expertise or a stake in the outcome.

Usually, these requests for comment regard major issues or changes.

Candidates for New Standards

As of Q4-2021, the NSPA Scholarship Program Data Standard is the only concrete technical standard being developed as part of the NSPA Data Standards Initiative. That standard has a fairly narrow focus on scholarship program and eligibility data. However, the NSPA welcomes ideas for other standards or solutions that make sense to develop or publish under the auspices of the NSPA.

Usually, these candidates are proposed by NSPA members, not by the NSPA team.

Contribution Processes

Proposing a Change, Addition, or Fix to an Existing Standard

Before you submit a change to an existing data standard, consider skimming the list of open tickets in the NSPA Tracker here. If you have an issue, there’s a chance that others may have as well.

Changes can be proposed in a number of ways:

  • Via Email. We accept feedback and issues anytime via email. Send a note to ndelmuro@scholarshipproviders.org.

  • Via Data Standards Initiative Committee meetings. The Committee meets quarterly, and we typically have a standing agenda item to solicit input.

  • Via the Data Model Working Group. The Data Standards Initiative has a standing working group called the Data Model Working Group. This working group focuses on the data model, schema design, and matters of technical implementation.

  • Q4-2021 NOTE. In January 2020, the NSPA rolled out a Data Standards project in its Tracker system. The Tracker is currently read-only, but we will provide creation and commenting permissions to working group members should it prove useful.

Proposing a New Standard

Q4-2021 NOTE. The specific process to come. In a poll of Data Standard Committee members, there was general agreement that the NSPA may be a good home for standards in addition to the Scholarship Program Data Standard — but that this group should focus on the existing standard first. We’ll revisit this during 2022, and propose a path forward in the annual 2021 Committee meeting in October if a need hasn’t emerged prior to that.