GitHub Campus Expert 🚩[SELECTED] | Application Process

Hello reader, I hope you're doing great. I received lots of DMs over my LinkedIn and social media platforms to know how to become a campus expert, tips for the application, etc, so I decided to write this article with all the steps you need to follow to complete the application process. I got to know about this program through the GitHub Education page where I going to find that GitHub Student Developer Pack which consists of 100s of $100000 worth of amazing developer tools and services to learn and improve your skills!

About the program

The GitHub Campus Expert program is an amazing opportunity to help your local community. The program focuses on your local community and helps you to build and grow your local community. This is not an ambassador program unlike others, the program focuses on supporting you to help you grow your community. By becoming a GitHub Campus Expert you don't represent GitHub nor you can be called a GitHub Employee.

If you’re a student growing your campus community or starting from scratch, the GitHub Campus Experts Program has everything you need to engage your community and create valuable events for your campus. As a Campus Expert, you’ll have access to GitHub Campus Experts training, resources, and support to excel in the activities you organize on your campus. You’ll also get opportunities to attend GitHub’s first-party events and join a global community of student leaders.

What They Want to Learn About You

The first thing we want to do is get to know our applicants better, focusing on four key pillars.

• Motivation: What makes you tick? What drives you?
• Interest: Why do you want to be part of the program?
• Growth and potential: What kind of skills do you want to learn, and how will they help you grow personally and professionally?
• Contribution: What kind of an impact do you want to make on your campus?

Eligibility

To apply for the program, you must:

• Have the GitHub Student Developer Pack
• Be 18 years of age or older
• Be enrolled in a formal higher education institution
• Have at least one year before graduating
• Have had a GitHub Account for at least six months

Perks of the GitHub Campus Expert Program

Before moving to the application process here GitHub offers a lot of perks to its Campus Experts and I think the best way to go about this would be to mention them in a list form, so here goes:

• Sponsorships to support the events you organize for your local community
• Travel and accommodation expenses; if you are invited to give a talk outside your city Prizes for winning teams if you are organizing a competition (when it's offline])
• GitHub Swags for the participants of all events you put up a request for
• A community of 250+ Campus Experts spreads out across the globe to help you out wherever you get stuck
• A personal space on the GitHub Campus Expert website to boost your profile. Here's mine.
• Lastly, some cool GitHub Campus Expert personalize swags (below is an unboxing video of what I got)

Excited to Apply:

Application Phase:

The application process consists of two sections: first an application form and then a video resume. In the form, they’re looking for students to tell them about the challenges their student community faces, what opportunities they want to build for their peers, as well as the potential they see for growth you have to explain as much as you can. In the video resume, we’re hoping to get to know you better as a person, including your motivations and interests.

Applications to the program open twice a year—in February and August—and you’ll have a full month to submit. Once applications to the program close, the GitHub Education team will review them. This review period can take up to two weeks. If the team would like to move forward with you, they’ll reach out with instructions about how to submit your video resume. You will then have two weeks to do so.

For video submission: A video using your webcam and computer microphone is more than enough! We understand this process might not be accessible for all students. If you require an alternative method to make your submission, you can reach out to the GitHub Education team, and they’ll arrange some help. Here's my video application you can take this as reference:

DISCLAIMER: This is the screening video I submitted as a part of my application. If you are willing to apply for GitHub Campus Experts and try to copy this video will auto-reject your application. GitHub Education team is aware of the plagiarism cases. You can take some point of reference but you can't copy word to word.

After your video has been submitted, we’ll take about a week to review it. If the program is the right fit for you, you’ll be accepted and receive an invitation to go through the GitHub Campus Experts Training.

Training Phase:

If your video submission was approved, Congratulations! You’ve been accepted to the program. You’ll go through the GitHub Campus Experts Training. The training has six modules and takes 12 hours to complete in 6 weeks. Here you’ll be able to analyze your community and learn community leadership skills, —like public speaking, technical writing, and software development. At the end of your training, you’ll submit a community proposal that will serve as a guideline for your community and you’ll become a GitHub Campus Expert.

Frequently Asked Questions

I am listing some frequently asked questions below which I usually receive. Hopefully, they would help you out in some part of your process.

1. What should I write in my application?

A: So, it's totally up to you just need to be honest with your answers and should not copy them from anywhere. Your answers will reflect how much you know about your community.

2. What prerequisites to become a GitHub Campus Expert?

A: There are no such defined prerequisites, but you should be a student leader and motivated enough to nurture your community. Also, refer to the eligibility section.

3. My application for the GitHub Campus Expert program got rejected, what do I do?

A: If your application got rejected you can reapply in the next semester i.e after 6 months. But please don't let this stop you to contribute to the community. Use this time to build and grow your community, you'll get a great experience before joining the program and will know the roles and responsibilities of a community lead. Also, brainstorm the answers again while you're applying next time. I was also selected for 2nd time.

4. I am not sure what I should write in my application, may you please give me some points?

A: It's a suggestion if you're not sure what to write in the application it means you're not having much community experience so it's suggested that you apply in the next cohort and gain some experience from your community.

5. I am in the training phase and working on the modules. Could you please share your submissions?

A: No, sorry. The training modules are designed to help you learn things that are essential for becoming an effective Community Lead and GitHub Campus Expert. I will not help you skip through the learning process, it’d be unethical to do so. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited if you are caught doing something like that you might be removed from the program.

Thanks for being with me till here. You don't need to think twice to apply for this program if you love to share your knowledge like me. Go ahead and Apply. I tried to cover all the possible points, if I missed anything or you want to know something else apart from this you can reach out to me on my LinkedIn or Twitter.

All the very best!!