Why VERSO Was Created#
Introduction#
Open source has become a cornerstone of modern research and innovation, yet academic institutions often lack the structures to support it effectively. Researchers at universities frequently create software, data, and tools that could have a broader impact if shared openly, but barriers such as licensing, compliance, sustainability, and community engagement stand in the way.
The Vermont Research Open Source Program Office (VERSO) was established at the University of Vermont to address these challenges. Our mission was simple but ambitious: to make open source a first-class citizen in research—not an afterthought. This chapter explores the motivations behind VERSO, the gaps it aimed to fill, and the principles that guided its creation.
Original Goals of the First Sloan Grant for VERSO#
Software is a critical component of modern science—both as a tool for research and as a form of intellectual property with the potential for broad societal impact. Yet, at the University of Vermont (UVM), there were no formal systems to support the creation, governance, and dissemination of open-source software. As a land-grant institution, UVM has a mission to make knowledge accessible and beneficial to the Vermont community, but this mandate was not fully realized in the realm of software.
The Sloan Foundation grant proposed the creation of the Vermont Research Open Source Program Office (VERSO)—a pioneering effort to establish an academic OSPO at a community-focused, land-grant university. The vision was to build a model for how universities can institutionalize open-source practices, starting with a pilot program housed in the UVM Library and closely connected to the Open Source Ecosystems and Networks (OCEAN) Lab.
The proposal outlined three core aims:
Build Infrastructure for Open Source at UVM
Develop systems, policies, and processes to enable cross-unit collaboration on open-source projects. This included creating governance frameworks, licensing guidance, and replicable resources for other universities. Through pilot projects—ranging from drone software to agriculture, health, and interlibrary lending—VERSO would train and empower students and researchers to contribute to open source.Engage Community Stakeholders as Co-Developers
In alignment with UVM’s land-grant mission, VERSO aimed to work with Vermont’s agencies, businesses, and nonprofits as partners in open-source development. By leveraging UVM Extension and the Office of Engagement, the program sought to ensure that open-source solutions addressed real community needs while fostering two-way knowledge exchange.Advance Research on Open Source in Science
VERSO planned to study how scientists create and use open-source software, generating data to inform both practice and policy. This included sampling scientific projects on platforms like GitHub, analyzing responses to global challenges such as COVID-19, and documenting VERSO’s own initiatives to produce an open playbook for other institutions.
Ultimately, the Sloan-funded pilot aimed to break down disciplinary silos, promote cross-campus collaboration, and position UVM as a leader in open science and open-source innovation. By documenting both successes and challenges, VERSO would provide a roadmap for other universities seeking to integrate open-source principles into their research ecosystems.
VERSO’s Core Principles#
VERSO was founded on three guiding principles that shaped its mission and operations:
Enablement#
Open source should not be a privilege reserved for those with specialized legal or technical expertise. Many researchers want to share their work but face barriers such as unclear licensing, lack of infrastructure, and uncertainty about best practices. VERSO’s role is to lower these barriers by:
Providing clear guidance on licensing and intellectual property.
Offering templates for governance, contribution guidelines, and documentation.
Delivering training and workshops to build confidence in open-source practices.
Creating infrastructure—such as version control systems and CI/CD pipelines—that makes it easy to release and maintain projects.
Enablement means turning good intentions into actionable steps so that open source becomes a natural part of the research lifecycle.
Community#
Open source thrives on collaboration, and VERSO aims to foster a culture of shared knowledge both within UVM and beyond. This involves:
Building a community of practice among faculty, students, and staff.
Hosting events like hackathons, meetups, and showcase sessions to connect people across disciplines.
Encouraging partnerships with other universities, nonprofits, and industry to expand the reach of UVM’s open-source projects.
Creating communication channels—Slack, mailing lists, forums—where contributors can share ideas and solve problems together.
Community is not just about participation; it’s about creating a sense of belonging and shared purpose around open science.
Sustainability#
Too often, open-source projects in academia disappear when a grant ends or a key contributor graduates. VERSO is committed to ensuring longevity and resilience by:
Embedding sustainability planning into every project from the start.
Exploring funding models that support long-term maintenance, such as institutional backing or external partnerships.
Documenting processes and creating replicable frameworks so projects can outlive individual contributors.
Promoting governance structures that distribute responsibility and prevent single points of failure.
Sustainability ensures that open-source outputs remain useful, maintained, and impactful well beyond their initial development phase.
Why an OSPO in Academia?#
Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) have become standard in the tech industry because they provide structure, governance, and strategy for managing open source. However, in higher education, OSPOs are still rare—even though universities are among the largest producers of open-source software. Academic research generates thousands of software tools, data pipelines, and computational models every year, yet most lack the institutional support needed for sustainability and impact.
We believed that universities—where knowledge creation is central—should lead in open source adoption. Unlike corporations, universities have a mission rooted in public good, knowledge dissemination, and community engagement. These values align perfectly with the principles of open source. However, without a dedicated structure, open source in academia often suffers from:
Fragmentation: Individual labs reinvent solutions in isolation.
Compliance Risks: Unclear licensing and intellectual property policies.
Short Lifespans: Projects often disappear when a grant ends or a student graduates.
VERSO was created to address these gaps and demonstrate how an academic OSPO can transform research culture. By establishing a clear policies for licensing, attribution, and compliance and offering templates for governance and contribution guidelines VERSO aimed to reduce uncertainty for researchers. Additionally providing workshops, documentation, and one-on-one consultations to help faculty, students, and staff drove the adoption open-source practices confidently.
Position open source as more than a technical choice—it’s a driver of research impact, reproducibility, and collaboration is an importan cultural activity as well. Advocating for its inclusion in grant proposals, tenure considerations, and institutional strategy is fundamental for the sustainability of the office.
By creating VERSO, we aimed to make open source a first-class citizen in academic research, ensuring that the tools and knowledge produced at UVM are accessible, sustainable, and impactful.