Code for Good initiative launches

With the COVID-19 pandemic throwing many students’ summer plans into disarray, alumni, students, and faculty from the Department of Computer Science saw the need for meaningful professional work experiences for students whose summer internships had been canceled or postponed. Working quickly, the group developed Tufts CS Code for Good, a summer program that helps students gain real-world experience in a professional setting. Beginning on June 1, 60 students and 75 alumni have teamed up across 20 projects this summer. Code for Good is a collaborative effort between the CS External Advisory Board, faculty, staff, and students.

Projects this summer range from creating a virtual version of Halligan Hall to working with the National Motor Freight Traffic Association to collaborating with The Village Method, a nonprofit organization that seeks to close the opportunity gap by connecting Black youth and their families with local businesses, government, cultural institutions, and support services. See here for the full list of ongoing projects.

Alumni have been involved in numerous ways. Each student is matched with a dedicated alumna or alumnus as a project mentor. Alums have also stepped up to give workshops and hold office hours on topics like "How to Start a Project," "Project Management with Git and GitHub," "Web Development 101," "Data Management and Data Engineering," and "User Testing and Customer Discovery."

There are still ways for alumni to help, if interested. Recent graduate Caroline Kaufman, Code for Good co-organizer, writes, “We welcome other alumni to get involved by joining tech-specific Slack channels (#react-native, #django, #git, etc.) and helping students debug, by giving a talk or workshop on their career or something they find interesting, or just by joining the Slack workspace and chatting with students!” Any alumni interested in giving a talk should reach out to Caroline Kaufman at carolinekaufman97@gmail.com.

To learn more about Code for Good, please visit the Department of Computer Science website.