I'm excited to announce that for NANOG 63 in San Antonio that we will begin the NANOG College Immersion Program. This program aims to provide the next generation of Network Operators with an edge in today's highly competitive market and allows us a conduit of highly capable operators, engineers, and architects. Please see below for the full program description. Regards, -Dave Temkin, for the NANOG Board of Directors NANOG College Immersion Program Summary: NANOG is committed to ensuring next generation of networking professionals have an opportunity become part of the operational community that makes the internet run. Companies such as Google, Level 3, Microsoft, NTT, Netflix, Yahoo, and Amazon rely on NANOG to discuss key architectural and operational topics relevant to Internet infrastructure. NANOG believes by introducing undergraduates to our vibrant community before entering the job marketplace, they will have a better understanding of how the infrastructure of the Internet works and how they might participate after graduation. Further, students may be able to find internship opportunities they may have not otherwise found. Offering: NANOG will provide an expenses-paid trip to the current meeting for up to 25 students per meeting. The paid expenses will include: - Airfare (up to $500) - Four nights of hotel (must be booked by NANOG staff) - Ground transportation (reasonable cost) - Meal stipend (adjusted for meeting location) NANOG will also, space permitting, allow free admission for students to the NANOG Education Series (https://www.nanog.org/meetings/education/home) class prior to the meeting they are attending. NANOG will provide guidance to students as to what they may and may not attend. Of note, alcohol is served at some NANOG events and there is the expectation that those not legally entitled to consume alcohol will refrain from doing so. NANOG takes no responsibility for those that break the law during their meetings and reserves the right to refuse admission to those that violate our Attendance Charter. Expectation: NANOG will not be involved in any syllabus or coursework for the students. The NANOG organization will provide an agenda and slideware for the materials that the students will be viewing and expects their professor to determine the best way their students can extract educational value from the NANOG program. NANOG asks, in return, that all students complete our surveys in full and that their teaching staff provide us with a summary of how they used our program in the classroom and/or in coursework. A few paragraphs from each student explaining the value that they got from the program and social interactions would also be a good idea. Q&A: Q: What is NANOG and what is the value proposition for sending a student to this conference? A: The North American Network Operators Group or NANOG, is the professional association for Internet engineering and architecture. Our core focus is on the technologies and systems that make the Internet function: core routing and switching; Internet inter-domain routing; the domain name system; peering and interconnection; and Internet core security. We also cover associated areas with a direct impact on Internet architecture such as data centers and optical networking. The value proposition for the student is exposure to all of these subjects and technical material but more importantly to the organizations and individuals. The opportunity for students to make industry contacts is invaluable. Q: How do we select students for this sponsorship? A: Send your best and brightest, highlight that the value is the density of industry representatives in a common location. Q: What do the students owe back to NANOG? A: In addition to the anonymous surveys that all attendees are asked to complete, the NANOG Board would request that all sponsorship recipients provide feedback on their experiences. Lastly, we would like to encourage the students join the mailing list (nanog@nanog.org), attend more conferences and get involved in the industry. Q: How do we evaluate our students participation? A: Students could provide a variety of deliverables back to the institution. These could include a writeup of selected presentations from the agenda, an overview of the conference as a whole, or even a list of the individuals they met during the conference. Q: What will be covered in the sponsorship? A: Hotel, conference fee, airfare, and a reasonable stipend for incidentals such as meals. Q: Why are you sponsoring our students for this conference? A: The NANOG organization is keen to encourage the future technology leaders and innovators to get interested and involved in this segment of the industry.