The Apereo Foundation is committed to sharing the knowledge, tools, and materials developed through our programs and initiatives in the spirit of open source, open research, and open education. This Community Resources section contains openly licensed assets to share and use across the open source ecosystem. We are beginning by sharing the Apereo OSS Grant Funding Prioritization Framework. Over time, we will expand into research reports, best practices, technical documentation, and educational materials. By making these resources freely available, we aim to empower the global community, foster collaboration, and amplify the impact of open source in education.
We invite you to explore and contribute to this growing collection of shared knowledge. Please contact community@apereo.org for more information or to discuss contributing openly licensed tools and materials.
Open Source Principles & Practices
A training guide for helping emerging academic open source projects mature, build community, and realize sustainability.
This guide transforms the Apereo Foundation’s Open Source Principles & Practices course syllabus into a structured, facilitator-ready learning experience for higher education Open Source Program Offices, faculty, research software teams, academic technology groups, libraries, and project communities.
PURPOSE
Use the guide to advise a single project, lead a cohort program, run a workshop series, or structure an incubation and mentoring engagement. The curriculum emphasizes observable practices, reusable artifacts, and evidence of growing project maturity.
Open Source Principles and Practices Training Guide © 2025 by Apereo Foundation is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Direct link: https://www.apereo.org/sites/default/files/2026-08/Apereo_Open_Source_Principles_Practices_Training_Guide.pdf
Apereo 2026 Student Tech Guide
College is a great time to build skills—but it can also be when long-term software lock-in begins. The 2026 Student Tech Guide from the Apereo Foundation helps students recognize the “Student-Price Cliff”: tools that are free or discounted while you are enrolled, but become costly or difficult to leave once years of files, habits, and workflows are tied to them. This quick guide highlights open-source alternatives for common academic software, shows where everyday capabilities overlap, and encourages students to choose tools that reduce costs, preserve control of their work, and remain available long after graduation.
Apereo 2026 Student Tech Guide © 2025 by Apereo Foundation is licensed under CC BY 4.0
If you are interested in learning more about open source alternatives for your coursework, contact us at community@apereo.org
Sustaining Open Source Software in the Research Enterprise: Findings from a One-Day Workshop
Open source research software (OSRS) plays an essential role in modern scholarship, yet the people, communities, and institutions that depend on it often lack clear strategies for sustaining it over time. This report from Ithaka S+R and the Apereo Foundation presents findings from the Sustaining Open Source Software in the Research Enterprise (SOSSRE) workshop, examining sustainability through four interconnected dimensions: motivational, infrastructural, archival, and relational.
The report identifies major challenges facing research software, including demonstrating its value to universities, understanding who uses it, overcoming academic incentives that discourage open collaboration, determining who is responsible for long-term stewardship, and building support beyond individual institutions. Participants emphasized recognizing software as scholarship, engaging students in open source workforce development, coordinating open source activity across campuses, connecting researchers with the wider open source ecosystem, treating critical software as research infrastructure requiring reliable funding, improving software discovery, and developing sector-wide sustainability standards. The report concludes with recommendations for funders and institutions, including requiring sustainability planning in grants, supporting professional roles such as research software engineers and community managers, recognizing open source contributions in academic advancement, strengthening campus coordination, and connecting OSRS to existing institutional and external funding networks.
- Sustaining Open Source Software in the Research Enterprise © 2025 by Apereo Foundation is licensed under CC BY 4.0
- If you are interested in ,joining our FOSS Funding Forum please contact us at community@apereo.org
Practical Guide for Sustaining Open Source Software in the Research Enterprise
This companion guide translates the SOSSRE workshop findings into an actionable framework for researchers, research teams, universities, and open source communities. Recognizing that not every research software project needs—or should seek—the same kind of longevity, the guide helps teams determine what sustainability means for their particular project and identify an appropriate path forward. It provides a structured workflow, decision framework, practical actions, and supporting resources for researchers, administrators, developers, Open Source Program Offices, technology transfer offices, libraries, consortia, and funders.
The seven-step process guides projects through defining their purpose and intended impact; assessing human capacity and governance; making software documented, licensed, citable, discoverable, and preservable; evaluating funding options; understanding usage and impact; integrating the project into institutional structures; and connecting it with external communities and organizations. Rather than assuming that every project must become permanent infrastructure, the guide offers multiple sustainability models ranging from archival preservation and light stewardship to community co-maintenance, institutional support, multi-institutional consortia, foundation-based services, and continuous funding models.
- Practical Guide for Sustaining Open Source Software in the Research Enterprise © 2025 by Apereo Foundation is licensed under CC BY 4.0
- If you are interested in ,joining our FOSS Funding Forum please contact us at community@apereo.org
Together, the two publications provide both the evidence and analysis for why OSRS sustainability matters and a practical framework for deciding what sustainable stewardship should look like for an individual project.
Apereo Foundation OSS Grant Funding Prioritization Framework
This guide helps open source software projects strategically pursue grant funding opportunities. It ensures project maintainers use their already limited time and resources effectively and increases the chances of successfully securing funding.
Apereo Foundation OSS Grant Funding Prioritization Framework © 2025 by Apereo Foundation is licensed under CC BY 4.0
If you are interested in ,joining our FOSS Funding Forum please contact us at community@apereo.org
Apereo OSS Funding Tracker
The Apereo OSS Funding Tracker spreadsheet is to be used in tandem with the Grant Funding Prioritization Framework to help organizations evaluate possible granting opportunities. One example is included for reference.
Open Source Software in Higher Education (OSSHE) Study
Apereo is pleased to share the preliminary findings of the Open Source Software in Higher Education (OSSHE) study, an exploratory research effort examining how open source technologies are used, perceived, and supported across colleges and universities. Drawing on survey data from IT practitioners, a scan of more than 5,000 .edu domains, and a review of prior sector research, the report highlights the widespread adoption of open source, growing institutional favorability, and a significant gap in campus-level OSS strategy. These early insights point to the need for a larger, collaborative study, and Apereo invites partners, researchers, and community members to participate in shaping the next phase. Contact ed@apereo.org for more information. help shape
PDF of the preliminary report:
An Open Letter to the Higher Education Community
In early 2026, the “Open Renaissance Group” (ORG) issued a direct call to action for higher education to shift from being primarily consumers of digital technology to becoming co-creators of open, interoperable solutions aligned with the public good. The group called on open source supporters to sign the letter (PDF below).
The most recent version, as of April 14, 2026, includes names collected from early signers and those who signed via the web petition. Apereo and our partners in the ORG encourage anyone who would like to sign to do so via our online petition page. The letter is a living document that we hope will grow along with the Open Renaissance.