CERP Bulletin

The CERP Bulletin frequently shares news, timely information about CERP initiatives, and items of interest to the general community.
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Category Archive: CERP Bulletin Email

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Call for CSGrad4US Applications

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Many who complete a bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering or information science enjoy lucrative and exciting jobs in industry after graduating; however, pursuing graduate education can open new doors– and not just to a professorship at a university. The skills acquired in earning a Ph.D. prepare you to develop ideas that can benefit your research field and society, while helping to create a path to leadership positions within the tech industry.

One of the biggest challenges of getting into graduate school is finding an experienced mentor to guide you through the process: preparing the materials, researching different programs and finding funding for the right program. To help with this challenge, the U.S. National Science Foundation created the CSGrad4US Fellowship, which aims to increase the number and diversity of U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or U.S. permanent residents pursuing graduate research and subsequent careers in computer science and engineering. The fellowship is also an opportunity for those already working in industry or other sectors to return to academia to purse a research-based doctoral degree.

In the one-year program, CSGrad4US Fellows work with faculty mentors who help them figure out which grad program is right for them, network with other mentors and fellows, and learn how to apply to graduate schools. After enrolling in a CISE doctoral program, CSGrad4US Fellows receive a stipend of $37,000 per year for three years out of five, plus a cost-of-education allowance of $16,000 per year for those three years.

A diverse cohort of CSGrad4US fellows will be selected based on their demonstrated interest and potential to pursue a Ph.D. in one of the CISE fields: computer science, computer engineering, or information science.

Eligibility

CSGrad4US Fellowship applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • Be a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident;
  • Intend to apply for full-time enrollment in a research-based doctoral degree program in a CISE field no later than Fall 2025;
  • Have graduated with a bachelor’s degree before December 31, 2022;
  • have not been enrolled in any degree-granting program after January 1, 2023;
  • Have demonstrated CISE core competency;
  • Never enrolled in and have no pending application for a doctoral degree-granting program for a CISE discipline at the time of the application; and
  • Have never previously accepted a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

NSF seeks candidates from a broad array of backgrounds and strongly encourages women, Blacks and African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Other Pacific Islanders, and persons with disabilities to apply.

 

Timeline
The Application deadline for the CSGrad4US Graduate Fellowship is June 5, 2023, by 11:59 pm Eastern time. Please visit https://www.nsf.gov/cise/CSGrad4US/ for additional details and deadlines.

Questions?

Please contact csgrad4us@nsf.gov with any questions about the program.

New updates to the BPCnet.org Statistics & Data Hub

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Recently, IPEDS released its 2020-2021 postsecondary degree completion data and CCD released its 2021-2022 K-12 enrollment data. BPCnet.org staff have updated the Statistics & Data Hub applications to include these new data releases. BPCnet.org staff are pleased to announce version 1.3.5, which includes K-12 enrollment data from 2013-2022 by race/ethnicity and sex, as well as postsecondary computing and engineering degree completions from 2011-2021 by race/ethnicity and gender. You can find the applications at the BPCnet.org Statistics & Data Hub: bpcnet.org/statistics.

Workshop Opportunity: Expanding The Agenda For Inclusive Policy, Practices, And Research Regarding Gender And Computer Science

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The following information was first published by Sagefox Consulting Group.

Are you a researcher currently doing or planning to do work by, with, or for Trans and Nonbinary learners in computing? We’d love to invite you to a virtual workshop where we will collectively develop a research agenda that includes transgender and nonbinary (TNB) learners in Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) efforts for inclusive and intersectional policy, practices, and research.

The objectives of this workshop are to:

  • Define near and long-term agenda items for intersectional research about the inclusion of TNB learners in computing for the Computing Education Research (CER) community
  • Advance our collective understanding of and ability to implement principles of intersectionality in future work
  • Highlight existing work, researchers, and thought leaders on the inclusion of TNB learners in BPC/RPP initiatives
  • Create a community where this work is valued for those doing, receiving, and being represented by this work
  • Provide participants with the opportunity to conceptualize how to expand and refine the inclusion of TNB learners as part of their current and future BPC/RPP initiatives

Pre-workshop Panel Timeline:

  • Two 90-min pre-workshop panels on Thursday, November 3rd from 5-6:30 PM EST and late November/early December.
  • Three three-hour sessions will occur on TUE, WED, & THU afternoon (EST) the week of Jan 9, 2023, OR Jan 16, 2023. Each day will last for a duration of 3 hours. All workshop activities will be conducted virtually. This workshop will require 12 hours of synchronous time commitment plus some additional asynchronous time for reading or reviewing data. We are not able to offer stipends or other financial incentives to workshop participants.

Please visit the workshop webpage to learn more and to fill out the participant interest form by September 21, 2022. Note that we are currently in the process of working with panelists and other speakers to firm up the dates for our two pre-workshop panels. This information will continue to be updated on the webpage.

You can contact Stacey Sexton, ssexton@sagefoxgroup.com with any questions about the workshop schedule, content, or required commitment.

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Supplements for BPC Plans

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The following announcement is provided by the National Science Foundation.

PIs with active Medium and Large CISE Core programs awards funded in the last three years (specifically pursuant to solicitations NSF 20-591, 19-589. 18-569, 18-568, and 18-570) are invited to submit supplemental funding requests to engage more members of the CISE research community in significant BPC efforts as part of their projects’ BPC plans. These supplements will increase the participation of individuals underrepresented in the community participation in specific research areas. Supplemental funding requests for an existing BPC plan should either:

  1. extend the reach of current BPC activities that have some evidence of effectiveness to more participants or institutions; or
  2. coordinate and institutionalize BPC activities within a department or similar unit.

The supplemental funding request should also include the following information:

  1. objectives and strategies for the proposed activities along with a timeline;
  2. an evaluation and assessment plan that describes how to measure the outcomes of the proposed activities; and
  3. the results of past BPC activities on this project.

The current approved BPC plan must be uploaded as a Supplementary Document.

Supplemental funding requests must: (a) be less than 20% of the original award amount; and (b) not exceed $200,000. Supplements will not be given if they would require an extension beyond the expiration date of the original grant.

The deadline for submission is January 20, 2022.

BPCnet.org Resource Portal is an initiative of the Computing Research Association (CRA) with support from the National Science Foundation (CNS-1830364, CNS-2032231, and CNS-1940460). Subscribe to the BPCnet.org newsletter & bulletin by clicking here.

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BPC Demonstration Projects

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The following announcement is provided by the National Science Foundation.

PIs with interest in piloting and evaluating programs to broaden participation in computing are encouraged to submit a BPC Demonstration Project (DP). Typical DPs pilot innovative programs that, once fully developed, could be incorporated into the activities of an existing or new BPC Alliance, or otherwise scaled up for widespread impact. Examples include projects proposed by a single institution or those that focus on a single underrepresented community, a single point in the academic pathway, or a single impediment to full participation in computing. Demonstration projects should contribute knowledge to our understanding of effective teaching and learning of computing for students from groups underrepresented in computing.

The deadline for submission is January 20, 2022.

Please refer to the CISE BPC solicitation (NSF 21-571) for more details. Send questions or concerns to cise-bpc@nsf.gov.

BPCnet.org Resource Portal is an initiative of the Computing Research Association (CRA) with support from the National Science Foundation (CNS-1830364, CNS-2032231, and CNS-1940460). Subscribe to the BPCnet.org newsletter & bulletin by clicking here.

Taulbee, Talent, and Trends: CRA Session at Upcoming DOE ASCAC Meeting

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The Computing Research Association (CRA) will be represented by CRA staff (Betsy Bizot, Erik Russell, and Burçin Tamer) and CRA-WP Co-Chairs (Sandhya Dwarkadas and Amanda Stent) during the upcoming U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC) meeting. In their session entitled “Taulbee, Talent, and Trends”, the CRA team will be discussing trends in the computing research pipeline over time, the ways in which CRA supports that pipeline, and how CRA collects data to track that progression. You can catch “Taulbee, Talent, and Trends” from 1:00-1:45 PM ET this Thursday, September 30, 2021.

Click here to view the full agenda for the meeting held from September 29-30. The full meeting information, including the Zoom link, can be found here.

Attend the Upcoming BPC Plan Panel at Tapia Conference

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Are you attending the CMD-IT/ACM Richard Tapia Conference? If so, please consider attending “The NSF’s BPC Initiative: Resources and Opportunities to Contribute” on Wednesday, September 15 from 1:30 – 2:15 CDT!

Dr. Burçin Tamer, Director of CERP, will be moderating a panel of BPC experts and NSF representative to discuss the National Science Foundation’s BPC Plan requirements. Below you can find the detailed description with a link to the Tapia session.

Description:
Broadening participation in computing (BPC) requires our individual and collective effort. The National Science Foundation is leading an effort to encourage NSF PIs and all computing departments to create BPC plans. Panelists will share resources and advice for how attendees can get involved. Students, staff, and faculty can all play an important role in broadening participation in computing. Since the NSF initiative and supporting resources on BPCnet.org are relatively new, attendees can help by sharing information within their institution and broader network. 

More details about the panel can be found here.

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CERP team releases new version of Data Buddies Project webpage

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Over the last few months, the CERP team has been refreshing the Data Buddies Project webpage. These new updates provide clearer, more accessible information about the project and how departments can sign up to participate in the annual Data Buddies Survey (DBS).

Some of the updated content includes a list of measures that appear on DBS, responsibilities for participating departments, and other frequently asked questions! Visit the main project webpage at: https://cra.org/cerp/data-buddies/.

The page also aggregates many other useful survey-related resources and links to sample reports that we provide participating departments.

Is your department already participating in DBS? If not, sign up to join today! We look forward to bringing DBS to your department. We are currently in the process of enrolling new departments for our 2021 survey cycle; this year, the survey will open around October/November (exact date to be announced soon).

Here is the general timeline for a given DBS survey cycle:

Table showing the typical timeline in a given DBS survey cycle. IRB preparations happen in August and September. The survey opens in October or November. Departments send student reminders in November or December. The survey closes in January or February. Departments receive their reports in May or June.

If you have any further questions about the Data Buddies Project, please contact us!

This post is brought to you by the CRA’s Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP). CERP provides social science research and comparative evaluation for the computing community. Subscribe to the CERP newsletter & bulletin by clicking here. Volunteer for Data Buddies by signing up here.

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CERP to support new NSF INCLUDES Alliance focused on increasing equity and broadening participation in STEM

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On August 3, 2021, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced five new NSF INCLUDES Alliances, which will each address a critical broadening participation challenge in STEM at scale.

The CRA Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP) will support one of the new INCLUDES Alliances as a consultant representing BPCnet.org, a clearinghouse for the community to learn about and engage with ongoing projects to address underrepresentation in Computing. Through this collaboration, CERP will work to expand the BPCnet.org Statistics and Data Hub, an online tool that currently provides computing-related data at the K-12 and postsecondary levels.

CERP is looking forward to supporting this new INCLUDES Alliance:

All other new Alliances are listed below:

 

This post is brought to you by the CRA’s Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP). CERP provides social science research and comparative evaluation for the computing community. Subscribe to the CERP newsletter & bulletin by clicking here. Volunteer for Data Buddies by signing up here.

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CISE Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program Webinar

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NSF’s Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) is providing information on the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program solicitation NSF 19-582 via a webinar on August 6th, 2021 starting at 12:00 pm ET. The event page can be found by clicking here, which includes more information about the webinar and a list of clarifications for specifically REU Site proposals.

One important clarification is the new option for the required evaluation component of the REU Site proposal. PIs are encouraged to work with the CRA Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline to fulfill the evaluation requirement of the REU Sites program. Submit an interest form to sign up and for a statement to include in your proposal. If you choose to participate in this evaluation, you do not have to include evaluation in your budget.

Additionally, the webinar will include a briefing on the CISE REU program and key solicitation requirements followed by a question-and-answer session. Prior to the webinar, you can submit questions to cise.reu@nsf.gov.

Register in advance for this webinar, which will take place via Zoom:
https://nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_OMIx_4NoQd6AXF8w7VTr0g

After registering, a confirmation email will be sent containing information about how to join the webinar. Participants will be able to join in a listen-only mode and interact through the Q&A function.

Contact: Rebecca Shearman rshearman@nsf.gov

This community update is brought to you by the CRA’s Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP). CERP provides social science research and comparative evaluation for the computing community. Subscribe to the CERP newsletter & bulletin by clicking here. Volunteer for Data Buddies by signing up here.