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Tag Archive: NSF Broadening Participation

Applications Are Open for the 2023 Departmental BPC Plan Workshop: March 19 Deadline

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Applications are now open for the 2023 Departmental Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) Plan Workshop. This year’s workshop will be held in Atlanta, GA from May 30th– June 1st in collaboration with Morehouse College. In this workshop, departments will have the opportunity to learn more about BPC efforts from the National Science Foundation (NSF), how to create a Departmental BPC Plan, and how to best support faculty PIs submitting NSF proposals that require a BPC Plan. Consultants from BPCnet.org will be available to answer questions and provide real-time feedback about your department’s BPC Plan during the workshop.

 

Please check out the workshop website for more information about the workshop.

 

Eligibility

This workshop is open to all computing department faculty and administrators developing Departmental BPC Plans. We highly recommend (but do not require) that each department participates in the workshop in teams of 2-3. For each department, we ask that at least one participant represent the leadership (e.g., department heads, deans, etc.) at the workshop. We also encourage non-academic staff, research institute personnel, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) professionals, and leaders from other broadening participation-related organizations to attend. Registrants do not need to have prior experience developing Departmental BPC Plans. Each department may send up to three representatives to attend.

 

Funding

This workshop is funded by the NSF. Attendees will be reimbursed for their travel expenses in accordance with CRA’s Travel Policy. 

 

Application

Each department only needs to submit one application. The person who completes the application on behalf of the department will be asked to provide information on the other representatives (e.g., name, email). Click here to complete and submit your application by midnight Sunday, March 19th.

 

If you have any questions regarding the workshop, please reach out to bpcinfo@cra.org.

 

BPCnet.org is Hiring BPC Plan Consultants

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About BPCnet.org: BPCnet.org, housed within the Computing Research Association (CRA), is a resource for the computing community to learn about Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) efforts and engage with ongoing initiatives to diversify computing. In that effort, BPCnet.org supports PIs and departments to create BPC Plans that define how they will contribute to broadening participation in computing (BPC) in a meaningful way.

Description: BPCnet.org seeks consultants to support academic institutions to craft BPC Plans for their respective departments. The consultants will primarily work with PIs and departments to help draft and revise meaningful Departmental and Project “Connected and Standalone” BPC Plans (Connected and Standalone) under the NSF CISE guidelines, and with the support of rubrics and sample plans. The consultation process includes virtual meetings with departments,  providing feedback on drafts, and using a pre-established checklist and criteria for verifying Departmental BPC Plans.

Types of Consultants:

  • Provides consultations about Departmental and Project BPC Plans only (virtually meets with departments)
  • Reviews and verifies Departmental BPC Plans only
  • Provides consultations about Departmental and Project BPC Plans, and reviews and verifies Departmental BPC Plans

Time Commitment: Max. 10 hours/ month. BPC Plan consultants have flexible schedules; however, consultants will need to provide their availability for each semester. Consultants will also participate in BPC Plan Workshops and virtual Working Sessions as their schedules permit.

Compensation: Hourly

Experience and Training: BPC Plan consultants are expected to have a prior engagement with BPC through BPC activities in their respective organizations and/or research experience. BPCnet.org staff and Steering Committee will also provide consultants with the appropriate training and continuous guidance needed to review and verify Plans.

Application Process: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. If you’re interested in becoming a BPC Plan Consultant, please fill out this form. You can expect to hear from BPCnet.org staff about the next steps within a few weeks of submitting your application.

CRA is an equal opportunity employer. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the BPC Plan Consultancy, please contact us at bpcinfo@cra.org.

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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.

Register for This Year’s Final Departmental BPC Plan Working Session

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BPCnet.org will be hosting its last working session for this year on Thursday, November 18th, 2021, from 3:00 PM- 5:00 PM ET. The session will assist participants with updating their existing Departmental BPC Plan or creating a new one to meet the updated National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate of Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering (CISE) guidelines. You can review the details of the session and register prior to Thursday, November 11th.

 

If you are unable to participate in the working session, we encourage you to schedule a free appointment with our BPC consultants before the December 1st, 2021 – December 22nd, 2021 proposal window deadline for NSF CISE Core Medium projects.

 

Questions about these Departmental BPC Plan Working Sessions should be directed to bpcinfo@cra.org or through our contact form.

 

BPCnet.org has the full announcement about the changes to BPC Plan requirements from NSF.

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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Call for BPC Reviewers

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The National Science Foundation is now preparing for proposal submissions for the Broadening Participation in Computing  (NSF 21-571) program.  The BPC program seeks to engage the computing community to develop and implement innovative methods, frameworks, and strategies to improve recruitment and retention of these students through undergraduate and graduate degrees.  The quality of the awards selected for support by the National Science Foundation depends greatly on the critical judgments of expert reviewers from diverse backgrounds. If you are willing to serve as a reviewer, please follow the link below to provide some information about your background.  Responses submitted by June 20 will be most helpful.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2021EWF

We realize that now is still a severely disruptive time. Please do not take this request as a lack of recognition of what you are going through at the moment. Yet, many researchers are relying on NSF funding, so we are trying to maintain a steady stream of proposal evaluations and awards. We really appreciate any help you could provide in this endeavor.

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Submit Requests for Supplemental Funding to the NSF CISE BPC Program

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The Broadening Participation in Computing program (BPC) aims to significantly increase the number of U.S. citizens and permanent residents receiving post-secondary degrees in the computer and information science and engineering (CISE) disciplines, and to encourage participation of other groups underrepresented in the CISE disciplines.

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 a project’s BPC plan. 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 (a) extend the reach of current BPC activities that have some evidence of effectiveness to more participants or institutions; or (b) coordinate and institutionalize BPC activities within a department or similar unit.

The supplemental funding request should 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.

Interested PIs are strongly encouraged to contact both their cognizant NSF Program Director(s) and the BPC team at cise-bpc@nsf.gov by May 17. Supplement requests should be submitted by the BPC deadline (June 14).

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

This message was brought to you by the National Science Foundation Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering.