Sponsors & Mentors: Building Your Academic Professional Network

Speakers: A.J. Brush (Microsoft) & Kelly Shaw (Williams College)

What’s a mentor? What’s a sponsor? What’s the difference? Do you need both in your career? Come learn the answers to these questions as well as practical tips for identifying sponsors and mentors and building your professional network.

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I’m a Student Again: Heading to Graduate School after a Break

Speakers: Dilma Da Silva (Texas A&M University) & Monica Anderson (University of Alabama)

Considering graduate school after some time working? Already back in school? This session will cover how to position yourself to apply to graduate school, the differences between professional Master’s and Ph.D. programs, and tips for being successful in graduate school. We’ll have plenty of time for questions, so bring yours.

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Effective Teaching Tactics: In-person, Hybrid, Virtual – Wow!

Speakers: Susan Rodger (Duke University) & Colleen Lewis (University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign)

How to plan, manage, run and assess a course; dealing effectively with large enrollments; managing your TAs (managing down). What to do about low teaching evaluations? Strategies for effective online teaching; effective use of technology in the classroom.

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ACM Award-Winning Research in HCI

A.J. Brush (Microsoft): Moderator

Amy Rechkemmer (Purdue University) — ACM Award Winning Research in HCI: When Confidence Meets Accuracy: Exploring the Effects of Multiple Performance Indicators on Trust in Machine Learning Models

Previous research shows that laypeople’s trust in a machine learning model can be affected by both performance measurements of the model on the aggregate level and performance estimates on individual predictions. However, it is unclear how people would trust the model when multiple performance indicators are presented at the same time. We conduct an exploratory human-subject experiment to answer this question. We find that while the level of model confidence significantly affects people’s belief in model accuracy, both the model’s stated and observed accuracy generally have a larger impact on people’s willingness to follow the model’s predictions as well as their self-reported levels of trust in the model, especially after observing the model’s performance in practice. We hope the empirical evidence reported in this work could open doors to further studies to advance understanding of how people perceive, process, and react to performance-related information of machine learning.

Emily Tseng (Conell University) — ACM Award-Winning Research in HCI: Care Infrastructures for Digital Security and Privacy in Intimate Partner Violence

Survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) face complex threats to their digital privacy and security. Prior work has established protocols for directly helping them mitigate these harms; however, there remains a need for flexible and pluralistic systems that can support survivors’ long-term needs. This paper describes the design and development of sociotechnical infrastructure that incorporates feminist notions of care to connect IPV survivors experiencing technology abuse with volunteer computer security consultants. We present findings from a mixed methods study that draws on data from an 8-month, real-world deployment, as well as interviews with 7 volunteer technology consultants and 18 IPV professionals. Our findings illuminate emergent challenges in safely and adaptively providing computer security advice as care. We discuss implications of these findings for feminist approaches to computer security and privacy, and provide broader lessons for interventions that aim to directly assist at-risk and marginalized people experiencing digital insecurity.

Keke Wu (University of North Carolina) — ACM Award Winning Research in HCI: Understanding Data Accessibility for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Using visualization requires people to read abstract visual imagery, estimate statistics, and retain information. However, people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) often process information differently, which may complicate connecting abstract visual information to real-world quantities. This population has traditionally been excluded from visualization design, and often has limited access to data related to their well being. We explore how visualizations may better serve this population. We identify three visualization design elements that may improve data accessibility: chart type, chart embellishment, and data continuity. We evaluate these elements with populations both with and without IDD, measuring accuracy and efficiency in a web-based online experiment with time series and proportion data. Our study identifies performance patterns and subjective preferences for people with IDD when reading common visualizations. These findings suggest possible solutions that may break the cognitive barriers caused by conventional design guidelines.

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It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint: Managing Work and Life in Grad School and Beyond

Speakers: Patty Lopez (New Mexico State University) & Russ Joseph (Northwestern University)

Feeling overwhelmed? We’ll discuss strategies for maintaining balance in your life during graduate school and your career. Topics include achieving personal satisfaction in your career and family life, balancing your TA duties, courses, and research, and decision making strategies when career and family priorities seem to collide. Plus time for self-reflection and questions, so bring yours.

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Heuristics for Satellite Dodging Schemes

Speaker: Jinghan (Alina) Hu (Harvey Mudd College)

To address the problem of bright commercial satellite streaks in images from Vera C. Rubin Observatory, I create heuristics for satellite dodging strategies using the survey’s scheduling algorithm. I computationally forecast satellite trajectories to account for the growing satellite population during Rubin operations. My results help maximize efficiency and quality of this flagship observatory.

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A Student Observatory for Cybersecurity Education Research

Speaker: Yijun Liu (Tufts University)

Students utilize various resources online in cybersecurity studies. This research focuses on students’ online resource use in completing selected CTF challenges. A Chrome extension is developed to capture participants’ browser activities as well as prompting a short survey after each visited page. Participants are asked for a follow-up survey, and their visited pages are scrapped and analyzed.

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Utilizing Chatbots to assist people living with Alzheimer’s or related dementias, and their caregivers using geographic information system (GIS) services

Speaker: Mariah McMichael (University of Alabama)

People living with Alzheimer’s or related dementias and their caregivers experience feelings of depression, and isolation due to the lack of support and barriers to accessing services. Our approach is to create a chatbot using geographic information system (GIS) services to disseminate information of local resources for caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias.

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How is Empathy Conveyed in Spoken Language? An Acoustic-Prosodic Analysis

Speaker: Divya Tadimeti (UC Berkeley) 

Empathy is an essential component of spoken language which when instilled in conversational agents can make them more likely to be talked to, confided in, trusted, and believed. What acoustic-prosodic speech features create an empathetic-sounding voice? We compare features extracted from empathetic and neutral speech segments to understand how empathy is produced in speech.

Research Careers — What Are the Options? How Do I Get There

Speaker: Monica Anderson (University of Alabama)

What does a research career in computing look like? What are the options in academia? Industry? government? What can you do to best prepare yourself for one of these careers? How do you successfully apply for them? Come chat with researchers in academia, industry, and government about these questions and more.

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 Is Graduate School for You?

Speaker: Susan Rodger (Duke University)

Is graduate school in computer science and engineering for you? What benefits do you get once you have a graduate degree? Come chat with students and professionals from industry and academia who will help you understand what it’s like to be in graduate school, and the options you’ll have when you finish. Bring your questions.

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How to Successfully Apply to Graduate School

Speaker: Colleen Lewis (University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign)

How do you choose the right graduate school for you? Is there anything you can do during college to improve your chances of being admitted? What if you’ve been out of school and working for a while? How do you apply? What is the time line? What about letters of recommendation? Funding? Come talk with professors about how to apply successfully to graduate school.

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How to Be Successful Post-Bachelor’s

Speaker: Dilma Da Silva (Texas A&M University)

You are well on your way to earning a bachelor’s degree (congratulations!). What’s next? Should you consider graduate school? a full-time job? What are the pros and cons of these career decisions, and how can you set yourself up to be successful post-bachelor’s? Come chat with professionals about the types of doors that are open with a bachelor’s degree in computing. Bring your questions.

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What is Computing Research? How Can Undergraduates Participate?

Speaker: Kelly Shaw (Williams College)

Interested in computer science research, but not sure what computer science researchers do? We will talk about the world of research, to help you decide if it’s for you. We will also describe the different ways you can obtain a research experience during your undergraduate career, and the doors that these experiences will help open. Bring your questions.

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Sponsors & Mentors: Building Your Academic Professional Network

Speakers: A.J. Brush (Microsoft) & Soha Hassoun (Tufts University)

What’s a mentor? What’s a sponsor? What’s the difference? Do you need both in your career? Come learn the answers to these questions as well as practical tips for identifying sponsors and mentors and building your professional network.

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It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint: Managing Work and Life in Grad School and Beyond

Speakers: Dilma Da Silva (Texas A&M University), James Mickens (Harvard University)

Feeling overwhelmed? We’ll discuss strategies for maintaining balance in your life during graduate school and your career. Topics include achieving personal satisfaction in your career and family life, balancing your TA duties, courses, and research, and decision-making strategies when career and family priorities seem to collide.

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Being an Ally in Academia

Speakers: Steve Blackburn (Australian National University) & Lydia Tapia (University of New Mexico)

Are you a professor, graduate or undergraduate student or otherwise working in academia? In this session, we’ll talk about being an ally and helping to combat racism and increase diversity and inclusion in academic environments including the classroom, research meetings, and conferences. We’ll share our experiences and things we have learned while focusing on practical tips from how to respond constructively when someone makes a comment that doesn’t feel right about things you can do at your institution.

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vGHC20: September 27 – November 1, 2020

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Professors in a Pandemic – Tips and Tricks for Teaching Online

Speakers: Helen Hu (Westminster College) & Cynthia Lee (Stanford University)

Wow! What changes we are all living through. With so many classes moving online we’ll discuss practical suggestions and resources to thrive in the online classroom and ways to foster a fun, interactive learning environment. We will also present classroom management techniques and strategies for what to do if things don’t go as planned.

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Sponsors & Mentors: Building Your Academic Professional Network

Speakers: A.J. Brush (Microsoft) & Melanie Wu (Pomona College)

Effective networking is one of the most powerful tools in advancing your professional career. This skill can connect you to your community in meaningful ways, land you a dream job, and help you score awards or promotions. Join us to learn how to present yourself and your ideas in a concise and appealing way, as well as how to deliberately build and nurture your professional network of sponsors and mentors.

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Promoting Personal Wellbeing with Agile Methods for Graduate Students and Professors

Speakers: Shannon Duvall (Elon University)

Curious about the range of post-Ph.D. career options including academia and industry?  Join us for a panel session with speakers who will give you a sense of the wide range of job options from working at a company to teaching.  This session is aimed at late-stage graduate students and post-docs.  We’ll have practical advice on how to apply for jobs, interview, and negotiate.

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Being an Ally in Academia

Speakers: Steve Blackburn (Australian National University) & Lydia Tapia (University of New Mexico)

Are you a professor, graduate, or undergraduate student or otherwise working in academia? In this session, we’ll talk about being an ally and helping to combat racism and increase diversity and inclusion in academic environments including the classroom, research meetings, and conferences. We’ll share our experiences and things we have learned while focusing on practical tips from how to respond constructively when someone makes a comment that doesn’t feel right about things you can do at your institution.

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Learn about the what, why and how of undergraduate research, how to get accepted and then thrive in graduate school, and the differences between Master’s and Ph.D programs.

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Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Time: 11:30 AM – 12:40 PM & 1:00 – 2:15 PM | Location: OCCC WF2

CRA-W Mentoring Circles

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CRA-W: Research Careers — What Are the Options? How Do I Get There

Mentors: Deb Agarwal (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Nancy Amato (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

What does a research career in computing look like? What are the options in academia? Industry? government? What can you do to best prepare yourself for one of these careers? How do you successfully apply for them? Come chat with researchers in academia, industry, and government about these questions and more.

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CRA-W: Is Graduate School for You?

Mentors: Susan Rodger (Duke University), Yerika Jimenez (University of Florida)

Is graduate school in computer science and engineering for you? What benefits do you get once you have a graduate degree? Come chat with students and professionals from industry and academia who will help you understand what it’s like to be in graduate school, and the options you’ll have when you finish. Bring your questions.

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CRA-W: How to Successfully Apply to Graduate School

Mentors: Maria Gini (University of Minnesota), Ming Lin (University of Maryland at College Park)

How do you choose the right graduate school for you? Is there anything you can do during college to improve your chances of being admitted? What if you’ve been out of school and working for a while? How do you apply? What is the time line? What about letters of recommendation? Funding? Come talk with professors about how to apply successfully to graduate school.

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CRA-W: How to Be Successful Post-Bachelor’s

Mentors: Ayanna Howard (Georgia Institute of Technology), Maria Jump (Northeastern University)

You are well on your way to earning a bachelor’s degree (congratulations!). What’s next? Should you consider graduate school? a full-time job? What are the pros and cons of these career decisions, and how can you set yourself up to be successful post-bachelor’s? Come chat with professionals about the types of doors that are open with a bachelor’s degree in computing. Bring your questions.

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CRA-W: Master’s or Ph.D.?

Mentors: Bushra Anjum (Doximity), Diane Woodbridge (Data Science, University of San Francisco)

Considering either a Master’s or Ph.D.? Not sure about the difference? Come chat about the main differences in career options and in graduate studies between a Master’s and Ph.D. degree. Topics include realistic goals and expectations for each degree and various strategies for deciding which degree to pursue. Bring your questions.

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CRA-W: What is Computing Research? How Can Undergraduates Participate?

Mentors: Jeannie Albrecht (Williams College), Sheila Castaneda (Clarke University)

Interested in computer science research, but not sure what computer science researchers do? We will talk about the world of research, to help you decide if it’s for you. We will also describe the different ways you can obtain a research experience during your undergraduate career, and the doors that these experiences will help open. Bring your questions.

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Learn how to thrive in graduate school, how to build your professional persona and network, and how to find your dream job. Senior graduate students may also be interested in topics for Early Career.

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Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Time: 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM | Location: OCCC W307D

I’m a Student Again: Heading to Graduate School after a Break

Speakers: Anna Gommerstadt, India Irish

Considering graduate school after some time working?  Already back in school?  This session will cover how to position yourself to apply to graduate school, the differences between professional masters and Ph.D. programs, and tips for being successful in graduate school.  We’ll have plenty of time for questions, so bring yours.

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Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Location: OCCC W307D

It’s a Marathon, not a Sprint: Balancing Work and Life in Grad School and Beyond

Speakers: James Mickens, Kristin Stephens-Martinez

Feeling overwhelmed?  We’ll discuss strategies for maintaining balance in your life during graduate school and your career. Topics include achieving personal satisfaction in your career and family life, balancing your TA duties, courses, and research, and decision making strategies when career and family priorities seem to collide. Plus time for self-reflection and questions, so bring yours.

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Thursday, October 3, 2019

Time: 9:45 AM – 10:45 AM | Location: OCCC W308D

Finding Your Dream Job with a Ph.D. 

Speakers: Deb Agarwal, Stefanie Mueller, Raquel Romano

Curious about the range of post-Ph.D. career options including academia and industry?  Join us for a panel session with speakers who will give you a sense of the wide range of job options from working at a company to teaching.  This session is aimed at late stage graduate students and post-docs.  We’ll have practical advice on how to apply for jobs, interview and negotiate.

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Learn how to start, manage and grow your own research program and how to achieve success in your field.

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Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Time: 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM | Location: OCCC W307D

Sponsors & Mentors: Building Your Academic Professional Network

Speakers: Jaime Moreno, Ming Lin

Effective networking is one of the most powerful tools in advancing your professional career. This skill can connect you to your community in meaningful ways, land you a dream job and help you score awards or promotions. Join us to learn how to present yourself and your ideas in a concise and appealing way, as well as how to deliberately build and nurture your professional network of sponsors and mentors.

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Thursday, October 3, 2019

Time: 11:15 AM – 12:15 PM | Location: OCCC W308D

Effective Teaching Tactics

Speakers: Helen Hu, Susan Rodger

This session covers current theories on educational pedagogy and practical suggestions and resources to thrive in the classroom. We’ll discuss planning course goals and objectives, options for how to use class time and ways to foster a fun, interactive learning environment. We will also present classroom management techniques and strategies for what to do if things don’t go as planned.

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Thursday, October 3, 2019

Time: 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM | Location: OCCC W308D

How Universities are Creating New Pathways to Diversify Tech

Moderator: Andrea Danyluk, Speakers: Valerie Barr, Carla Brodley, Colleen Lewis

The tech industry is booming and pervasive, with significant impact on individuals and society. This powerful industry should broadly represent those it affects, yet many groups remain underrepresented. Come hear a group of innovators who are changing the way CS is taught: providing new pathways into computing, changing the way we teach, creating a diverse applicant pool that tech can’t ignore.

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Thursday, October 3, 2019

Time: 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Location: OCCC W308D

Building Your Professional Persona

Speakers: Andrea Danyluk, Ayanna Howard

Social media, oh my! This session addresses the dos and don’ts of building a professional image. Topics will include web presence (personal pages and social media), social media postings, dissemination of technical contributions, and professional ethics.

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Thursday, October 3, 2019

Time: 12:45 PM – 1:45 PM | Location: OCCC W308D

Mid-Career: Stay, Change or Retire

Speakers: A.J. Brush, Marie desJardins

A little bit bored? Unhappy?  Ready for a change but not sure?  In this session, we will talk about different options for improving your job satisfaction including making changes where you are, changing to new roles within your company, changing to a different company, or taking a longer break.  There will be time set aside for small group discussion and questions from the audience.

Learn about the what, why and how of undergraduate research, how to get accepted and then thrive in graduate school, and the differences between Master’s and Ph.D programs.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPT 26, 2018 11:30 a.m.—2 p.m.

CRA-W Mentoring Circles

• CRA-W: Research Careers — What Are the Options? How Do I Get There
  Mentors: Dilma DaSilva (Texas A&M University), Sandhya Dwarkadas (University of Rochester)
  What does a research career in computing look like? What are the options in academia? Industry? government? What can you do to best prepare yourself for one of these careers? How do you successfully apply for them? Come chat with researchers in academia, industry, and government about these questions and more.

• CRA-W: How to be Successful Post-Bachelor’s
  Mentors: Ayanna Howard (Georgia Institute of Technology), Amy Hughes (MIT Lincoln Laboratory)
  You are well on your way to earning a bachelor’s degree (congratulations!). What’s next? Should you consider graduate school? Should you look for a full-time job? What are the pros and cons of these career decisions, and how can you set yourself up to be successful post-bachelor’s? Come chat with professionals about the types of doors that are open with a bachelor’s degree in computing. Bring your questions.

• CRA-W: Is Graduate School For You?
  Mentors: Susan Rodger (Duke University), Jodi Tims (Baldwin Wallace University)
  Is graduate school in computer science and engineering for you? What benefits do you get once you have a graduate degree? Come chat with students and professionals from industry and academia who will help you understand what it’s like to be in graduate school, and the options you’ll have when you finish. Bring your questions.

• CRA-W: Master’s or Ph.D.?
  Mentors: Cynthia Lee (Stanford University), Diane Myung-kyung Woodbridge (University of San Francisco)
  Considering either a Master’s or Ph.D.? Not sure about the difference? Come chat about the main differences in career options and in graduate studies between a Master’s and Ph.D. degree. Topics include realistic goals and expectations for each degree and various strategies for deciding which degree to pursue. Bring your questions.

• CRA-W: How to Successfully Apply to Graduate School
  Mentors: Maria Gini (University of Minnesota), James Mickens (Harvard University)
  How do you choose the right graduate school for you? Is there anything you can do during college to improve your chances of being admitted? What if you’ve been out of school and working for a while? How do you apply? What is the time line for completing the application process? What are the best kinds of recommendations? How can you fund graduate school? Come talk with professors about how to apply successfully to graduate school.

• CRA-W: What is Computing Research? How Can Undergraduates Participate?
  Mentors: Kelly Shaw (University of Richmond), Jeannie Albrecht (Williams College)
  Interested in computer science research, but not sure what computer science researchers do? We will talk about the world of research, to help you decide if it’s for you. We will also describe the different ways you can obtain a research experience during your undergraduate career, and the doors that these experiences will help open. Bring your questions.
  

Learn how to thrive in graduate school, how to build your professional persona and network, and how to find your dream job. Senior graduate students may also be interested in topics for Early Career.

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WEDNESDAY SEPT 26, 2018

11:30AM – 12:30PM

CRA-W CR230: I’m a Student Again: Heading to Graduate School After a Break

Dilma Da Silva (Texas A&M University), Claudia Roberts (Princeton University)

Considering graduate school after some time working? Already back in school? This session will cover how to position yourself to apply to graduate school, the difference between professional masters and Ph.D. programs, how graduate school differs from undergraduate and tips for being successful in graduate school. We’ll have plenty of time for questions, so bring yours.

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WEDNESDAY SEPT 26, 2018

1:00PM – 2:00PM

CRA-W CR231: It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint: Balancing Work and Life in Grad School and Beyond

Speakers:
Lydia Tapia (University of New Mexico), Hai Ah Nam (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Feeling overwhelmed? We’ll discuss strategies for maintaining balance in your life during graduate school and your career. Topics include achieving personal satisfaction in your career and family life, balancing your TA duties, courses, and research, and decision making strategies when career and family priorities seem to collide. We’ll have time for self-reflection and questions, so bring yours.

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WEDNESDAY SEPT 26, 2018

4:00PM – 5:00PM

CRA-W CR229: Finding Your Dream Job with a Ph.D.

Speakers:
Victor Bahl (Microsoft Research), Kelly Shaw (University of Richmond), Jess Smith (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Curious about the range of post-Ph.D. career options including academia and industry? Join us for a panel session with speakers who will give you a sense of the wide range of job options from working at a company to teaching. This session is aimed at late stage graduate students and post-docs. We’ll have practical advice on how to apply for jobs, interview and negotiate.

Learn how to start, manage and grow your own research program and how to achieve success in your field.

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WEDNESDAY SEPT 26, 2018

2:30PM – 3:30PM

CRA-W CR232: Building Your Academic Professional Network

Speakers:
A.J. Brush (Microsoft), James Mickens (Harvard University)

Effective networking is one of the most powerful tools in advancing your professional career. This skill can connect you to your community in meaningful ways, land you a dream job and help you score awards or promotions. Join us to learn how to present yourself and your ideas in a concise and appealing way, as well as how to deliberately build and nurture your professional network.

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THURSDAY SEPT 27, 2018

9:00AM – 10:00AM

CRA-W CR305: Effective Teaching Tactics

Speakers:
Cynthia Lee (Stanford University), Susan Rodger (Duke University)

In this session, we will cover current theories on educational pedagogy and practical suggestions and resources to thrive in the classroom. We’ll discuss planning course goals and objectives, options for how to use class time and ways to foster a fun, interactive learning environment. We will also present classroom management techniques and strategies for what to do if things don’t go as planned.

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THURSDAY SEPT 27, 2018

10:30AM – 11:30AM

CRA-W CR306: Building Your Professional Persona

Ayanna Howard (Georgia Institute of Technology), Soha Hassoun (Tufts University)

Social media, oh my! This session addresses the dos and don’ts of building a professional image. Topics will include web presence (personal pages and social media), social media postings, dissemination of technical contributions, and professional ethics.

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THURSDAY SEPT 27, 2018

1:30PM – 2:30PM

CRA-W CR302: Conferences, Universities, and Companies are Work Places, Not Pickup Bars

Kathryn McKinley (Google), Kristian Lum (Human Rights Data Analysis Group)

Computer science researchers have a local work community at their university or company and a global work community largely realized by attending conferences. Many, including the two of us, have been speaking out about and against sexual harassment that occurs in these work places. This panel will explore how policies and community culture are evolving to better deter and punish harassment.

THURSDAY, SEPT 27, 2018

12:00PM – 1:00PM

CRA-W CR304: Turning your Research into a Startup

Speakers:
Yuanyuan Zhou (University of California, San Diego (UCSD), Whova), Karina Edmonds (Google)

The ultimate goal of research is to make impact. Commercializing research into products via startups is one way to make such impact. However, switching to the start-up world requires some adjustments. We will discuss challenges we have encountered through our startup ventures, lessons learned and strategies to maximize your success.