This article is published in the October 2020 issue.

Call for Submissions: Departmental BPC Plans

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The Computing Research Association (CRA) and the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) are calling upon the academic community to create and submit Departmental BPC Plans to BPCnet.org.

Departmental BPC Plans are important because they help departments:

  • reaffirm their commitment to equity and inclusion,
  • identify and organize their BPC related goals and activities,
  • and support PIs in their department who are submitting CISE proposals requiring a Project BPC Plan at the time of award.

Haven’t started a Departmental BPC Plan?
If you haven’t started your Departmental BPC Plan, there are a few things you can do to start.

  1. Review the BPCnet.org Departmental BPC Plan checklist.
  2. Check out some resources for BPC plans to support the writing process.
  3. Look at verified Departmental BPC Plans available as examples.
  4. Download your institution’s IPEDS data from BPCnet.org.
  5. Attend an upcoming BPC Plan workshop.

Want feedback on a draft?
BPCnet.org is offering a consulting service for departments looking to get feedback on a draft of their plan. PIs creating Project BPC Plans may also use this service to get feedback on their draft plan prior to submission to NSF.

Click here to schedule an appointment with a BPC consultant.

Is your Departmental BPC Plan ready to submit?
If your department has finished creating your BPC Plan, please submit it to BPCnet for verification. BPCnet.org will verify that each plan meets or exceeds the recommendations for Departmental BPC Plans prior to publishing. These recommendations were created as part of NSF/CISE-funded engagements with members of the computer and information science and engineering community.

Once your plan has been verified, BPCnet.org will ask to publish your verified plan. Publishing your verified plan to BPCnet.org is an important service to the community, as it provides your plan as an example to other departments while also showcasing your commitment to BPC. Publishing your plan on BPCnet.org is also important for PIs in your department, as they will be able to link to the Departmental BPC Plan in the Project BPC Plan component for their CISE proposal.