Archive of articles published in the 2013 issue.
The Computing Research Association seeks your help in suggesting nominations for its Board of Directors. Click here to download the nomination form. We seek individuals who have time, energy, initiative, and resources to work on CRA issues on behalf of the entire CRA community. Ours is a working board, and all members are expected to do a fair share of the work.
On March 6, 2013, the day before the SIGCSE 2013 Symposium in Denver, Colorado, the CRA-W provided a full-day Career Mentoring Workshop for Educators (CMW-E) for women faculty and graduate students interested in teaching careers. Specifically, the workshop targeted women faculty early in their career who are in teaching-track or teaching-focused positions or female graduate students close to finishing their PhD who are interested in such teaching positions. By co-locating with SIGCSE, the attendees are encouraged to stay to attend the SIGCSE Symposium.
In the US, increasing the number of students who matriculate, graduate, and enter the workforce in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields—in particular, computing—is a national imperative. My 15 years of experience with MentorNet (http://www.mentornet.org), an online program that matches undergraduate and graduate students in STEM disciplines with working professionals and guides them through a one-on-one mentoring relationship for eight months, demonstrates that individuals can help to diversify and develop the next generation of computer scientists. You too can become a mentor and grow professionally and personally—not to mention have fun—while doing good.
We administered a post-graduation survey to students 1-2 years after they had earned their B.S. in computing to assess their current career status. Survey respondents were more likely to be enrolled in a PhD computing graduate program if they had participated in a CRA-W/CDC-sponsored Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) than if they had participated in Other REUs or No REUs, p < .05.
The mission of CRA’s Computing Community Consortium is to catalyze the computing research community and enable the pursuit of innovative, high-impact research. In its six years of existence, the CCC has conducted activities aimed at strengthening the research community, articulating compelling research visions, and aligning those visions with pressing national and global challenges. CCC has developed white papers and organized events to communicate the importance of those visions to policymakers, government and industry stakeholders, the public, and the research community itself.
Microsoft Research is inviting nominations for its 2014 Faculty Fellowship program, starting on August 28, 2013. This program recognizes and supports exceptional early-career faculty engaged in innovative computing research. Only one (1) application will be accepted per research institution. The potential Fellows for the Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship program must be nominated by their research institution, and their nominations must be confirmed by a letter from the head of the institution. Nominations and applications deadline: September 30, 2013
The annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) is a multi-day conference focused exclusively on the research and career interests of women in computing. GHC is the flagship conference of the Anita Borg Institute and is presented in partnership with the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). Inspired by the legacy of Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, the architect behind COBOL, GHC was first held in 1994, led by Anita Borg, founder of the Anita Borg Institute (ABI), and Telle Whitney, current CEO of ABI. GHC encourages women to pursue and remain in the field of computer science by providing a wide range of role models, peer-networking opportunities, and up-to-date information on advanced technical opportunities and career paths in computing. The conference offers multiple sessions designed to address specific career development needs of women in computing.
The Collaborative Research Experience for Undergraduates (CREU) program has evolved in a number of ways since it was introduced by CRA-W under the name “CREW” in 1998. But several key ingredients – collaboration, cohort, and strong mentoring – remain central to the program. Administered jointly by CRA-W and the Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC) since 2004, CREU encourages and supports undergraduates and minorities in computing research. The goal of the program is to increase the number of women and minorities who continue on to graduate school in computer science and computer engineering.
In August CRA welcomed two new staff members as research assistants for the Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP), Ama Nyame-Mensah and Heather Wright.
As October approaches and we transition to a new federal fiscal year (FY), it’s a great opportunity to pause to reflect on FY 2013 and look ahead to FY 2014. It has been an exciting year for the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate at the National Science Foundation (NSF). In FY 2013, CISE’s budget surpassed $850 million. The directorate received nearly 7,500 research proposals and plans more than 1,500 grant awards. These investments are estimated to support the work of nearly 8,000 senior researchers and over 7,000 graduate and undergraduate students.As we embark upon FY 2014 and a new academic year, let me share with you key updates and describe some of the opportunities the CISE community can expect as we continue our commitment to advancing the frontiers of our discipline.
A group of graduate students in PhD programs in computing reported that they “have seriously considered leaving their graduate program” over the past year.
