Archive of articles published in the 2014 issue.

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Highlights of the CISE Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Request

By: Farnam Jahanian, Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation for Computer and Information Science and EngineeringIn: /

On March 4, President Obama delivered his Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Budget Request to Congress, and the President’s FY 2015 Budget Request for NSF was presented on March 11. At $7.3 billion, this Request supports investments in fundamental research across all scientific disciplines, engineering, and education that continue to enhance our national economy, security, and quality of life. This represents an increase of $83 million, or about 1.2 percent, over the FY 2014 NSF Estimate.

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CRA

Time to Degree in Computing

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How long does it take to finish a Ph.D. in computing? This is important information for departmental planning and for students considering the commitment involved in a Ph.D. program, but it is not readily available. This article addresses five questions…

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CRA

Postdoc Best Practices Award Recipients Announced

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The Computing Community Consortium and the National Science Foundation are very excited to announce the recipients of awards for the Postdoc Best Practices program. In September, an RFP was released by the CCC to create programs to develop, implement, and institutionalize the implementation of best practices for supporting postdocs in the computer science and engineering field.

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CCC

2013 Taulbee Report Sneak Preview

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The 2013 Taulbee Report will be published in the May 2014 issue of CRN. However, as we did last year, we’re offering you a preview of the degree and enrollment numbers for bachelor’s and doctoral level programs in the departments responding to the survey. For the second year in a row, the total number of Ph.D.s awarded was the highest ever reported in Taulbee. The departments that responded this year reported 1,991 graduates in 2012-13, surpassing the 1,929 reported for 2011-12 by last year’s respondents.

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CRATaulbee Data Analysis

CI Fellowship provides higher, more livable postdoc salary in academia relative to conventional postdocs

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Applicants who had applied to the Computing Innovation (CI) Fellowship Program in 2009, 2010, or 2011 were recruited during the fall of 2013 to complete CERP’s survey of postdoc experiences. We compared the responses and outcomes of CI Fellows (n = 66) to non-fellows who had other postdoc experiences (i.e., Non-fellow Postdocs; n = 124). CI Fellows reported higher salaries than Non-fellow Postdocs for academic research postdocs, but lower salaries than Non-fellow Postdocs for industry research postdocs, ps < .01. In academic settings, CI Fellows found it easier to live on their postdoc salary and were more satisfied with their pay than Non-fellow Postdocs, ps < .01. In industry settings, there were no group differences in perceived adequacy of pay.

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CERP

Collaborative Research Experiences for Undergraduates (CREU)

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Sponsored by CRA’s Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W) and the Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC), the CREU program is aimed toward increasing the number of women and underrepresented minorities who go on to CS&E graduate programs. The CREU program includes not only computer science and computer engineering research, but also collaborative, multidisciplinary research with a significant computer science emphasis. Students have the opportunity to conduct undergraduate research at their home institution during the academic year. Each student from an underrepresented group receives a stipend. Teams can also request travel funding to present their work at conferences or meetings. In some cases, projects may be granted funding to continue in the summer following the academic year of research.

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CRA-WP
Ran Libeskind-HadasRan Libeskind-Hadas

Computer Science for Non-Majors

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I’m on sabbatical this year and have been visiting computer science departments at colleges and universities, small and large. One of the recurring stories that I hear is that a growing number of non-majors are choosing to take introductory CS courses. And, some of these students get so excited that they choose to take a second CS course. Although this results in large courses and staffing headaches, it is generally viewed as a good “problem” to have.

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CCC

CRA and CCC Bid Farewell to Kenneth Hines

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After serving almost four years at CRA, Kenneth Hines will be leaving CRA to return to a research career at Teaching Strategies in Bethesda, Maryland. When Kenneth joined CRA in 2010, he was primarily responsible for data analysis on undergraduate and graduate computing students through the “Data Buddies” project with the Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W). He also analyzed Ph.D. and postdoctoral data using a wide range of data sources, including NSF’s Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR) and CRA’s annual Taulbee survey.

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CRA