Special Projects: CREU: Collaborative Research Experiences for Undergraduates

Computing Research Association, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT Special Projects Program - FY04 CNS 0352808, PI's Joan M. Francioni and John S. Hurley, Computing Research Association Title: CREU: Collaboration Research Experiences for Undergraduates This project provides support for the Computing Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W) and the Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC) to join efforts in a new project designed to increase the number of women and minorities who enroll in computer science and engineering graduate studies. The new project provides research experiences to teams of undergraduates - either all women or all minority- to work on a common research project at their home institution. To emphasize interaction in research activities, CREU students apply jointly as teams to work with a faculty mentor, building on prior positive relationships. The teams work for an entire academic year and are encouraged to present their work in talks and papers that they are required to post on their common website. The project is built on a pilot program, CREW, that CRA-W has conducted for women over the last five years. Evaluation of that project was carried out by the LEAD Center at the University of Wisconsin and found to be successful. This new project will make the CREW model available to many more women and will extend its benefits to minority students and their institutions as well. The intellectual merit of this project lies in its potential for increasing the research opportunities for undergraduates and, in some cases, for their mentors. Further, the LEAD evaluation of the program will give us insights into the factors that determine success in the recruitment of women and minorities to graduate Computer Science and Engineering (CS&E) programs. The broader impacts of the project lie with its potential for increasing the numbers and success of women and underrepresented minorities in CS&E graduate programs.