BPC-A: Computing Alliance for Hispanic-Serving Institutions

University Of Texas At El Paso, El Paso TX

Investigators

Abstract

The University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) proposes an Alliance of Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) that includes some of the leading producers of Hispanic science and engineering graduates: UTEP, California State University Dominguez Hills, Florida International University, New Mexico State University, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, the University of Houston Downtown, the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, and the University of Puerto Rico Rio Padras. These institutions will create a unified voice and consolidate strengths, resources, and concerns in their commitment to increasing the number of Hispanics who pursue advanced degrees in computing. The project goals are (1) to increase the number of students who enter the professoriate in computing, (2) to support the retention and advancement of Hispanic faculty in computing, and (3) to develop and sustain competitive education and research programs at HSIs. The Alliance will implement a variety of interventions, including a course designed to attract majors and bolster under-prepared students, peer-facilitation redesign of gatekeeper courses, undergraduate professional development and research experiences inside and outside the classroom, workshops to develop cohorts of graduate students and faculty, mentoring, availability of online resources, and strengthening of education and research programs. The Alliance will thus support students at each of the three critical transitions in the academic pipeline: the transition from high school to college, from college to graduate school, and from graduate school to the professoriate. These practices will be shared and deployed across the academic partners and with other HSIs.