Proposal for Community-Building Meetings for the National Science Foundation's Broadening Participation in Computing Initiative

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

CISE Special Projects - FY06 Id: CNS 0622450 PI: Edee Wiziecki (NCSA) Title: Community Building Meetings for the National Science Foundation's Broadening Participation in Computing Initiative NCSA has received a CISE Special Projects award to convene a PI meeting and informational outreach meetings on the CISE Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) initiative. BPC aims to build broad Alliances of institutions and organizations to design and carry out comprehensive programs that address under-representation in the computing disciplines. The PI meeting is the kickoff event for the first group of funded projects. The informational meetings and outreach through the Access Grid are informal meetings designed to include broad range of participation. These meetings provide participants with information about the BPC program and enable them to meet for dissemination of successful programs and to establish alliance connections. The intellectual merit of this project lies in the synergies that will follow from bringing together thoughtful individuals with wide-ranging expertise in the area of broadening participation in computing. The meetings are organized by national leaders with significant experience in programs to broaden participation based on current research and best practices. The resulting alliances and associated evaluation and dissemination could provide valuable insights and research about programs that are potential national models for addressing under-representation in computing. The broader impact lies in the potential impact on computing education and outreach to a broad range of students across the United States. The number of students majoring in computing disciplines has declined in recent years even though employment demands for graduates in these disciplines continues to climb. Significantly, the number of women and minority students who consider the possibility of majoring in computing has fallen even more dramatically, further restricting the pool of available talent. Mobilizing concerned leaders to form alliances that can identify and implement innovative strategies to attract and retain a broad range of students in computing disciplines could have enormous impact not only in terms of strengthening the nation's economy but also in preserving equality of opportunity.