National Center for Women in Information Technology and the National Science Foundation Broadening Participation Joint Meetings

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT CNS-0733419 PI: Lucinda Sanders Institution: University of Colorado Title: NCWIT and NSF BPC Joint Meetings This project supports the organization of the annual alliance meetings of the National Center for Women in Information Technology and the NSF Broadening Participation alliance project participants. A Summit on K-12 Information Technology Education is also being held in conjunction with the other meetings. The meeting is to be held in May, 2007 in Boulder, Colorado. The National Center for Women in Information Technology is organizing the event. This meeting provides an opportunity for several groups to network and build a broader community to implement new models for broadening participation in information technology throughout the pipeline from K-12 to industry. The meeting provides an excellent mechanism to sustain and improve several well-developed communities and promote collaboration and success through participation in the community event. This award provides funding for the approximately 65 NSF Broadening Participation alliance participants. The intellectual merit of this project lies in the significant expertise involved in planning the meeting and participating in it. The meeting provides an opportunity of experienced investigators and researchers to discuss successes, failures, and lessons learned as well as the best ways to disseminate this information to broader communities. In particular, the K-12 summit provides an opportunity for the many national alliance members and partners to learn about the issues in K-12 education that impact all of their projects and to develop collaborative approaches to address the most significant areas of common concern. The broader impacts of the project include providing a quality experience for a large group of national leaders in the area of increasing participation in information technology education and career paths. Thus this project has the potential to produce new models for developing a more diverse group of students and faculty members and to advance discovery and understanding while promoting learning in the information technology disciplines. The project will also provide a better technically educated workforce to meet national security and economic priorities.