EAGER: BPCnet: A Broadening Participation Resource Portal

Computing Research Association, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The Computing Research Association (CRA) proposes to build a website, called the"BPCNet Resource Portal" to be hosted at CRA. BPCNet will support and amplify the efforts that the Computer and Information Systems and Engineering (CISE) Directorate at the National Science Foundation (NSF) has recently undertaken to engage more of its Principal Investigators (PIs) in broadening participation in computing (BPC) activities. The BPCNet Resource Portal will provide resources for CISE PIs, allowing them to search for best and promising practices in BPC. More importantly, it will allow them to find and connect to collective impact efforts by providing exemplars of (1) departmental BPC plans, and (2) scaffolding that lets CISE PIs participate in existing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and BPC programs run by a range of organizations. CRA will participate in a series of workshops to further plan the role of the website and obtain feedback on its design and deployment. It will convene two committees to maintain and curate the portal: an Evaluation Committee that includes representatives of the Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP) and the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT); a Steering Committee that includes CRA Board members and committee members from its Subcommittee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W), and representatives of diversity-oriented organizations, that will guide the direction of the portal and interface with the community. Finally, CRA's reach and its convening role in the community will make this resource visible, leverage its staff and Committees for curation, and exploit its existing dissemination avenues. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.