CSGrad4US Mentoring Program - Phase Two

Computing Research Association, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). The Computing Research Association’s Committees on Education (CRA-E) and Widening Participation (CRA-WP) will collaboratively implement a mentoring program for recipients of the NSF CSGrad4US Graduate Fellowships, which support individuals in the workforce returning to graduate school for a PhD in a CISE discipline. A previously developed pilot program will be revised and expanded to better meet participants’ needs to address new eligibility rules on the expected CISE background and to meet the diverse and unique challenges a transition to graduate school entails, as evident from the results of the pilot. The overall goals of the CSGrad4US Mentoring Program are (1) to guide returning students through the application process towards a successful CISE PhD admission and school selection, and (2) mentor them through the transition to PhD graduate study in the first year towards high retention. Compared to the pilot, the individual coaching component of the program will be strengthened and mentoring will be more individualized. To broaden the CSGrad4US program 's reach, the project staff will perform outreach to potential applicants and develop and disseminate publicity materials. The program evaluation will shed light on the retention rate of students taking this pathway and the potential impact of the program on domestic CS PhD production. The resulting mentoring program model and professional development model for mentors and coaches will inform other efforts and CISE departments on ways to increase domestic PhD production. The mentoring needs of students returning from the workforce are different from those applying to graduate school as undergraduates. Key differences of this group include the lack of a natural peer group, diminished access to faculty who can provide graduate application guidance as well as perspective on their academic strengths and weaknesses, a lack of past research experiences, and the reality of a significant change in their financial situation and the resulting life-style adjustments during graduate school. The CSGrad4US Mentoring Program will provide not only general graduate application advice and guidance, but also aim to build a community and a professional network among awardees. These goals are achieved through group mentoring sessions, panels, and individual coaching during the application and decision making process and the first year of graduate school. The presentations created as part of this mentoring program will be useful beyond the program. 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.