NCSA NEWS

Applications Now Being Accepted to Host CRA-W Recruitment Events

released August 1, 2000

A labor shortage in science and technology is currently costing the United States as much as four billion dollars per year in lost production. "I see this as the greatest challenge we have as a nation," said Neal Lane, current president of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and former director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). "If the current trend persists, we, as a country, will fall short." Members of Congress, scientists, educators, and industry specialists all agree that much of the problem stems from the nation's current lack of diversity in the science and technology fields.

To address such issues, the Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W) and Lucent Technologies are sponsoring a Distinguished Lecture Series to encourage females and minorities to pursue graduate education in scientific and technological disciplines. Ten university sites are needed for the Fall term 2000 to host the series of individual events, which will feature Ph.D. faculty, industry laboratory researchers, and current graduate students.

Department chairs interested in hosting such an event are invited to contact Carla Ellis, the Program Coordinator and Duke University Professor of Computer Science, at carla@cs.duke.edu. First priority will be given to email messages received prior to August 15, 2000.

The Distinguished Lecture Series actively recruits members of underrepresented groups by sending faculty and industry researchers to college campuses to meet with students and incite interest in graduate education. Two previous graduate recruitment workshops in conjunction with the Distinguished Lecture Series proved successful. The first workshop was held at Duke University and featured a distinguished lecture by Lori Pollock, an associate professor of computer and information sciences at the University of Delaware. Kathy Yelick, a computer science professor at the University of California at Berkeley, spoke at the second workshop, held at the University of Washington. Each of these workshops also featured a panel of current graduate students and a female Ph.D. researcher from industry. The panelists discussed their reasons for choosing to attend graduate school and briefly explained their research before inviting questions from the audience. "Our aim is to express the excitement of research," said Ellis. "It seems to be working, as the panels were well received by the undergraduate students in attendance."

At the Fall 2000 events, students will have the opportunity to discuss the graduate school process and experience with female researchers, facilitating their ability to make an informed decision about pursuing graduate study. Each event will include the following:

• An evening panel discussion preceded by a dinner, open to all students
• An informal lunch for women in the host department with the visiting team
• A research lecture by one of the women, possibly incorporated into the local colloquia series

The success of the series will require a collaborative effort. CRA-W is responsible for the organization of all events, providing program content, participants, and funding. The host institution will schedule meeting rooms, attend to the advertising, tailor the event to the local culture, order food, and advise the organizers on other local arrangements. An appropriate Distinguished Lecturer will be chosen collaboratively. Prospective host institutions should email Carla Ellis with the following information about resources that can be made available to CRA-W:

• Scheduling constraints—unavailable dates, preferred dates, start and end of the Fall term
• Means of contacting interested parties, such as mailing lists of undergraduates, female department members, local women organizations, and related departments whose members may be interested
• Contact people—a local host, which ideally will be a female faculty member; the colloquia or seminar chair; and a student liaison. Please provide email addresses and telephone numbers.
• Desired role of the distinguished lecturer and the nature of the talk

CRA-W welcomes all interested computer science departments to apply to participate in this event. Creating opportunities for diversity in a field so relevant to the future is the organization's primary goal. "Technology is going to change our political, economic, social, and personal lives," says Anita Borg, CRA-W committee member. "Women need to be there saying, 'This is how we want things to change.'"

For additional information: The program overview is available at the CRA-W website at http://www.cra.org/Activities/craw/dist_lect.html. The first two events, held in Spring 2000, are described in an article at http://www.cra.org/Activities/craw/dls.html.

CRA-W is partially supported by the National Science Foundation and EOT-PACI, a national education, outreach, and training program funded by the NSF Partnerships for Advanced Computational Infrastructure.

 

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