BPC-A: The STARS Alliance: A Southeastern Partnership for Diverse Participation in Computing

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The University of North Carolina at Charlotte proposes a system of regional partnerships, called the STARS (Students and Technology in Academia, Research, and Service) Alliance. Alliance members - North Carolina State University, Meredith College, Georgia Tech University, Spelman College, Auburn University, Florida State University, Florida A&M University, the University of South Florida Lakeland, and Landmark College - will collaboratively implement, disseminate, and institutionalize effective practices for recruiting, bridging, and graduating students from the underrepresented groups in computing. The STARS Alliance is structured as five local alliances or "stars," each including research, minority-serving and women's institutions, K-12 schools, industry, and community groups. Alliance activities will build on existing diversity efforts at each of the stars, pooling expertise and resources, to consolidate, scale, replicate and sustain efforts across multiple institutions and populations. Specific activities include a Student Leadership Corps (SLC), a variety of committees and task forces to facilitate the exchange of information across the alliance, a web portal to disseminate information on the alliance and host a repository of socially relevant projects, a Marketing and Careers Campaign, curricular changes, and a yearly STARS workshop. The SLC is the core of these programs, providing multiple touch points for students to find information and support throughout their academic journey. The SLC will foster an extended student community among students, academia, industry and community through civic engagement, mentoring, and professional development and research experiences. All SLC students will attend an alliance-wide, week-long summer workshop to promote community building and prepare the students for their upcoming SLC assignments. Possible assignments include Outreach Ambassadors to 7th through 12th grades, service learning that uses their computer skills for community projects, research and internship experiences, and peer mentoring.