NSF BPC-A: Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences (iAAMCS)

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Clemson University, in collaboration with the University of Alabama, Auburn University, Carnegie Mellon University, Rice University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Winston-Salem State University, propose to extend the work of multiple NSF BPC Alliances (A4RC, ARTSI, EL Alliance) and Demonstration Projects (AARCS) that utilized different strategies toward broadening the participation of African-Americans in computing sciences. Although these previous alliances and demonstration projects differed with respect to implementation strategies, they all had a strong emphasis on mentoring. As such, the newly combined Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences (iAAMCS, pronounced "i am cs") will serve as a national resource and emphasize mentoring as the primary strategy for increasing the participation of African-Americans in computing, specifically at the Ph.D. level and beyond. The overarching goal of the iAAMCS is to increase the number of African-Americans obtaining computing sciences doctoral degrees leading to an increase in the number of African-American researchers in the academy, government, and industry. Toward this goal, the iAAMCS Alliance will (1) increase the number of African-American Ph.D. graduates who enter the workforce with a research focus; (2) retain and advance African-American Ph.D. students, faculty and researchers in computing; and (3) develop future African-American leaders with computing expertise in the academy, government, and industry. The iAAMCS will be evaluated by a prestigious advisory committee consisting of experts from computing as well as an external peer evaluation conducted by the new Center for the Evaluation of the Research Pipeline (CERP).