Center for Minorities and People with Disabilities in Information Technology
 
August/ September 2016
Volume 6, Issue 4

Welcome to the August/ September issue of the CMD-IT eNewsletter!  
 
In this issue we are pleased to announce that  the CMD-IT Student Professional Development Workshop will be taking place on Wednesday, September 14th at The 2016 ACM Richard Tapia Conference. Our Education Corner features The PhD Project, which is an alliance of foundations, corporations, universities, professionals and academic organizations focused on increasing the minority representation of business faculty.  Lastly, we are sharing information about the "Barriers and Opportunities for 2-Year and 4-Year STEM Degrees" report that was published earlier this year by the National Academies Press. 
 
To include job openings or events to our Community Calendar for the August/September e-newsletter contact Heather Berry
  
Best regards,
CMD-IT Leadership   
Upcoming Events

CMD-IT Student Professional Development Workshop at Tapia 2016


I n 2012, CMD-IT initiated the  Student Professional Development Workshops  to provide undergraduate and masters level computer science students with the unique opportunity to receive coaching and development from industry professionals about the interview process. The workshops provide an opportunity for each participant to have two mock interview sessions, with each session including detailed feedback from the industry professional. The workshops are generally limited to 50 participants, because of the mock interview sessions. Below are evaluation results from the 2015 workshops:
  • Personal Branding: The area where students rated their skill set the lowest prior to the start of the workshop was that of crafting a personal brand. On a scale of 5.0, the pre-workshop self-evaluation was 2.74 on average. Immediately following the workshop, the post-workshop self-evaluation increased significantly to 4.26
  • Applying for Jobs: Another area of significant increase was that of understanding the application and interview process, which increased from 2.95 to 4.37.
The workshops are generally scheduled in August, in time for the start of the new academic year. For 2016, the Student Professional Development Workshops will occur on Wednesday of the 2016 Tapia Conference.   To allow for increased participation by the hundreds of students that attend Tapia, the workshop will focus on the panels; mock interviews will not be included in the 2016 workshop.  The workshop will feature a 2 hour resume clinic. We look forward another successful workshop!
Education Corner



The PhD Project is an alliance of foundations, corporations, universities, professionals and academic organizations focused on increasing the minority representation of business faculty. In particular, the focus is on African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Native Americans. The PhD Project started in 1994, at which time there were 294 minority business faculty; currently the number is over 1300. The mission of the PhD project is to increase workplace diversity by increase the diversity of business school faculty who encourage, mentor, support, and enhance the preparation of tomorrow's leaders.

The PhD Project organizes a number of events that are focused recruiting minority students for the PhD Project, mentoring minority students in doctoral business programs, and organizing an annual conference for the target audience.
 
Further details about the PhD Project can be found here!

Barriers and Opportunities for 2-Year and 4-Year STEM Degrees

Earlier this year the National Aca demies Press published a report titled  Barriers and Opportunities for 2-Year and 4-Year STEM Degrees: Systematic Change to Support Students' Diverse Pathways .   The report identifies the various pathways undertaken by students to obtain a STEM degree, with focus on 2-year and 4-year institutions, as well as analysis of the for-profit sector. Policies are discussed at all three levels - institutional, state, and national levels. 

The book includes significant data, upon which barriers and opportunities are identified. For example, the report notes that 57% of all black undergraduate students and 60% of all Hispanic undergraduate students attended community colleges in 2011-2012, compared with 41% of white and Asian/Pacific Islander undergraduate students.    
 
"This report shares the reality of the undergraduate STEM talent pool and the pathways that today's students are using to obtain preparation and degrees. When reflecting on policies to effect transformation, we need a more complete picture of the system viewed through the lenses of today's students, rather than some idealized view of what is happening. We must advance strategies that can enable the students we have, not those we wish we had." indicated Shirley Malcom, Chair of the Committee on Barriers and Opportunities in Completing 2-Year and 4-Year STEM Degree and Head of Education and Human Resources Programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).   

The report was sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the National Academy of Sciences Kellogg Fund.

The book can be downloaded  here!

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In This Issue
Tapia 2016 Conference Deadlines
Registration Deadline:
August 31, 2016
Job Postings
 


Community Calendar
7 September

8 September

9 September 
16-17 September 

Columbia University GRAD LAB

19 September

21 September
AISES: National Conference Research Track Proposal Notification of Acceptance 

21-23 September
22-24 September

23-24 September

26 September
AISES-Chapter of the Year Award Application Deadline

3 October

20 October
20-24 October
21-22 October
25-28 October