| NSF Org: |
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 12, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 12, 2016 |
| Award Number: | 1649271 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Fay Cobb Payton
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2016 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2019 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $299,903.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $299,903.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
500 W UNIVERSITY AVE EL PASO TX US 79968-8900 (915)747-5680 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
TX US 79968-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
A partnership of institutions and organizations from public and private sectors, all with an established record in advancing Hispanics in higher education, will form a networked community across regions of the United States with significant Hispanic populations to collectively adapt and adopt proven practices and apply them throughout the higher education system of two-year colleges and baccalaureate-, master's-, and doctorate-granting universities. The partnership builds on the successful NSF-funded Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI) that has emerged as a significant pipeline of new recruits into computing graduate studies, industry, and the professoriate throughout the nation. Even through the Hispanic population has reached 17% nationally, a mere 4% STEM Master's and 3% STEM doctorate degrees are awarded nationwide to Hispanics in 2012-2013. The desperate need to reach parity is clear. The shared purpose and bold vision of the effort is to achieve parity in the number of Hispanics who complete computation-based graduate studies. The focus will be on targeting the pool of talented students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) who, for various reasons, do not choose to continue on STEM educational and career pathways. The efforts will focus on transitioning Hispanic students from associate degree programs to baccalaureate programs, and from baccalaureate programs (regardless of where they began their studies) to completion of graduate degrees.
The project will establish a common agenda that guides the vision and strategy for collective impact, conduct data collection to longitudinally track student movement across campuses, and launch a multi-site pilot to test feasibility of the full-scale plan and process for change. While prior research has identified strategies for increasing graduate program completion rates for underrepresented minorities, little attention has been paid to the role of HSIs in reducing attrition. Attention to HSIs is a critical element in developing successful pathways to STEM careers. The networked community will involve social scientists across the different regions in research on Hispanic graduate program completion, to complement existing research on undergraduate completion. Developing a comprehensive, scalable model for cross-institutional advancement of students, in particular the combination of a bilingual and bicultural student body with unique needs, is critical to grow the STEM pipeline. Through a pilot, the project will engage two-year colleges and universities to begin the initial investigation on the impact of building strong student identity, student belonging, advocacy, and preparation on accelerating the number of students entering, persisting in the major, and considering, entering, and ultimately completing graduate studies in computational areas.
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
As an INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot (DDLP) funded in 2016, CAHSI piloted a collective impact framework with two- and four-year HSIs in Northern California, Southern California, New Mexico and far west Texas. The framework supports collaborative change through five key conditions: Common Agenda; Backbone Support; Continuous Communication; Mutually Reinforcing Activities; and Shared Measurement. The key conditions guided the pilot planning and development efforts of the DDLP. In January 2017, a kick-off convening to establish a common agenda and action planning was held at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). Representatives included California State University (CSU) Dominguez Hills (CSUDH); CSU, Stanislaus; Code 2040; Doña Ana Community College; Excelencia in Education; CSU, Fresno; GEM Consortium; Google; Great Minds in STEM (GMiS); HPE; Merced College; New Mexico State University (NMSU); NMSU Alamogordo; Prudential; San Francisco State University; University of California, Merced; University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) ; and the YWCA.
Regional meetings were held in Northern California, Southern California, and the Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico and Texas), with a large portion of time spent on developing an understanding of collective impact. This understanding was further deepened by DDLP leadership’s attendance at five NSF-funded INCLUDES conferences. The DDLP was focused initially on the pipeline to and through graduate school; but, based on feedback from the two-year college partners, the initial focus of the vision shifted to include technical certificates resulting in the vision. Through a series of meetings and an iterative feedback process, the CAHSI institutions agreed on its common agenda as defined by its a shared vision and mission. CAHSI’s bold, shared vision is: By 2030, Hispanics will represent 20% or more of those who earn credentials in computing. Credentials are defined as degrees and certifications that lead to gainful employment and advancement in the field. CAHSI’s mission is to grow and sustain a networked community committed to recruiting, retaining, and accelerating the progress of Hispanics in computing. In order to grow as a national alliance, while at the same time maintaining quality services and staying laser-focused on a shared vision, the Alliance goals are to: challenge students’ knowledge, skills, & abilities to position them to thrive in the workforce; support pedagogical and professional growth for those who can impact Hispanics; expand meaningful partnerships to align with strategic regional and national efforts; and inform policy through evidence.
The DDLP built on CAHSI’s foundation consisting of structured, academic networks centered on student success in computing and established, effective relationships with a wide variety of organizations and partners. Together these networks examined strengths and assets of each region, shared resources, and interest in adoption and assessment of effective signature practices: Affinity Research Group model, Peer-Led Team Learning, and Fellow-Net (practices designed to be equitable and inclusive).
The DDLP was instrumental in allowing CAHSI to accelerate its efforts strategically. Collective impact has guided CAHSI in considering what other institutions, non-profits, industry, and other entities need to be included to accelerate change and how to communicate to build trust and longevity. As a result, CAHSI has expanded to include two-year colleges, K-12 teachers and administrators, and key industry partners such as Microsoft, Google, Lockheed Martin, and others. Partners such as Maricopa County Community College and San Francisco State University became part of CAHSI from connections made at the NSF INCLUDES meetings. CAHSI expanded its alliance from 15 to over 40 HSIs. The heightened interest to partner is a function of CAHSI’s reputation in impacting student success in computing and ability to expand while ensuring that adopters share CAHSI’s vision and goals. The DDLP allowed CAHSI to learn what is working and what could be improved. One of the lessons learned was how to grow as a national alliance while maintaining effective engagements and relationships. CAHSI recognizes the importance of creating “on-the-ground” connectors and coordinators who engage and support partners; promoting reinforcing activities that address local, regional, and cultural needs; and fostering a culture of results-based accountability. Those involved identified the need to build a stronger and more distributed infrastructure that practices group and self-reflection to continually improve efforts throughout the Alliance.
The DDLP efforts resulted in a significant increase in CAHSI’s membership and the following outcomes: (1) the creation of a new computer science associate degree program at NMSU-A and DACC aligned to both the B.A. and the B.S. at NMSU; (2) one- and two-credit courses in problem solving created in collaboration with Google; piloted at NMSU, CSU-DH, and UTEP; (3) a contract to provide consultation to Google on student development and Google programming for HSIs; (4) development and refinement of the cybersecurity sessions at the CAHSI Summit co-located with the GMiS HENAAC conference; (5) development of co-curricular cybersecurity workshops with the Army Research Laboratory for adoption at CAHSI institutions; and (6) dissemination of MentorNet across the DDLP institutions.
Last Modified: 12/18/2019
Modified by: Ann Q Gates
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