The NEXT Awards celebrate past and present Extension Services for Undergraduate Programs (ES-UP) clients for excellence in recruiting and retaining women in computing education, falling into three categories: Grand Prize, Second Place, and Honorable Mentions.
View Previous Recipients
2019 NEXT Recipients
2017 NEXT Recipients
2016 NEXT Recipients
2015 NEXT Recipients
2019 NEXT Recipients
- Grand Prize recipients receive up to $100,000 for a strong commitment to and proven results in recruiting and retaining women into undergraduate computing programs. The 2019 Grand Prize Recipient is the Colorado School of Mines, Department of Computer Science for utilizing a noteworthy, research-based roadmap to create new (or connect with existing) institutionalized initiatives that are aligned with the NCWIT Undergraduate Systemic Change Model. Departmental faculty and students engage with a plethora of well-defined recruitment, retention, and evaluation strategies, including outreach programs called CS@Mines On Tour (in school) and DECtech (after school), multiple CS+X major and X+CS minor tracks, a near-peer mentoring program called U-CLIMB, and annual assessments to evaluate strategy effectiveness. CS@Mines students are attracted to the department for its welcoming culture and environment.
The Collaborative Team includes Dr. Tracy Camp, Ms. Lisa Maddux, Ms. Sharon Naylor, and Dr. Christopher Painter-Wakefield. The team’s Extension Services Consultant is Ms. Michelle Slattery. 
Second Place recipients receive up to $50,000 for a strong commitment to and proven results in recruiting and retaining women into undergraduate computing programs but have not yet achieved the magnitude of results seen in the first place recipient. The Second Place Recipient is the University of California, Berkeley, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (CS), Letters & Science CS Major, whose administrators and faculty, as part of their efforts to better retain students from underrepresented groups, created the CS Scholars Program, in which cohorts of 30 students take classes together for three semesters. Other retention initiatives include a CS bootcamp for women, a mentoring program, and the Resiliency Project—a collection of video testimonials from faculty and students who struggled in CS, but persevered. Teaching assistants in the major also take an equity-based pedagogy course that equips them to foster an inclusive classroom.
The Collaborative Team includes Ms. Charlene Hughes, Mr. Christopher Hunn, and Ms. Audrey Sillers. The team’s Extension Services Consultant is Renee Houston.
2017 NEXT Recipients
Grand Prize recipients receive up to $100,000 for a strong commitment to and proven results in recruiting and retaining women into undergraduate computing programs. The 2017 NEXT Award Grand Prize recipient is the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Computer Science for an impressive array of outreach and recruiting efforts, and has acted to identify and eliminate the effects of implicit bias in admissions. Additionally, efforts to improve culture and pedagogy include training for faculty and teaching assistants. The series of “CS+X” majors represents significant institutional commitment and has yielded notable success in attracting undergraduate women.
The Collaborative Team includes Ms. Cynthia Coleman, Dr. Cinda Heeren, Dr. Susan Larson, Dr. Lenny Pitt, and Ms. Heather Zike; the Team’s Extension Services Consultant is Dr. Elsa Macias.- Second Place recipients receive up to $50,000 for a strong commitment to and proven results in recruiting and retaining women into undergraduate computing programs but have not yet achieved the magnitude of results seen in the first place recipient. The 2017 NEXT Award Second Place recipients include the University of Michigan, Division of Computer Science and Engineering and University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Computer Science.
The University of Michigan, Division of Computer Science and Engineering was selected for focus on undeclared undergraduate students and include the redesign of the introductory class, bias training for course staff and students, and efforts to maintain gender diverse teaching assistants. Retention efforts include the use of relevant course content and department sponsorship of student groups for women. These initiatives have been rewarded by consistent upward trends for female majors and graduations.
The Collaborative Team at the University of Michigan includes Dr. William Arthur, Dr. Mary Lou Dorf, Dr. Valeria Bertacco, Dr. Amir Kamil, and Dr. Laura Alford; the Team’s Extension Services Consultant is Dr. Angela Arndt.
The University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Computer Science was selected in part on the strength of its partnership with the Broadening Opportunity through Leadership and Diversity (BOLD) Center, a College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) initiative. Recruiting events, coupled with improved messaging and frequent personal contact, have significantly increased the percentage of newly enrolled women in computer science. Important tools for increasing retention and graduation rates for undergraduate women include a new class for students without prior programming experience and CEAS-wide efforts to hire more female faculty.
The Collaborative Team includes Dr. Rhonda Hoenigman, Dr. Sarah Miller, and Ms. Amanda Parker; the Team’s Extension Services Consultant is Ms. Michelle Slattery.
- Honorable Mentions include the University of Pennsylvania, Department of Computer and Information Science, and New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Departments of Computer Science and Engineering; Technology, Science and Culture; and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
2016 NEXT Recipients
Grand Prize recipients receive up to $100,000 for demonstrating a strong commitment to and proven results in recruiting and retaining women into undergraduate computing programs. The 2016 NEXT Award Grand Prize recipient is the University of California, Irvine School of Information and Computer Sciences for its extensive internal and external outreach efforts, as well as the commitment to evaluation of students to consistently ensure that efforts are properly directed. In addition, the focus on developing interdisciplinary courses for non-majors strengthened the application. The raw increase in women students along with the cultural changes described in the application are sustainable, impressive, and noteworthy. Finally, the effort to seek external funding from industry partners and share results via conference papers was particularly notable.
The Collaborative Team at UC Irvine includes Dr. Sharnnia Artis, Ms. Antigone Blackwell, Dr. Amelia Regan, Ms. Neha Rewal, Dr. Debra J. Richardson, and Dr. Nalini Venkatasubramanian; the Team’s Extension Services Consultant is Dr. Elsa Macias.- Second Place recipients receive up to $50,000 each for demonstrating a strong commitment to and proven results in recruiting and retaining women into undergraduate computing programs but have not yet achieved the magnitude of results seen in the first place recipient. The 2016 NEXT Award Second Place recipients include The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Computer Science and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Computer Science.
UT Austin was selected for its allocation of resources towards building a department-wide culture of support and community for women through a constellation of recruitment and retention strategies that rely on goals shared by administrators, faculty, students and staff. UT Austin has addressed the challenge of soaring enrollment and impacted classes head-on, relying on data to guide its efforts in a sustainable manner.
The Collaborative Team at UT Austin includes Ms. Tiffany Grady Buckley, Dr. Lori McNabb, and Dr. Bruce Porter; the Team’s Extension Services Consultants are Dr. Jennifer Goodall, Dr. Igor Ryabov, and Ms. Michelle Slattery.
Virginia Tech addressed the constraints of when and how students were admitted to their major. Initiatives focused on internal and external student recruitment and retention – such as peer mentoring; the CS minor; and outreach to high school students and teachers, first-year engineering students, and the College of Engineering’s living learning communities. Institutional support and the establishment of a diversity committee were notable. Also, the raw increase in women students, the sustainable cultural changes, and their record of dissemination of knowledge were impressive.
The Collaborative Team at Virginia Tech includes Ms. Libby Bradford, Mr. Greg Farris, Dr. Scott McCrickard, and Dr. Barbara G. Ryder; the Team’s Extension Services Consultant includes Dr. Cathy Brawner.
- Honorable Mentions include the University of Pennsylvania Departments of Computer and Information Science, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, and Electrical and Systems Engineering; and the University of California, Berkeley Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
2015 NEXT Recipients
Grand Prize recipients receive up to $100,000 for demonstrating a strong commitment to and proven results in recruiting and retaining women into undergraduate computing programs. The 2015 NEXT Award Grand Prize recipient is the University of Washington, Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The University of Washington, Department of Computer Science and Engineering exceeded their goal of increasing the number of women graduating in computing through strategic recruitment and retention efforts resulting in a strong sense of departmental community and inclusion. Strategies included redesigning introductory courses to increase their interest to a greater diversity of students; hiring engaging faculty to teach these courses; and utilizing well-educated introductory class undergraduate teaching assistants, including many women. Weekly events featuring faculty research areas broadened students’ awareness about the department.
The Collaborative Team includes Dr. Ed Lazowska, Ms. Allison Obourn, and Ms. Crystal Eney; the Team’s Extension Services Consultants are Dr. Rebecca Dohrman and Dr. Laurie Collins.- Second Place recipients receive up to $50,000 each for demonstrating a strong commitment to and proven results in recruiting and retaining women into undergraduate computing programs but have not yet achieved the magnitude of results seen in the first place recipient. The 2016 NEXT Award Second Place recipients include the Indiana University, School of Informatics and Computing and Michigan State University, Departments of Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.
Indiana University’s School of Informatics and Computing experienced significant increases in undergraduate enrollment in recent years. Even with the surging enrollment pressure, the school maintained a commitment to diversity and inclusion, and steadily increased the percentage of women students, especially in their Informatics major. Indiana also effectively utilized the NCWIT Undergraduate Systemic Change Model, resulting in a strategic and well-coordinated suite of recruitment and retention initiatives, including building exceptionally strong institutional support and incorporating evaluation throughout their initiatives.
The Collaborative Team includes Dr. Bobby Schnabel, Dr. Maureen Biggers, Dr. Esfan Haghverdi, Dr. Lamara Warren, and Dr. Dennis Groth; the Team’s Extension Services Consultants are Dr. Angela Arndt, Dr. Tom McKlin, and Dr. Sylvia Beyer.
Michigan State University, Departments of Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering effectively implemented a broad-range of recruitment and retention efforts. New courses, such as the Computational Thinking Lab, an optional course to encourage and support students with limited programming experience who are enrolled in the introductory computer science course, were created. Michigan State also supported the NCWIT Undergraduate Systemic Change Model via its institutional commitment to diversity through investment in staff, and its systematic use of evaluation throughout their strategic plan.
The Collaborative Team includes Dr. Laura Dillon, Ms. Teresa VanderSloot, Ms. Judy Cordes, Dr. Drew Kim, Dr. Daina Briedis, Dr. Alejandro Diaz, and Dr. Timothy Grotjohn; the Team’s Extension Services Consultant is Ms. Michelle Slattery.
- Honorable Mentions include the University of Pennsylvania, Departments of Computer and Information Science, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, and Electrical and Systems Engineering; and the University of Texas El Paso Departments of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Civil Engineering.