LUCY SANDERS: Please do welcome Terry Morreale, the NCWIT Associate Director and Chief Technology Officer to the stage, for the NEXT award.
TERRY MORREALE: What? Good afternoon. How are you all today? Good. Alright, now it’s time to recognize some outstanding NCWIT change leaders being honored today for their significant contributions to the recruitment and retention of girls and women in the field of computer science and technology. They are all participants in NCWIT’s extension services for undergraduate programs. And we celebrate their accomplishments through the NCWIT NEXT awards. We also appreciate the efforts of the extension services consultants … Should I get closer?
TECHNICIAN: Yeah.
TERRY MORREALE: Okay. The extension services consultants who provide valuable guidance and encouragement to all our extension services clients. Here to help with the recognition for the NEXT awards is Mo Fong from Google, who generously sponsors this award. Mo is the director of CS Education at Google. At Google she works to address systemic issues in education, and to inspire more girls in underrepresented minority groups to combine their passions with computer science in STEM fields. Mo holds a BS in Chemical Engineering, a MA in Education, both from Stanford University and a MBA from Harvard Business School. Please join me in welcoming Mo to the stage.
MO FONG: Thank you Terry. Google is honored to sponsor the NEXT awards and join you in recognizing this year’s awards recipients. These awards recognize the adoption of strategies that have the most significant impact on the long-term goal of increasing the number of women in Information Technology and other computing related fields. Award recipients are undergraduate computer departments that demonstrate significant positive outcomes in women’s enrollment and graduation rates. They foster a long-term sustainability of these positive outcomes by embedding researched based practices into their organizational culture. This year we have two honorable mention recipients, two second place and one first place awardees. Honorable mentions receive $10,000. Second place awardees receive $50,000 and the first place recipient receives $100,000. We’ll first acknowledge the honorable mention recipients. Please come to the stage as I call your name. The University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Computer and Information Science. Accepting is Dr Rita Powell, Associate Director, Department of Computer and Information Science. The University of Pennsylvania has sustained high percentages of women over the past decade. Penn’s multiple degree programs, computer science as a second major option and new “CS for All” computing courses for non-engineers have proven effective in attracting undergraduate women. Additionally project courses based on real-word issues and team problem solving better prepare students to be competitive in industry. Penn’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is demonstrated through financial support for their summer undergrad research program, faculty engagement in the diversity talks series and the increase in the number of tenure track women faculty hired within the department. Also receiving an honorable mention is the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Departments of Computer Science and Engineering, Technology Science and Culture and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Accepting is Miss Elizabeth Ensweiller, Director of Enrollment Management. New York University Tandon’s recruiting efforts include collaboration with centralized marketing and admission’s offices on effective messaging, revisions to promotional materials, multiple recruiting events and ongoing personalized contact with prospective students. To enhance retention gender sensitivity education for faculty and teaching assistants was implemented and the introductory course sequence was revised. A standing committee, composed of faculty, staff and administrators focus on recruitment, retention and success of women students. And finally, NYU Tandon’s summer research fellowship program provides women students with opportunities to engage in cutting edge research, mentoring, and professional development via full-time paid internships. Congratulations. And in second place, we have a tie. The University of Michigan Division of Computer Science and Engineering. Accepting is Dr Mary Lou Dorf, Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Michigan’s recruitment strategies include a multi-faceted PR campaign and focus on undeclared students enrolled in the introductory course. All lower-level course faculty and staff participating in implicit bias education, and students engage in assignments to enhance their understanding of implicit bias. Effective retention strategies include the use of relevant and interesting course content, collaborative learning and timely feedback. Both undergraduate and graduate women participate in department sponsored student groups. Michigan’s initiatives are grounded in evaluation, and have been rewarded with increasing percentages of female majors and graduates. And sharing the second place award, the University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Computer Science. Accepting the award is Dr Rhonda Hoenigman, who is a faculty Director of Undergraduate Education. CU’s Department of Computer Science partners with the broadening opportunity through leadership and diversity or “Bold Center,” which is a collage-wide initiative to increase the diversity of engineering majors. Recruiting events such as “Girls explore engineering day,” coupled with improved messaging and frequent personal contract with admitted students, has significantly increased the percentage of women newly enrolled in computer science. Also, a new class for students without prior programming experience makes computing accessible to students from across the campus. Other notable practices include, ongoing evaluation of diversity initiatives, interview grading to increase student contact with instructional staff, and college-wide efforts to hire more faculty who are female. Congratulations. And now, in first place. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Computer Science. Accepting the award is Dr Susan Larson, Assistant Dean, College of Engineering and Director of Women in Engineering. Illinois employs an impressive array of outreach and recruiting strategies and has acted to minimize the effect of implicit bias in the admissions process. Efforts to improve departmental culture and pedagogy are shaped by evaluation and including training for faculty and teaching assistants, hiring of professional teaching faculty for lower level courses and increased opportunities for collaborative learning. A three strand approach to advising weaves together the expertise and support of professional advisors, peers and faculty members. Finally the multiple CS plus X majors within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences represents significant institutional commitment and have achievement notable successes in attracting undergraduate women. Congratulations to all the award winners.