BPC-AE: Strengthening Research and Graduate Support Structures in the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI)

The Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI) Alliance seeks to address the low number of domestic students, particularly students who represent the demographics of our nation, who enter and complete graduate studies in computing and related STEM fields. Meeting the challenge of expanding participation in computing graduate programs requires involvement of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), an important resource considering the number of undergraduate students enrolled at HSIs and their potential pathway into graduate studies. The alliance sets two goals for this Strengthening Research and Graduate Support Structures at Hispanic-Serving Institutions project: (1) grow student talent that prepares students for success in research and graduate studies, and (2) extend CAHSI’s efforts on faculty research capacity at HSIs, particularly at emerging-research institutions. The project will introduce strategic efforts informed by data and research to increase student involvement in research and will continue to build the knowledge base regarding student support in graduate programs. Students will be exposed to the excitement of research through co-curricular activities, supervised research experiences that align with each student’s interests, and a community of faculty mentors who learn from each other and share experiences using the proven Affinity Research Group model that centers on the deliberate development of skills needed to thrive in research. At the graduate level, the CAHSI Backbone will work with departmental leads at CAHSI institutions to grow opportunities that support research success, career and professional development, and sense of belonging among doctoral CS students. To address CAHSI’s efforts to expand research-capacity building, the project will study, refine, and document CAHSI’s Faculty Research Development Process that includes ideation, ongoing constructive critique, reflective practices, and continuous improvement, all critical components for development of competitive proposals and research agendas. The project will build collaborations across industry and other partners that lead to expansion of faculty’s ability to conduct research and secure funding. The expected outcomes of the project are an increase in the number of domestic students who enter and complete doctoral programs. In addition, the project will increase research at HSIs as indicated by publications and competitive proposal submissions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.