Broadening Participation in Computing
The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) is committed to broadening participation in computing (BPC).
CISE strongly encourages meaningful actions that address the longstanding underrepresentation of various populations including women, persons with disabilities, Blacks and African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders in computing and closely-related disciplines.
CS@VT adds regionality to its underrepresented populations.
The Broadening Participation in Computing program (BPC) aims to significantly increase the number of U.S. citizens and permanent residents receiving post-secondary degrees in the computing disciplines, and to encourage participation of other underrepresented groups in the discipline. These groups may include women, persons with disabilities, Blacks and African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. With this solicitation, the BPC program seeks to engage the computing community to develop and implement innovative methods, frameworks, and strategies to improve recruitment and retention of these students through undergraduate and graduate degrees. Projects that target stages of the academic pipeline through faculty ranks are encouraged. All BPC projects must have the potential for widespread, national impact. That is, they should either develop an effective practice that could be widely deployed, or they should deploy existing effective practices to reach larger audiences.
How does a PI use a Departmental plan in their proposal?
For those projects where all participating institutions have Departmental BPC Plans verified by BPCnet: You may include a 1-page project plan and an associated verified departmental plan (per institution). The 1-page project plan must describe the specific roles of the PI and co-PIs, their preparation and what aspects of the Departmental plan their strategies focus on. If your institution has a verified Departmental Plan but you want to propose BPC activities that do not align with that plans goals, that is allowed. In those cases, you must follow the instructions in item #7 of this FAQ and submit a 3-page BPC plan that includes all co-PIs.
Collaborators, Partners, Alliances, and Opportunities for Engaging Pre-College Students in CS
Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED)
Center for Rural Education at Virginia Tech
Center for Educational Networks and Impacts (CENI)
Virginia Tech Southwest Center
CSforALL
Rural Tech Fund
Rural Schools Collaborative
CSTA | SOVA [Southern Virginia Chapter of the National Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)]
NCWIT BridgeUP STEM Scholars Program
Black Girls Code (Washington, D.C. Chapter)
Dream.Tech
Sisterhood of Native American Coders
American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) / The Kapor Center / Expanding CS for Native Girls
Potential Partners, Alliances, and Opportunities for Engaging Community College Students in CS
Virginia G3 Program (Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead)
Access to Community College Program
Rural Horseshoe Initiative
Potential Partners, Alliances, and Opportunities for Supporting Teacher Education in CS
VT School of Education
CSTA | SOVA
Center for Educational Networks and Impacts (CENI)
Center for Rural Education at Virginia Tech
Rural Schools Collaborative