The University of Texas at Dallas's (UTD) Computer Science Department, in concert with this CSEMS scholarship effort, is helping to train software engineers to fulfill national needs for the high technology workforce. To attract and retain academically talented and financially needy students, especially from underrepresented groups who are interested in Software Engineering (SE), this project awards 35 scholarships for the BS Degree in Software Engineering at UTD. Of the 35 scholarships, 28 are from the NSF CSEMS program while UTD is providing support for 7 through internal funds.
The project recruits talented and financially needy students into the SE program and produces well-trained software professionals, who can join the industrial workforce and/or proceed to higher degrees in SE. A joint effort including the Collin County and Dallas County Community College Districts, is engaging in an aggressive recruitment effort in underrepresented groups and community colleges. A rigorously defined selection and retention process is being implemented, providing a full range of supporting services, creating more opportunities for industrial internship, and applying systematic assessment and evaluation procedures. Scholarship recipients are closely supervised throughout their program of study by faculty mentors. They are involved in large software projects as well as being required to participate in the UTD CS Department's well-established Industrial Practice Program to enrich their educational experience.
