North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, together with collaborating institutions Clemson University, Prairie View A&M University, the University of Colorado, the University of Wisconsin, Auburn University, the University of Indiana, Norfolk State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Fort Valley Sate University, and Jackson State University, proposes an extension of the successful Alliance for the Advancement of African-American Researchers in Computing (A4RC, pronounced "A-Force"). A4RC aims to increase the number of African-Americans obtaining advanced degrees in computing, particularly at the Ph.D. level. A4RC establishes and develops student pipelines from HBCUs to universities offering advanced degrees in Computing. A4RC has amassed a body of knowledge and experience with respect to what it takes to build effective HBCU/R1 faculty collaborations, develop productive HBCU/R1 research teams that include graduate and undergraduate students, and prepare undergraduate and master's students for research at the Ph.D. level. A4RC uses a "research pod" concept that is efficient, flexible, and effective in terms of HBCU/R1 research collaborations. With this extension, A4RC plans to expand the alliance to include a greater number of HBCU/R1 research collaborations, and to build new partnerships. A new category of partners -- Affiliate Partners -- will engage additional HBCUs and national labs and A4RC will become formal partners with the very effective BPC Demonstration Project, African-American Researchers in Computing Sciences (AARCS). A4RC will build collaborations with the BPC STARS and Empowering Leadership Alliances, and ADMI: The Symposium on Computing at Minority Institutions.
Collaborations with Alliances ARTSI 2011: Several A4RC members attended and offered a thread of research themed presentations to ARTSI participants; students participated in the poster competition, and faculty served as poster judges. Students participated in the robotics competion at FAMU 2011. CAHSI 2010: We continue to seek ways for A4RC to promote the use of the successful ARG model. Cheryl Swanier attended the CAHSI sponsored ARG workshop in May 2010. She found it to be very helpful with material and designs she can promote with pods and with research methods courses promoted by A4RC. STARS 2010-2011 Several A4RC members attended and offered a thread of research themed sessions to STARS participants, students participated in the poster competition, and faculty served as poster judges. More specifically, the following sessions were presented (and well received) by our A4RC team members: • Designing and Critiquing Research Posters • Creating High performing REU Experiences (a la ARG model and more) Part 1 • Poster competition (either presenting or judging) A4RC School Student HBCU PhD Program/Year Dakita Moon Fort Valley State University Clemson University, Spring 2012 Table 1: A4RC Members Admitted to PhD Programs Fort Valley State University – Partner Computer Science Students STUDENTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS Dekita Moon • Summer 2011 REU Carnegie Mellon University Raven Small • Summer 2011 REU Auburn University • Poster: STARS 2011 Lauren Johnson • Summer 2011 REU Auburn University • Poster: STARS 2011 Curley Williams • Summer 2011 REU Georgia Tech Jahmil Liburd • Summer 2011 REU University of Michigan Edward Hull • Summer 2010 REU: Auburn University Spring 2011 Internship: Department of Defense • Summer 2011 Internship: Johnson & Johnson Britney Sylvain • Spring 2011 Co-op: Department of Defense • Summer 2011 Co-op: Department of Defense Jasmine Bowers • Spring 2011 Co-op: Department of Defense • Summer 2011 Co-op: Department of Defense Shakari Frazier • Summer 2011 REU: UNC at Charlotte Cheryl Swanier • Publication: Swanier, C.; "Edutainment: Video games can impact education. " FVSU Research 2011, p.17; www.ag.fvsu.edu . Jared Thorpe Navarro Houser Table 2: A4RC Members Accomplishments • Summer REU 2010: Auburn University Fort Valley State University Partner Faculty Paper Edutainment: Video games can impact education FVSU Research 2011, p.17; www.ag.fvsu.edu Fort Valley State University Partner Faculty Paper Video Games: Who Really Plays Them and How Can They Be Used in Education? Proceedings of the 2011 ADMI Conference (ADMI-2011), Clemson, SC. Fort Valley State University Partner Student Poster Cyber Warfare: The New Technological battlefield Proceedings of the 2011 ADMI Conference (ADMI-2011), Clemson, SC. Fort Valley State University Partner Student Poster How Can VideoGames Be Used In Education Proceedings of the 2011 ADMI Conference (ADMI-2011), Clemson, SC. Fort Valley State University Partner Student Poster Establishing a Baseline of Water Quality along the Coast of Northeastern North Carolina in Response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Proceedings of the 2011 ADMI Conference (ADMI-2011), Clemson, SC. Table 3: Major Research and Education Activities:
