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.
In an effort to increase the number of African Americans Researchers in Computing, Jackson State University (JSU) participated in a collaborative research partnership with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 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, and Fort Valley State University. This partnership was referred to as the Alliance for the Advancement of African-American Researchers in Computing (A4RC, pronounced "A-Force"). The project at Jackson State University centered around four major activities: Activity 1: Research Pods; Activity 2: Conference Participation, Activity 3: Curriculum Enhancements; and Activity 4: ADMI/A4RC 2012 Symposium. Activity 1: Research Pods During the lifetime of this project four research pods were created: Research Pod 1: The design of mobile devices applications for people with cognitive disabilities: The group's work focused on the development of smart phone applications that assist individuals with cognitive disorders and the enhancement of the WebAnyWhere System. Research Pod 2: Visual Analytics: The goal of this project was to create a user-friendly Android based mobile application that will automatically identify the threat levels identified by a hazmat placard and provide emergency response personnel with directions on how to proceed in the event of accidents or spills. Research Pod 3: Privacy and Security (Reducing surgical errors through mobile access to patient information: The pod's work focused on the use of RFID technology to reduce surgical errors. Research Pod 4: The design of mobile device applications that will assist students in learning the Java programming language: This pod’s work involved the design of an app that would teach Java in a game like environment. Activity 2: Conference Participation Students attended and presented their work at the following conferences: ASSETS conference in Orlando, FL SMART Symposium at the University of Colorado-Boulder STARS conference ADMI 2011 ADMI 2012 Students also received awards at the ADMI 2011 conference: 1st place award for oral presentation and 2nd place award for poster presentation. Activity 3: Curriculum Changes To increase interest in computing, the Department has introduced a new Computational Thinking Initiative. Also funded by NSF, the goal of the Advancing Computational Thinkers and Computing Innovators in a Cyber-Enabled Community program is to serve as a catalyst for increasing interest in and understanding of Computing. This project focuses on the establishment of a new course on Computational Thinking and on the enhancement of the freshman and sophomore level experience by integrating components of computational thinking throughout the first two years of study. Activity 4: ADMI/A4RC 2010 Symposium Jackson State University organized and hosted the 2010 ADMI/A4RC Symposium. This event was the 21st meeting of the ADMI (Association of Computer/Information Sciences and Engineering Departments at Minority Institutions) conference and the 1st joint meeting of the ADMI conference and A4RC (Alliance for the Advancement of African-American Researchers in Computing) Alliance. The theme of the symposium was 'The Winds of Change in Computing.' The 2010 Symposium highlighted undergraduate, graduate and faculty research with a special emphasis on Socially Inspired Computing. Students presented papers, discussed their research during poster presentations and explored graduate school options. The training and research opportunities supported by this program resulted in the following: Sixteen students participated in summer internship programs at the following organizations: University of Colorado Boulder Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in Wireless Ad hoc Networks and Sensor Networks at JSU Purdue University Elizabeth City State University State Farm 2. Successful completion of BS and MS program in Computer Science Five students received B.S. Degrees in Computer Science. All five students are now employed in Industry (State Farm, Lockheed Martin, JP Morgan, MasterCard). Four students received a M.S. Degree in Computer Science. Seven students are currently pursuing a B.S. Degree in Computer Science Through this project, sixteen African American students have received research training that has assisted them in their current endeavors. Of the sixteen, eight were female. Three female students are currently employed in industry. Two female students have been accepted into Ph.D. programs in Computer Science and Human Computer Interaction respectively. Prior to participating in this program, one of the female students was considering changing her major. This project gave her an opportunity to see that Computer Science is more than just programming. This young lady has now graduated and is currently employed by JP Morgan. Four of the male students are currently employed in industry (Lockheed Martin, State Farm, Union Pacific).
