Ahead of Computer Science Education Week, traditionally observed during the second week in December, the University of Texas at Austin’s Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance has announced that Google dot org is providing grant support to ECEP to build additional capacity to broaden participation across the nation.
First funded by the National Science Foundation in 2012 as a partnership between Georgia and Massachusetts, the ECEP Alliance has grown to include 22 states and the territory of Puerto Rico.
ECEP partners with numerous other organizations across the country, such as CSforALL, the Computer Science Teachers Association, Sagefox, Kapor Center, and Code.org to support systemic change, inclusive instructional strategies, and more robust data systems for tracking equitable capacity for, access to, participation in, and experiences of computer science education in K–16.
According to the press release, Google.org’s $3 million in funding over three years will help enable ECEP to increase capacity for the addition of five new states to the alliance in 2023.
“This is an investment in the success of future generations,” said Scott Rabenold, vice president of development at UT Austin in a statement. “Thanks to Google’s vision, more students will be prepared to enter computer science and computing-intensive careers and become leaders in this dynamic, world-changing field.”
The funds will also provide seed funding for state landscape reports, state summits, state strategic plans, data dashboards, and other projects that focus on building more equitable policies, pathways, and practices in computer science education; and more effective measures of systemic outcomes of the alliance collective impact model at state and national levels.
“We believe Google and other companies have a responsibility to help people get the skills they need to get a good job, start a new business, and provide a solid foundation for their families — no matter what their age or where they live,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc. “Computer science education is an important piece of this, and we look forward to working with our partners, like ECEP, to unleash the talent and drive of millions of people in communities across the U.S.”
ECEP’s long-range goal is for all 50 states to have robust K–16 computing education pathways that attract and support a diverse range of students prepared to enter computer science and computing-intensive careers.
“Government and industry have made notable investments over the past decade in supporting students, but we can do better to address the structural and systemic barriers that continue to marginalize women, Black and Hispanic students, and students with disabilities,” said Carol Fletcher, principal investigator for the ECEP Alliance at UT Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center. “This is the work that ECEP state leaders are engaged in, and Google’s support will be a significant step toward scaling up that work on the national level.”
In related news, Florida International University has announced a $1.075 million grant to support minority STEM students through their graduate studies.
The award is from the National Science Foundation’s Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program, which assists colleges in developing highly competitive students from populations traditionally underrepresented in STEM.
The recent award, for the Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship program, will help finance graduates as they continue on the academic path to earning a Ph.D.
A key aspect of the grant is providing participants exposure to Artificial Intelligence (AI) that they can incorporate it into their research as they move forward.
They will get instruction on the ethics and uses of AI, which combines computer science and datasets to enable problem-solving. Students will then team up to design and execute an interdisciplinary AI project under the supervision of Professor Mark Finlayson, eminent scholar-chaired associate professor of computer science at FIU’s Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences.
“AI is a big trend right now. It’s potentially a complete game-changer in the evolving world of technology,” says Finlayson, who designed a micro-credential program on AI for FIU. “AI is getting integrated into basically everything. It is going to be ubiquitous. Any place where you have human intellectual activity, you potentially have an application of AI.”
The goal of the Bridge to the Doctorate program is to help students successfully transition into post-graduate careers within the industry, government, and academia.
“We’re preparing a diverse STEM workforce—including the AI component—because that’s what NSF would like to see — students who are prepared to face the challenges of the 21st-century workforce,” says Alla Mirzoyan, the University Graduate School’s director of training and fellowships and a co-director of FIU’s LSAMP program. “We know there is always more to be done in attracting diverse graduate students. So, we are really excited to have this program.”
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