The Academic Alliance (AA) consists of over 400 distinguished representatives from the computer science and IT departments of nearly 200 colleges and universities across the country, spanning research universities, community colleges, women's colleges, and minority-serving institutions.

Charged with implementing institutional change in higher education, the Academic Alliance provides feedback on NCWIT programs, contributes and adopts effective practices, and serves as a national agent of change. It meets several times per year to compare approaches and provide guidance and mutual support. View the  list of NCWIT Academic Alliance Members.

Membership in the AA is free for participating academic institutions and brings many benefits. AA members have access to leading-edge best practices for recruiting and retaining women, opportunities to attend workshops and compare practices with other institutions, the ability to apply for funding opportunities and to advertise their departments and announcements, and participation in NCWIT marketing and branding campaigns. View the AA by-laws.

For more information about the Academic Alliance please contact Program Manager Kim Kalahar or the AA Co-chairs:

Christine Alvarado (Harvey Mudd College)

Maureen Biggers (Indiana University-Bloomington)

Margaret Burnett (Oregon State University)

Call for Un-Posters at 2012 NCWIT May Summit

We are organizing an Academic Alliance (AA) "Un-Poster” session during the morning AA meeting on May 24, 2012 from 9:45-10:45 AM ET. This session will provide an opportunity for AA members to informally share and brainstorm ideas about their current activities and projects being tried in departments to promote women in computing.  The format will be similar to a poster session or information fair - but with no posters!  Presenters will bring a one page flyer with program details to hand out to peers who visit their tables to learn more.  This is your chance to brag about something you are trying or a success you’ve achieved.

Sign up now to register your un-poster here by May 7, 2012.

To view a copy of the un-posters that were shared at the May 2011 NCWIT Summit, click here.

NCWIT Academic Alliance Newsletter:

January 31, 2012: Student Seed Fund Spring 2012 call, NCWIT May 2012 Summit -- including MSI funding, un-poster call, REU nomination, and AA reception at SIGCSE 2012 -- All in this AA Newsletter!

August 2, 2011: AA Member Survey, NCWIT Seed Fund and Student Seed Fund Call-Out, NCWIT Summit Summary -- All in this AA Newsletter!

January 26, 2011: NCWIT Seed Fund Winners, Student Seed Fund Grant, MSI Funding for NCWIT Summit -- All in this AA Newsletter!

July 29, 2010: NCWIT Seed Fund Call-Out, AA Survey, Grace Hopper Invite -- All in this AA Newsletter!

Computer Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W) Newsletter

The Computer Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W) is an action oriented organization dedicated to increasing the number of women participating in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) research and education at all levels. Their newsletter includes an article about the Academic Alliance as well as several of our members!

The NCWIT Academic Alliance currently is working on several projects:

• Recruitment and EngagementCo-Chair Liaison: Christine Alvarado (Harvey Mudd College); Project Team Co-Leaders: Kiranmai Bellam (Prairie View A&M University), Gondy Leroy (Claremont Graduate University),  Leen-Kiat Soh (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
  The National Science Foundation has provided NCWIT with a limited amount of scholarships for AA members from Minority Serving Institutions or Community Colleges to attend the NCWIT May 2012 Summit in Chicago, IL. Please click here to apply by 3/1/2012.The Recruitment and Engagement Team focuses on recruiting new AA members and developing strategies to engage all AA members. If you would like to collaborate with another AA institution, please click here to participate in the Partnership Survey.

• REU Toolkit: Designing Research Experiences for Undergraduate Women
  Co-Chair Liaison: Margaret Burnett (Oregon State University); Project Team Co-Leaders: Nancy Amato (Texas A&M University), Patricia Morreal (Kean University) 
  The REU Toolkit project has been made into an NCWIT Program-in-a-Box! Please nominate yourself or a faculty member you know who works with undergraduate student researchers. Self-nominations are perfectly appropriate!  Just let us know how to contact the individual you're nominating for more details, and (briefly) why you are nominating them, and we'll take it from there!  REU awards will be given to Senior and Junior faculty at both B.S/M.S. and Ph.D. granting schools. Deadline for nominations: Friday, February 24, 2012. Go here to submit a nomination.

    ** NCWIT REU Award Committee members are not eligible to nominate or be nominated. 

• Sharing Practices
  Co-Chair Liaison: Maureen Biggers (University of Indiana-Bloomington); Project Team Co-Leaders: Jen Goodall (University of Albany-SUNY), Sharon Mason (Rochester Institute of Technology), Monisha Pulimood (College of New Jersey)
  This group is examining ways to create an online searchable repository for activities and initiatives underway that relate to women in computing but that have not been vetted as an effective practice. 
• Microsoft Research Seed Fund
  Co-Leaders: Christine Alvarado (Harvey Mudd College), Maureen Biggers (University of Indiana-Bloomington), Margaret Burnett (Oregon State University)

  The NCWIT Academic Alliance Seed Fund provides U.S. post secondary academic institutions that are members of the NCWIT Academic Alliance with start-up funds (up to $10,000 per project) to develop and implement initiatives for recruiting and retaining women in computer science and information technology fields of study. Microsoft Research has funded the Seed Fund program since 2007 and to-date has awarded more than $315,000 in funding. The deadline for submission of proposals is October 17, 2011. For more information, please visit the NCWIT Academic Alliance Seed Fund web page.

• Aspiration Award
  Co-Chair Liaison: Maureen Biggers (University of Indiana-Bloomington); Project Team Co-Leaders: Charlie McDowell (University of California-Santa Cruz)

  The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing honors young women at the high-school level for their computing-related achievements and interests. Awardees are selected for their computing and IT aptitude, leadership ability, academic history, and plans for post-secondary education. The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing offers both a national and local "affiliate" competitions to generate support and visibility for women's participation in communities nationwide. For more information, please visit the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing web page.

• Community College Outreach
  Co-Chair Liaison: Christine Alvarado (Harvey MuddCollege); Project Team Co-Leaders: Kate Lockwood (California State University-Monterey Bay), Lisa Sandoval (Seattle Central Community College)
  This group is working to invite more community colleges into the NCWIT Academic Alliance and understand how we could best support them.
• Creating and Supporting Student Organizations that Promote Women in Computing
  Co-Chair Liaison: Margaret Burnett (Oregon State University); Project Team Co-Leaders: Laura Dillon (Michigan State University), Ambareen Siraj (Tennessee Tech University); Project Team Members: Bettina Bair (Ohio State University), Ruth Davis (Santa Clara University), Lynda Louis (Dillard University), Yolanda McMillian (Elizabeth City State University)
  This group helps institutions assist their students form Student Organizations in computing. 
• Student Organization Seed Fund
  Co-Chair Liaison: Maureen Biggers (University of Indiana-Bloomington); Project Team Co-Leaders: Renee Bryce (Utah State University), Stephanie Ludi (Rochester Institute of Technology), Project Team Members: Julie Mariga (Purdue University), Susan Martin (University of Maryland-Baltimore County), Linda Ott (Michigan Technological University), Cheryl Swanier (Fort Valley State University)
  The Academic Alliance is pleased to announce that we have seed funds available to fund programs and initiatives for student organizations that serve to promote increased presence of women in computing and IT programs on our US only AA member campuses. Several $500 grants will be awarded. We are now accepting proposals for round 3!
  Please visit here for details on how to apply.
  Note: An institution can receive only one award per campus institution per year.
  To view all proposals that have previously won, please visit our Student Seed Fund page.

• AA Webinar Series
  Co-Chair Liaison: Christine Alvarado (Harvey Mudd College); Project Team Co-Leaders: Jay Shaffstall (Muskingum University), Terry Steinbach (DePaul University)

  The third in our AA Webinar series - K-12 Outreach That Makes a Difference: Attracting K-12 Students to Computing - took place on April 14th, 2011, at 11 AM MT. If you would like to hear a recording of the Webinar, please click here. Also, if you would like to view the PowerPoint slides that were used for this Webinar, please click here.

  The second in our AA Webinar series - Retaining Undergraduates in Computing Through Mainstreamed Interventions - took place on February 15th, 2011, at 1 PM MT. If you would like to hear a recording of the Webinar, please click here. Also, if you would like to view the PowerPoint slides that were used for this Webinar, please click here.

  The first in our AA Webinar series - Looking at NCWIT Resources - took place on November 16, 2010, at 1 PM MST. If you would like to hear a recording of the Webinar, please click here. Also, if you would like to view the PowerPoint slides that were used for this Webinar, please click here.

AA Advisory Committee:

Nancy Amato (AA Co-Chair 2009-2011)

Carla Ellis (AA Co-Chair 2005-2009)

Susan Horowitz (AA Co-Chair 2004-2005)

David Notkin (AA Co-Chair 2004-2008)

Andrew Williams (AA Co-Chair 2009-2011)