Distributed Mentor Project
 Mentoring Undergraduate Women in Computing Research

     
     
     
Nancy Amato
Department of Computer Science
Texas A&M University
CRA-W DMP Co-Coordinator

      
Jessica Hodgins
Computer Science and Robotics
Carnegie Mellon University
CRA-W DMP Co-Coordinator

      
Tracy Camp
Computer Science
Colorado School of Mines
CRA-W DMP Co-Coordinator

      
Maria Gini
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
University of Minnesota
CRA-W DMP Co-Coordinator

Summer 2008 Application
Application deadline: February 15, 2008.
(EXTENDED until February 29, 2008)


Summer 2007
Student Awards &
Websites

CRA-W DMP
Participant Website (2003-2007)

The objective of the CRA-W DMP is to increase the number of women entering graduate studies in the fields of computer science and engineering. This highly selective program matches promising undergraduate women with a faculty mentor for a summer research experience at the faculty member's home institution. Students are directly involved in a research project and interact with graduate students and professors on a daily basis. This experience is invaluable for students who are considering graduate school, providing them with a close-up view of what graduate school is really like and also increasing their competitiveness as an applicant for graduate admissions and fellowships.

[ Summer 2008 Program Info | Summer 2008 Application ]
[ 1994-2005 Awards | Accomplishments of CRA-W DMP Participants ]
[ Program Details & Evaluation | Sponsors | Resources ]

Distributed Mentor Project Awards


Accomplishments of CRA-W DMP Participants

  • Carol Reiley (CRA-W DMP 2003) who worked with Lori Pollock at the University of Delaware was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowhip (2006-2009). Carol is currently a masters student at Johns Hopkins University and is currently deciding where to pursue her PhD.
  • Two of the four undergraduate recipients of the Google 2004 Anita Borg Scholarships were CRA-W DMP students: Kami Vaniea (CRA-W DMP 2003) of Oregon State University who worked with Prof. Elizabeth Sklar at Columbia University, and Neha Jain (CRA-W DMP 2004) of North Carolina State University who worked with Prof. Annie Anton at North Carolina State University.
  • Shawna Thomas (CRA-W DMP 2001) of Texas A&M University who worked with Prof. Lydia Kavraki at Rice Univesity, was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Shawna is now a PhD student at Texas A&M University.
  • Sara Smolensky (CRA-W DMP 1999) of Mississippi State University who worked with Prof. Kathryn McKinley at the University of Massachusetts, was selected as the Outstanding Undergraduate Student of 2001 by the President's Commission on the Status of Women at Mississippi State University.
  • Jessica Stumpfel (CRA-W DMP 1999) of Duke University who worked with Prof. Jessica Hodgins at Georgia Tech, received two graduate fellowships: a National Physical Science Consortium Graduate Fellowship and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
  • Kristin Kaster (CRA-W DMP 1998, 1999) was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

Sponsors of the CRA-W Distributed Mentor Project

The National Science Foundation has supported the CRA-W DMP since its inception with the following awards.

  • $1,614,000 for 2002-2006 (NSF EIA-0124641, PI and CRA-W DMP Co-Coordinator Nancy Amato)
  • $640,000 for 1999-2001 (NSF EIA-9813290, PI and CRA-W DMP Coordinator Mary Jean Harrold)
  • $530,000 for 1996-1998 (NSF CDA-9507756, PI and CRA-W DMP Coordinator Anne Condon)
  • $240,000 for 1994-1995 (NSF EIA-9302536, PI and CRA-W DMP Coordinator Joseph O'Rourke)

The CRA-W DMP has also been supported in 1998-2004 by the Education, Outreach, and Training program of NSF's Partnerships for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (NPACI), and additional support has been provided by the AAAI (2002), USENIX (2001, 2003-2005), and the Henry Luce Foundation (2004-2006).

Information about the Summer 2008 Program

Student and mentor applications for the summer 2008 program will be accepted until February 15, 2008 and will be open in December 2007.

Funding for the student consists of $600 per week for research, plus relocation travel assistance when appropriate. A student's funding is intended to cover 10 weeks of research in the summer of 2007, but alternative arrangements are possible. Mentors will receive an honorarium. Additional funds may be available to support student conference travel, either during the summer or afterward, and for outreach activities promoting the CRA-W DMP.

Cost sharing by faculty mentors. The number of students interested in the CRA-W DMP program has increased substantially over the last several years and many qualified students have not been selected due to lack of funding. To enable more students to participate, faculty are now encouraged to provide funds to support (partially or fully) students. Male faculty are also encouraged to apply as mentors - men first served as mentors in summer 2004 and continued to participate in 2005. (Due to the potential for a real or perceived conflict of interest, mentors who provide funds will not be eligible for the honorarium.)

Note for male faculty. Based on the number of mentor applications typically received from female faculty, and the documented benefits of female role models, most CRA-W DMP funds will be allocated to female mentors. Hence, it is anticipated that male mentors will provide full funding for their students' stipends (the program will provide travel support) as well as provide opportunities for the students to interact with female faculty and graduate students.

More Information about the CRA-W Distributed Mentor Project

The Distributed Mentor Project (CRA-W DMP) was conceived of and is managed by the Computing Research Association Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W). The objective of the CRA-W DMP is to increase the number of women entering graduate studies in the fields of computer science and engineering. The CRA-W DMP works by matching CS&CE undergraduates and professors for a summer of research at the mentor's research institution. More details about the background and implementation of the CRA-W DMP can be found here.

Since 1994, over 300 students from more than 100 different academic institutions have participated in the CRA-W DMP. From 1994-2001, an average of 25 students participated each year. These numbers have been steadily increasing, with 35, 36 and 44 participants in the summers of 2002, 2003, and 2004, respectively. The number of student applications has also increased dramatically - from an average of roughly 60 per year from 1994-2001 to nearly 250 for the summer of 2004. There is also great interest on the part of potential faculty mentors, with 28 being selected from over 80 applicants for summer 2004.

A third party assessment of the CRA-W DMP by the University of Wisconsin LEAD (Learning through Evaluation, Adaptation and Dissemination) Center has established that the CRA-W DMP is effective in increasing the number of women entering graduate studies in CS&CE - for example, they found that students that participate in the CRA-W DMP are twenty(!) times as likely to attend graduate school than a control group with comparable grades. More details about the LEAD Center's evaluation of the CRA-W DMP can be found here.

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