Staff Cutback and Change in Strategy at AT&T Labs

As part of a broader cutback in staff and a change in research priorities, about two hundred employees at AT&T Labs were given sixty days to find other jobs within the company. 

In a January 25 article in the Asbury Park Press, David Willis wrote, "AT&T Labs is moving away from 'academic and pure research,' [AT&T Labs President and CTO Hossein Eslambolchi] said. Instead engineers and others are expected to focus their efforts on technology that can lead to a product in six to eighteen months, [Eslambolchi] said. 'We want to get directed at meeting the needs of our customers. That is the type of innovation we are looking for.'"

The full text of Willis' article can be found at http://www.app.com/app2001/story/0,21133,498501,00.html

The reduction in staff at AT&T Labs is part of AT&T's effort to eliminate 5,000 employees. More information about these cutbacks can be found at http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173413.html

CS/CE Faculty Salary Data for Ph.D.-granting Departments

Preliminary data on the salaries of faculty in Ph.D.-granting computer science and computer engineering departments have been released, as a result of the Computing Research Association's annual Taulbee Survey of departments in the U.S. and Canada. The salary data are those in effect on January 1, 2002.

When compared with the final 1999-2000 survey data, the U.S. average salaries have increased by:

• 2.8 percent for non-tenure-track teaching faculty;
• 6.9 percent for assistant professors;
• 6.0 percent for associate professors; and
• 5.8 percent for full professors.

The preliminary salary results can be found at http://www.cra.org/statistics/

The full survey results-- including updated salary data; enrollment, production, and employment data; and trend analyses-- will appear in the March issue of Computing Research News and be posted online at http://www.cra.org/statistics/

NSF Announces New Assistant Director of CISE

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has named veteran computer scientist and administrator Peter A. Freeman as the foundation's new assistant director for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). Dr. Freeman, currently John P. Imlay, Jr. Dean of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology, and Computing Research Association Board Member, will take office in May.

Since 1990, Dr. Freeman has served Georgia Tech as a professor and founding dean of the College of Computing. From 1992 to 1995, he also acted as the university's Chief Information Officer. He is a recognized leader in encouraging interdisciplinary work involving computer science.

The full text of the NSF press release can be found at http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/02/pa0201.htm

CRA-W Workshop: The Academic Career for Faculty Women at Undergrad CSE Schools, February 27

On February 27, 2002, CRA's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research will offer a daylong career/mentoring workshop entitled "Managing the Academic Career for Faculty Women at Undergraduate Computer Science and Engineering Institutions" at the SIGCSE 2002 Conference. This workshop is directed towards graduate students and faculty members of all levels who are interested in undergraduate education. It will provide critical information and tools to build successful academic careers that focus on undergraduate teaching. Workshop sessions will offer mentoring activities specifically for women in undergraduate teaching and research who face particular challenges in pursuing and maintaining academic careers at primarily undergraduate academic institutions. The workshop fee is $75 and limited funding for some participants to attend the workshop is available. 

Registration, the workshop agenda, an application for funding and other information is available at http://www.cra.org/Activities/craw/announcements/

Question Answering Technology Workshops for Grads/Postdocs: Applications Due March 1

In support of the Advanced Question Answering (AQUAINT) program, in Summer 2002, the Northeast Regional Research Center (NRRC) hosted at The MITRE Corporation will host two eight week workshops focused on advanced topics in the area of question answering technology. Two teams of top scientists have been assembled to address two advanced topics in question answering:

- Temporal - Enhancing natural language question answering systems toanswer temporally-based questions about the events and entities in news articles, led by Prof James Pustejovsky of Brandeis University (jamesp@cs.brandeis.edu). The workshop will meet for one week periods for about 6 months in a row.

- Multiperspectives: Enhancing natural language question answering systems to find and characterize perspectives (e.g., facts vs.opinions, various political viewpoints) expressed in multiple global news sources, led by Prof Janyce Wiebe of the University of Pittsburgh (wiebe@cs.pitt.edu). The workshop will meet for 3 weeks at MITRE followed by 2 weeks at home institutions followed by another 3 weeks at MITRE.

Applications are solicited for 4-6 highly qualified graduate or postdoctoral students to participate in these eight week workshops. Selection will be based on academic record, science and technology/programming skills, and two letters of reference. Preference will be given to regional students and those who have experience in language processing (especially information extraction or question answering), information retrieval, and/or supporting database technology. Knowledge of linguistics and experience with corpus annotation a plus. Extremely highly qualified undergraduates will also be considered. Funding is available to cover salary, travel, lodging and per diem. 

To apply, please contact Bev Nunan (bnunan@mitre.org) to receive an application form, which must submitted no later than March 1st, 2002.

Anita Borg Honored with Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment

Anita Borg is the recipient of the eighth annual $250,000 Heinz Award, "for her tireless, tenacious, visionary and inspirational role in attracting women to the computer industry, and for creating and sustaining innovative programs for women in computer science...Today, women are still in the minority in the technology community, but the tide is beginning to turn. Women are contributing key technologies, starting companies, becoming full university professors, and training and hiring the next generation of graduate students. By promoting excellence and equality in every aspect of computer technology, Anita Borg has played a pivotal role not only in the dramatic turnaround of the numbers, but in the nature and focus of technology creation itself."

The full text of the Heinz Award press release can be found at http://www.heinzawards.net/index.asp. More information about Dr. Borg and her work can be found on the Institute for Women and Technology's webpage, http://www.iwt.org/

CISE Announces Change in Proposal Submission Deadline for Research Resources Program

The CISE Directorate has announced a change in the deadline date for proposal submission for the CISE Research Resources Program [NSF01-100]. The new due date for proposals will be March 18, 2002. Letters of Intent may be submitted at any time and are not required. This change addresses the apparent confusion that resulted from the date not having been updated on various NSF web sites from the prior July 2001 date. This change is for 2002 only. In the future, the program deadline will be the first Monday in February as specified in the Program Announcement.

CISE Announces Change in Deadline for Educational Innovation Program

The CISE Directorate has announced a change in the deadline date for proposal submission for the Educational Innovation (EI) Program [NSF 00-33]. The new due date for proposals will be November 4, 2002. This change reflects the NSF - EIA Division's intention of running the program every other year. Other program changes will be included in a new program announcement soon to be published.

MIT Women's Technology Program for High School Students

The MIT Women's Technology Program is now accepting applications for the 2002 summer school session. This program is an opportunity for high school girls to live at MIT for 4 weeks and explore electrical engineering and computer science through a series of engaging hands-on experiments and projects.

Dates: June 22 - July 20

Eligibility: High school girls now in 10th or 11th grade

For more information, see http://wtp.mit.edu/ or contact wtp-admission@mit.edu