UMaine awarded funds to support women in computing sciences
The National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) and Google.org have awarded the University of Maine $3,000 to establish a student chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery-Women in Computing (ACM-W).
UMaine is one of seven institutions to receive a 2016 NCWIT seed grant to develop a new a chapter of the ACM-W. The funding is intended to help form groups on campus to increase women’s confidence and connections within computing and technical fields, as well as reduce isolation that is often associated with traditionally male domains in professional and academic settings.
The ACM-W provides important structures and resources to help break down existing biases and stereotypes, recruit and mentor women into computing fields, and build supportive networks for women across institutions.
As a part of the grant, the UMaine School of Computing and Information Science is now a member of the NCWIT Academic Alliance. The group consists of 450 colleges and universities across the country committed to institutional change in higher education.
The new UMaine ACM-W chapter has been chartered by the national ACM-W and received approval from both undergraduate and graduate student governments.
The grant effort was led by Stacy Doore, a Ph.D. candidate in spatial information science and engineering, and Kate Beard, a professor in spatial informatics. Beard and Silvia Nittel, an associate professor of spatial informatics, will serve as faculty advisers for the group. The first meeting to schedule activities such as a speaker series, networking events, workshops and outreach opportunities will be held in November.
The UMaine chapter is eligible for additional funding to extend their activities and act as a mentor organization for other regional institutions. The group is open to all students and faculty who are interested in supporting women on campus and the region to pursue computing-related education, research and career pathways.
More information is available on Facebook or by emailing Stacy Doore at stacy.doore@maine.edu.