The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $610,917 to the Computing Science Department at Humboldt State University (HSU) for three years to implement the Coalition for American Indians in
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $610,917 to the Computing Science Department at Humboldt State University (HSU) for three years to implement the Coalition for American Indians in Computing (CAIC) project. It is one of only 12 such projects funded nationally among the 104 grant proposals submitted to NSF.
The CAIC project recruits American Indian students, meets potential retention needs, and provides computer science/information system programs geared to employment opportunities in tribal communities.
The project is a collaboration among faculty in HSU's Computing Science Department, the Center for Indian Community Development, the Indian Natural Resource, Science and Engineering Program, and the Indian Teacher and Educational Personnel Program. The collaboration is comprehensive and strategic, and accordingly includes the Northern California American Indian tribal partners.
A spring 2006 survey of northern California tribes revealed that they experience considerable difficulty filling positions that require intermediate to advanced Computer Science/Computing Information Science/Information Technology training. Even greater difficulty surrounds the recruitment of American Indians with the requisite skills and experience.
Dr. Guy-Alain Amoussou, the project's principal investigator, said of the nearly $611,000 in NSF funding, "Now that we have some resources to initiate structural improvements, we can move forward with our partners, the local Tribal communities, in trying out our innovative ideas for the success of American Indian students, their families and, by extension, their respective tribes."
The CAIC project involves students, their families, tribal communities, faculty advisors, peers, specialized student support services personnel, and tribal IT professionals in culturally appropriate mentoring and career development activities. The objective of the program is to incorporate tribal values into the computing science major experience, address tribal computing needs, and develop leadership potential and career opportunities in high tech fields for American Indian students.
The initiative will include campus visits not only for Indian students, but also for parents, tribal community leaders, and tribal IT professionals. It also will include exchange visits by university faculty to tribal governments, enterprises, and organizations that represent a variety of technology applications for which Indian students will be prepared.
The project will run summer camps for high school and community college students that offer pre-college academic preparation, career planning, tribal internships, and orientations to specialized student support services. Plans call for half of the summer camp to take place at HSU and the second half in a tribal IT environment.
Recruiting is already underway for the 2007 summer camp for 15 college freshman and transfer students to enter the computer science and computer information systems majors in Fall 2007. CAIC students will undertake a computing curriculum designed to address their specific needs. They will also be involved in actual tribally-based service learning, research experience, and problem-solving projects. Support will be provided for these students to receive financial aid.
The project also enables HSU computing faculty to engage in faculty development experiences to learn best practices for the success of underrepresented student populations and in particular American Indians. It builds strong links with tribal IT professionals.
Funds allocated to the CAIC project provide summer camp and research experience stipends. Additional stipend funds are being sought to support the 15 undergraduate students. The stipends will complement their financial aid.
Further information about the Coalition for American Indians in Computing is available from Dr. Guy-Alain Amoussou at amoussou@humboldt.edu or (707) 826-3380.