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CRA ? Undergrad Education. CRA Mission. Strengthen research and advanced education in the computing fields, expand opportunities for women and minorities, and improve public and policymaker understanding of the importance of computing and computing research in our society. Strengthen Research.
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CRA Mission • Strengthen research and advanced education in the computing fields, expand opportunities for women and minorities, and improve public and policymaker understanding of the importance of computing and computing research in our society
Strengthen Research • It’s a problem that our PhD students are also our undergraduates • Undergrad Educational Programs are Feeders • Skill Sets and Credentials • Undergraduate Research Interns Valued • Their training is in the context of UG curricula • UG Programs have Important Direct and Indirect Affects on Core Mission
Expand Opportunities for Women and Minorities • What Draws? • It’s the Economy (, Stupid) &It’s the Excitement of the Field • The jobs have to be there (they are) and the UG curriculum has to embody and embrace the excitement of the field (it doesn’t most places) • Students want to know “why”
Improve Public and Policymaker Understanding • Public =? • What UG’s Become When they Graduate? • Enough People are already Saying that Declining Enrollments and Retention are Everyone’s Problem • Credibility comes from Research Community
UG Curricular Issues have Both Direct and Indirect Affect on Core Mission of CRA
All Curricula Ossify too Quickly(Even for slow-changing fields) • In CS, by the time committees manage to establish pre-requisite structures, researchers already want to change the content of courses • Research change has to inform curricular reform • Curricular Reform has to be Possible in the Face of Rapid Change in the Field
End On Selfish Notes… • Academic Research Activities are Partially Funded and Legitimized by UG Enrollment Numbers • Researchers Would Rather be Teaching Interesting Courses in the Context of Interesting Curricula to Interested Students