Example SMART BPC Goals

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based. SMART BPC goals articulate the intended outcome of activities and provide a specific date by which that outcome will be reached. The goals also identify the intended population(s) for each activity. Resources are available for Selecting BPC Activities, which subdivides activities into the following hierarchy. Example SMART BPC Goals are provided below.

 

Example SMART BPC Goals – Student and Faculty Retention: 

  • Curriculum and Pedagogy:
    • Faculty teaching CS1 will use active learning in half of the class sessions in the fall of [YEAR] and all of the class sessions in the spring of [YEAR]. The rate of students who are underrepresented in computing receiving a D or F or withdrawing from CS1 (known as DFW rates) will drop from [X]% to [Y]%.
    • Beginning in [YEAR], all faculty will identify changes they have made in their teaching to improve student outcomes and/or expand the use of effective pedagogical strategies that have been shown to have a positive impact for students underrepresented in computing.
    • By [YEAR], all 85% of faculty will have attended an inclusive pedagogy or transparent teaching training session offered by the teaching and learning center.
  • Community:
    • By [YEAR], at least 80% of all student subgroups (e.g. women and  students who are underrepresented in computing) will report being satisfied with the computing program on the annual Data Buddies survey.
    • By fall [YEAR], leaders in our Black student group and ACM-W chapter will report having sufficient departmental funding for their activities. At least 80% of these chapter leaders will report that department leadership values their contributions to the department.
    • Beginning in [YEAR], the department will offer a one week summer bridge program to serve 30 students who express interest in CS and who are from a group underrepresented in computing. The program will replicate the model at University of California, Berkeley.
    • By [YEAR], all affinity groups will select two faculty advisors who will provide annual reports to the department about the activities of the affinity group. At least 80% of affinity group members will report a favorable opinion of faculty participation
    • By [YEAR], results on our annual climate survey will have improved by [X]% for students who are underrepresented in computing.
  • Data:
    • By [YEAR], we will analyze data from the previous 5 years to identify if there are gaps between men and women’s persistence in the program, which will include (1) rates for CS1 earning a D, F, or withdrawing from the course, (2) attrition rates after CS1, and (3) attrition rates after CS2.
    • Every semester, beginning in the fall of [YEAR], the department chair or associate department chair will meet with leaders from our National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) chapter, our ACM-W chapter, and our Society of Latinx Engineers and Scientists (SOLES) chapter. These meetings will serve as focus groups to help identify new opportunities for providing departmental support to students to BPC.
    • By [YEAR], our annual Data Buddies survey participation will increase from 10% (~80 students) of undergraduate students to 30%.
  • Departmental Policy:
    • Beginning in [YEAR], new undergraduate TA applicants will submit an essay about how they will apply inclusive teaching practices as a TA and a 5-minute teaching video. TA applications will no longer require a faculty reference, but will be an open and well-publicized application process (based upon Kamil, Juett, & DeOrio, 2019).
    • Beginning in [YEAR], our process for selecting CS majors will adopt holistic admissions practices that value contributions to the department and overcoming adversity.
    • Beginning in [YEAR], faculty applicants will be required to submit a statement describing their commitment to diversity and inclusion. A rubric will be used to evaluate these written statements.
    • Beginning in [YEAR], faculty will be required to report their personal BPC plans and activities in their annual reports and their outcomes will be included in promotion and tenure evaluations.
    • Beginning in [YEAR], all new undergraduate and graduate TAs will be required to complete inclusive tutoring training prior to beginning work.
    • Beginning in [YEAR], the department will participate in an annual climate survey and devote one faculty meeting each year to discussing its results.
    • Beginning in [YEAR], all hiring committees will include a designated member from outside the department who will help the committee ensure that all practices for inclusive faculty hiring are followed.
    • Beginning in [YEAR], all P&T and hiring committees will include a designated member whose role is to help committee members consider the role of implicit bias for faculty of color and women faculty.
  • BPC Education:
    • By [YEAR], 80% of our faculty will have completed the University’s ally training workshop and all our graduating PhD students pursuing faculty positions will have had their diversity and inclusion statement reviewed by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
    • By [YEAR], all graduate and undergraduate TAs will have completed the required readings about inclusive teaching practices and share with the teaching team for their class (and the department TA coordinator) the three most relevant practices that they will emphasize applying during the semester as TA.
    • Beginning [YEAR], the Graduate Student Association will be given time at the department faculty meeting to present the results of their annual graduate student wellness survey with data disaggregated by demographics when sample sizes are sufficient.
    • Beginning in [YEAR], three faculty meetings per term will include a 10 minute discussion of an important topic from the NCWIT description of BPC.

Example SMART BPC Goals – Outreach and Recruiting: 

  • Outreach to K-12:
    • The department will coordinate student volunteers to aid teachers in offering the Hour of Code in December of [YEAR] and at least 80% of the classrooms will be at schools with a majority of students who are underrepresented in computing because of their race.
    • The department will host two meetings to bring together state-level policy makers, nonprofits focused on BPC, district leaders, education policy faculty members, and a selection of K-12 CS teachers. The result of these meetings will be a set of recommendations for policy makers.
  • Outreach to K-12 Teachers and Schools:
    • The department will fund 10 teachers in the region who teach at Title 1 schools to attend a Bootstrap World teacher training.
    • By [YEAR], the department will establish a regular schedule of having students and faculty visit area schools to support computing each year. All participating students and faculty will be trained on using best practices for BPC.
  • Outreach to K-12 Policy Makers:
    • In the summer of [YEAR], the department will host a state summit for K-12 education policy. This event will host at least 5 attendees from each group: K-12 teachers, school district officials, high school counselors, faculty from the department, and state-level education representatives.
    • Once a year, the department will host high school counselors or administrators for a Counselors for Computing workshop and each workshop will serve at least 10 participants.
  • Recruit underrepresented students:
    • In the spring of [YEAR], a faculty member or current student will attempt to contact all high school or community college transfer students who have been offered admission to the CS major and are underrepresented in computing.
    • Over the next year, the department will organize three meetings with CS faculty at two local community colleges to improve matriculation agreements. After two years, these matriculation agreements will be fully ratified.
    • After admission acceptances have been sent but before the acceptance deadline, the department will host and feed various student affinity groups in a call event calling accepted students in their demographic group, answering their questions, and encouraging them to matriculate to the department.
    • Beginning in [YEAR], the department will establish a process and budget for ongoing undergraduate students visiting area high schools with high under-represented populations and encouraging them to attend college in computing.
  • Expand opportunities for research:
    • Each of the next three summers, at least four faculty in the department will host a student from the DREU program or AccessComputing REU program.
    • Over the next 2 years, the department will fund 15 to 20 trips for graduate and undergraduate researchers who are underrepresented in computing to present their work at a diversity focused conference, which may include our regional WiC conference, the Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing conference, and Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.
    • Over the next 3 years, two department faculty will visit the same area minority-serving institution each semester to make connections with faculty and students to encourage students to pursue opportunities within the department (e.g. REUs, graduate programs, speaker series).
    • Working with the development office, the department will run an alumni giving campaign to establish a scholarship for underrepresented students studying computing to engage in paid undergraduate research and/or to cover travel and registration expenses to attend research conferences.