Actions to Take

Activities involving outreach and recruitment efforts of K-12, undergraduate, and graduate level students, regardless of whether or not they matriculate at your institution, contribute to the national goals for BPC. Engaging with policymakers and state-level stakeholders involved in BPC efforts at the K-12 level, allows for the implementation of better BPC related policies.

Outreach to K-12 Students

  • Partner with a K-12 institution that has existing outreach initiatives. However it is important that any proposed activity explicitly focuses on BPC.
  • Utilize resources from STARS Computing Corps to broaden participation in computing through student-led outreach.
  • Coordinate with student volunteers to aid teachers at K-12 institutions for underrepresented students or students with disabilities to offer an Hour of Code in December of each year.
  • Partner with local nonprofits that serve K-12 students that are underrepresented in computing. The CSforAll Consortium has a member directory, which may help PI(s) identify additional local partners for K-12 outreach focused on BPC. Connected Girls, a project of the National Girls Collaborative, provides a similar directory.
  • Review collection of ready-to-use advice, template, and sample outreach materials from NCWIT, co-developed by CS faculty for colleges and universities interested in doing K-12 outreach focused on BPC.

Outreach to K-12 Teachers and Schools

  • Use NCWIT’s Counselors for Computing (C4C), to help high-school guidance counselors contribute to BPC efforts at the high-school level.
  • Draft and seek adoption of a new process and budget for current undergraduate or graduate students to visit high schools in underserved areas to and speak to them about pursuing computing majors in college.
  • Encourage K-12 teachers to promote the NCWIT Aspirations in Computing program, an award ceremony hosted by colleges and universities for high school women interested in computing.
  • Host a workshop about inclusive teaching for educators. The Tapestry Workshop Project offers workshops for K-12 CS teachers to share research-based best practices for inclusive teaching and recruiting.
  • Join your local Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) Chapter. CSTA brings K-12 educators together and allows them to identify teachers to partner with on BPC activities.

Recruiting Prospective Undergraduate Students

  • Use NCWIT’s workbook to create a recruiting initiative for undergraduate majors. After admissions acceptance has been sent, and with proper oversight from faculty, current students should contact potential students to answer questions and encourage them to matriculate to the department.
  • Visit minority-serving institutions (MSI) each semester for multiple years to make connections with faculty and encourage students to pursue opportunities, REUs, graduate programs, speaker series, within the department.
  • Collaborate with the NCWIT Aspirations in Computing program to host an awards night for High School women and their teachers. Some institutions offer scholarships to encourage students to attend their institution.
  • Recruit students from community colleges using NCWIT’s five step resource to build a pipeline from community colleges into a 4-year CS or IT program.
  • Establish a Summer Bridge program, where incoming undergraduate students with an interest in CS get to meet with faculty and learn about available programs.
  • Publicize the department’s diversity website to show activities related to BPC as a recruiting strategy. NCWIT has resources with best practices. Examples are available from University of Michigan, University of Washington, Seattle, and Brown University.

Recruiting Prospective Graduate Students

Outreach to K-12 Policy Makers