The Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences (iAAMCS, pronounced ‘i am cs’) serves as a national resource for all African-American computer science students and faculty. The objective of iAAMCS is to increase the number of African-Americans receiving Ph.D. degrees in computing sciences, promote and engage students in teaching and training opportunities, and add more diverse researchers into the advanced technology workforce.

The Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences (iAAMCS, pronounced ‘i am cs’) serves as a national resource for all African-American computer science students and faculty. Goals of iAAMCS includes the following:

National Society for Blacks in Computing

NSBC provides mentoring and networking opportunities for Black/African-American undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and research scientists. This conference serves as a platform for participants to have face-to-face time to develop networks and associations for years to come, to be taught how to identify and develop mentoring relationships, and acquire a productive mentorship that may be lacking from their current environments.Please visit the NSBC tab for further details.

Distinguished Fellowship Writing Workshop (DFWW)

DFWW guides undergraduate and graduate students through the process of writing a competitive application for summer internships, graduate school, and/or external funding. The targeted audience are junior and senior-level undergraduates, first and second year graduate students, and faculty that advise or mentor these students.

Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates (DREU)

The DREU program accepts applications from both interested students and mentors who are then matched based on interests and backgrounds. During DREUs, students complete a 10-week research experience that consists of several checkpoints in the process to insure uniform expectations and outcomes.

Collaborative Research Experiences for Undergraduates (CREU)

CREU is an undergraduate research program that provides research stipends to teams of students working on research projects under the guidance of a mentor at their home institutions. Students supported by CREU collaborate with each other and with their mentors during the academic year and, in some cases, the following summer. Students are strongly encouraged to present their CREU research at national or regional conferences.

Future Faculty and Research Scientist Mentoring Program (FFRSMP)

FFRSMP is held in conjunction with the NSBC conference. FFRSMP provides a place where Black/African-American PhD students can receive mentoring on the pursuit of faculty and research scientist positions.

iAAMCS Distinguished Lecture Series (DLS)

iAAMCS DLS features opportunities for Black/African-American professors and graduate students to give lectures at HBCUs. Although HBCUs are predominantly Black/African-American, the computer science faculty representation at most HBCUs is the exact opposite. The purpose of iAAMCS DLS is to provide mentoring through role models while also exposing students at HBCUs to faculty and graduate students of Black/African-American descent.

MentorNet

iAAMCS has established a partnership with MentorNet to recruit more Black/African-American mentors in computing while yielding more opportunities for Black/African-American students to receive mentoring. This effort also supports the DREU and CREU programs while also providing training for participating mentors. For more information about MentorNet and their efforts with iAAMCS, please use this special URL.

Morehouse-Spelman Virtual Mentoring Program

Under the leadership of iAAMCS associates at Morehouse and Spelman College, the Virtual Mentoring Program uses technology to expand mentorship opportunities for Black/African-American students in computing.

 

NEW BPC Plan Suggestions

The iAAMCS leadership team has developed a guide to assist researchers who want to engage African American students in their broadening participation in computing plans.

iAAMCS Guidelines

These guidelines were established to articulate successful strategies for mentoring African-American doctoral students in Computing Sciences (CS). We define “student mentoring” as the process of supporting, encouraging and guiding students’ academic and social progress with the goal of facilitating career and personal development. Grounded in project-based results and similar empirical research, the following guidelines emerged: (1) recruit strategically, (2) establish community, (3) foster a research culture, (4) provide holistic advising, (5) provide funding and (6) promote professional development. It is our hope that institutions, departments and faculty use these guidelines to bolster the participation of African-American students pursuing doctoral degrees in CS.  Read more.

Data Collection Portal

iAAMCS provides opportunities for hands-on computing research practice through summer and academic year research experiences, robotics competitions, and methodological trainings. Professional career development is offered through conference attendance, writing workshops, targeted presentations, and technical webinars. Additionally, a network of student peer mentors is supported through a scalable web-based application model. Throughout these experiences, students are also exposed to and work alongside leading mentors in computing who are able to share successful strategies for navigating the academy and the profession.

As a participant in iAAMCS, we cannot guarantee that you will experience any or all of the programming benefits discussed or services provided; however, your participation will help to broaden the field of computing sciences and lead the way for greater inclusion of underrepresented groups.  Read more.

Promotional Materials

Promotional materials have been created to advertise and promote iAAMCS and its efforts. One of these items consists of an iAAMCS brochure that provides information about the organization’s mission, projects/activities, and point of contact. Another item is an iAAMCS Flyer that provides information about successful African Americans leaders and pioneers in Computer Science, statistical information about the current involvement of African Americans in Computer Science, the organization’s mission, projects/activities, and point of contact. The next item consist of a iAAMCS poster (version one and version two) that provides information about the organization’s mission, and projects/activities. The final item is a flyer that highlights the current programs that are offered by iAAMCS.

HBCUs with Computer and Information Science Degrees

Click here to see a list of HBCUs with Computer and Information Science Degrees and HBCUs affiliated with iAAMCS.