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, please visit http://www.MentorNet.org.

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.

 

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 final item consist of a iAAMCS poster (version one and version two) that provides information about the organization’s mission, and projects/activities.