Our Mission
Broadening participation in computing through best practices and community building.
The mission of the STARS (Students & Technology in Academia, Research & Service) Alliance is to increase the participation of women, under-represented minorities, and persons with disabilities in computing disciplines through multi-faceted interventions. The interventions focus on the influx and progression of students from middle school through graduate school in programs that lead to computing careers. The Alliance is organized as a national constellation of regional stars that include research universities, minority and women's universities and colleges, K-12 educators, industry, professional organizations, and community groups. Stars implement "best practices" interventions with an integrated focus to:
- Recruit and retain under-represented populations in post-secondary computing programs and increase awareness of computing disciplines and careers. Bridge student readiness for computing and increase the number of undergraduates who enter computing graduate school or the workforce.
- Advance assistant professors by increasing faculty peer and mentor support for research, teaching, and managing service.
- Sustain and institutionalize effective BPC practices at alliance institutions.
- Disseminate and increase national awareness of effective BPC practices.
The STARS Leadership Corps (Corps) is a multi-year experience providing students with support throughout their academic journey. The Corps fosters an extended student community among academia, industry, and the community through civic engagement, mentoring, and professional development and/or research experiences to promote recruitment and leadership development through service learning. The Corps has been implemented with the following central values that have been shown to be effective for recruiting and graduating under-represented students in computing.
- Technical Excellence - developing students’ technical excellence. Motivating and enabling students to become highly competent in computing, thereby increasing their confidence and interest in computing; preparing for entry into workforce, graduate school and the professoriate.
- Leadership – developing students’ soft skills, including leadership and professional development, team work, writing, speaking, and time-management.
- Civic Engagement and Service – developing students’ ability and desire to use computing and technology in service to society. Helping students to see the social relevance of computing, both through the workforce and research.
- Community – developing students’ sense of belonging within a larger computing community; training on identity development, diversity, gender issues, and a tiered mentoring model.
August 15-17, Atlanta, GA
The Celebration is a Call to Action to recruit, develop and become the next generation of computing professionals. This is an opportunity for returning and new Corps students to participate in career mentoring, workshops, networking, and research collaboration.
Radhouane Chouchane
Education
M.S. Columbus State University
Ph.D. University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Specialty Area
Information Assurance
Malware Detection
Software Forensics