Empowering Leadership: Computing Scholars of Tomorrow Alliance Announces Mentoring Program for Minority Students

Protégés and Mentors Encouraged to Join

For Immediate Release

The National Science Foundation-supported “Empowering Leadership: Computing Scholars of Tomorrow” Alliance (EL Alliance) has launched its online mentoring program designed to connect undergraduate and graduate minority students from research universities across the country with national leaders in the computing fields. Protégés and mentors are encouraged to sign up at http://www.empoweringleadership.org.

Protégés and mentors are matched based on the protégés' preferences as well as on the experience and qualities of a mentor. Mentors share knowledge and lend encouragement to their protégés, help them meet others in the computing community, and guide them to opportunities for personal and professional growth, such as scholarships, internships, and conference opportunities. The Internet-based mentoring program provides protégés and mentors with an accessible, supported environment to stay in touch and discuss issues of interest to the students, such as career options, coursework, opportunities for extracurricular experiences, and areas of concern.

The EL Alliance, composed of dozens of leading universities, professional societies, laboratories, research centers, and corporations, also involves students in research opportunities, in-person meetings at national conferences and workshops, and support to keep the students excited, motivated, and connected to a broader community as they pursue computing careers.

Students are important contributors to the EL Alliance—their feedback on programs and input on their own experience and goals help guide EL Alliance activities. Minority scholars in computing disciplines at tier-one institutions are scattered so sparsely across the country that they may be the only one, or one of very few, minority students in their classes. Relevant and consequential support networks, critical to all students, often do not exist for minority students due to a lack of peers with whom they can identify, or role models, or minority leaders. The EL Alliance’s national network of formal and informal resources, support, and encouragement, developed with the active involvement of students and national leaders, is a vital community for minority scholars and for the country.

About the EL Alliance

http://www.empoweringleadership.org

The EL Alliance is led by Rice University, and engages underrepresented minority students in computing disciplines at majority institutions in a nationwide network. The network, composed of dozens of leading universities, professional societies, laboratories, research centers, and corporations, involves students in research opportunities, professional development, mentoring programs, and support. The EL Alliance, benefits from the leadership and vision of several of the nation’s top universities, with the active engagement of dozens of diverse partners and a plan for ongoing evaluation and feedback, particularly from the students involved.

The original press release is online at HPCwire.

A MS Word version of this press release is available here -- ELA.Mentoring.Anncemt.doc, Word document, 28 KB

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last edited on 2008-01-04 9:58 AM