www.cra-w.org

CRA-W Getting What You Need

Ellen L. WalkerHiram CollegeMarch 6, 2013

Know Your Institution Characterizing a teaching-oriented

institution Culture within the institution: Scholarship

takes a number of forms Undergraduate research drives faculty

research to an extent Typical teaching load 3-3 or more Emphasis on excellent teaching Non-teaching resources are more limited

Commonality: many seem to be moving in the direction of research with continued emphasis on excellent teaching

Know your Institution's Priorities

• Where to find documentation:– Mission Statement– Strategic Plan– Role models and mentors

• How to use them:– Tie any request for resources to

institutional priorities – Prioritize your needs (especially time)

in light of institutional priorities

Outline

• Scholarship and professional development

• Teaching• Funding • Collaborations and networking• Time• Recognition opportunities• Discussion

Professional Development• Conferences in your discipline• Conferences that address computing

education– SIGCSE www.sigcse.org– CCSC www.ccsc.org– FIE fie-conference.org– ITiCSE www.sigcse.org/events/itisce– Educational workshops co-located with

research conferences

Professional Development• Workshops

– Some education related– Funded by NSF or other agencies– Co-located with research conferences– A way to fund your participation at the

conference• Council on Undergraduate Research

http://www.cur.org– Institutes for faculty development, including

grant-writing

Professional Development

• Online courses and tutorials (ACM, IEEE, free)

• Workshops at SIGCSE (relatively inexpensive)– Other conferences also run workshops but at

a smaller scale

• Mailing lists– SIGCSE (http://sigcse.org/membership/

mailingLists) and CCSC– Local seminar announcements, e.g. at

research institutions

• Courses through HW and SW vendors• Local consortia

– Seminars, grant writing, workshops

Teaching

• Become familiar with your institution's Center for Teaching and Learning (if any)

• Attend workshops and talks on effective teaching techniques

• Attend educational conferences• Invite a colleague to observe your

teaching• Sit in on a colleague’s class• Ask for a colleague’s course

material• Many web resources, some are

good

Sources of Funding

• Internal, state and local funding sources

• External funding• Alumni • Collaboration with someone

who has funding

Funding: Internal Sources• Get to know your development officer(s)

– May help find a trustee who is making a gift• Know what is available

– Hidden funds not publicized• Specialized internal funds

– Faculty research and teaching funds– Department, college, and university funds– Restricted to a theme - match your needs to

the theme– Share what you get with someone else

Funding: External Sources

• Federal agencies– http://www.usa.gov

/Citizen/Topics/Science/Agencies.shtml– NSF relevant divisions: CISE, DUE, HER

• Volunteer to serve on panels to learn more

• Corporate Research & Development Labs – Often initiated by contact at the lab

• Consulting– If you do this, it should further your own

goals (not only the company’s)– Be careful about patent and copyright issues

• Professional organizations such as SIGCSE

Funding: Companies• Equipment and curriculum development

examples– HP (equipment grants for education):

www.hp.com/hpinfo/grants/us/programs/tech_teaching/higher_ed_main.html

– Microsoft (research and curriculum development projects)http://research.microsoft.com/erp/

Funding: Companies• Software and training examples

– IBM (Academic initiative - software & training) http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/university/academic/pub/page/academic_initiative

– Microsoft (Academic Alliance)www.dreamspark.com

– Oracle Academy https://academy.oracle.com/oa-web-advancedcs-description.html

Funding: Collaborations

• Bring in different strengths and perspectives

• NSF’s website provides a list of funded projects and PIs

• Attachment to another grant– Serve as an evaluator or a beta tester– Participate in dissemination efforts– Serve as an affiliate faculty to the funded

project

Travel Funding

• Encourage student participation at conferences (e.g. ACM research competition)– Colleges tend to fund student participation– Results in partial funding to faculty– Can build your internal visibility if students

do well

• Sabbatical (along with external resource to make it more productive and/or pay)

• Conference grants

Travel : Conserving Resources

• Combine trips– Can you visit a nearby institution and give a

talk?– Combine conference with recruiting or

alumni contact

• The “two-body advantage”• Recruiting and alumni development

– Check with your admissions and development organizations to see if they'll pay any expenses if you'll meet with prospective students and/or alumni

Collaborators/Networking

• Existing networking programs at your institutions

• Interdisciplinary opportunities– Mainly within institution but there may be

consortia or local opportunities

• Conferences and Workshops– Meet people and be visible

• Local consortia • Volunteerism

– Rewarding and a learning opportunity as well

Collaborators/Networking

• Research institutions in your area– Get on their announcement mailing lists– Find out about visiting speakers in advance– Direct contacts at those institutions

• Invite speakers to your institution, preferably a recognized authority in your field– Consortia/research institutions/alum in

graduate school/research group/industry• Go through someone who knows the two of you• Perhaps funding through a consortium grant for

speakers

– Connect with them and get them to know your work

Time for Research• Don’t overload

– Learn to say ‘no’; it’s OK to do so– Most likely the opportunities will present

themselves again– Most importantly be selective in selecting

service duties with an eye on service that provides visibility

• Administrative responsibilities– Make sure appropriate release time is given

• Include release time in grant proposals– Based on the source of funding, some

institutions may not be eligible• Avoid teaching in the summer

Time: Alternatives to Summer Teaching

• Consulting• Summer faculty fellowships: NASA, Air

Force, National Labs, Microsoft, and others

• NSF panel reviews– Allows you to keep with the main trends– Will know what the most important issues

are– Good contacts and networking– Provides you with tips on how to write a

successful proposal

• AP Exam grading– Worth doing especially if you are teaching

introductory CS courses

Time: “Research Time” from Teaching Activities

• Undergraduate TAs• Try to teach courses that support your

research• Build into your class something that

benefits your research• Include readings of research papers• A student project that will benefit your

research– Good for all students– Could also generate undergraduate student

research

Time: Undergraduate Research Assistants

• Recruit work study students who have federal funding

• Consider giving students course credits if money is not available or not sufficient.

• If you have an NSF grant, you can get funds (relatively easily) through an REU supplement for undergraduate researchers

Recognition Opportunities Be proactive, seek recognition and look

for opportunities Look for opportunities local to your

institution Internal awards Press releases

Nominating others helps your visibility Seek Leadership roles with visibility Opportunities through professional

societies ACM and IEEE Senior Member

http://awards.acm.org/html/amg_call.cfm http://www.ieee.org/membership_services

/membership/senior/app_guide.html

In Summary

• Invest in yourself and in your future• Be proactive and don’t wait for it to

happen• Take advantage of all available resources• Don’t be afraid to ask for what you need• Take full advantage of the experience that

mentors and role models have to offer• Good luck! And when you make it, be sure

to pay back and help others.