NSF CPATH Mid-Atlantic Town Hall Meeting

 

Friday, December 1, 2006, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

 

  New Jersey Institute of Technology
 Newark, NJ

 

             
   

New! Meeting Materials. New!

 

The Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) at the National Science Foundation has announced a new program, “CISE Pathways to Revitalized Undergraduate Computing Education (CPATH)” aimed at transforming and revitalizing undergraduate computing education on a national scale.  Through CPATH, CISE hopes to engage the community in alliances and activities that will shape a positive future for undergraduate computing education. CPATH seeks to support community building, leadership development, evaluation and extension of promising models, and institutional transformation (CPATH  program solicitation).

The National Science Foundation will be sponsoring a “town hall” meeting on Friday, December 1, from 10.00 AM to 4:00 PM at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), University Heights, in Newark NJ. The meeting will focus broadly on undergraduate computing education as well as on the CPATH program in particular, and on its potential to meet the needs of the audience in strategic initiatives and in directions in computing education that seem promising. The meeting will provide the computing community with an opportunity to engage in the CPATH initiative by:

  • Discussing the goals and rationale for CPATH, and providing a forum for discussion of the CPATH initiative
  • Engaging in a dialog on revitalizing undergraduate computing education, including a discussion of the current state and future needs of undergraduate computing education

The Town Hall meeting will include a morning of presentations on the goals and rationale for CPATH, background information, and an open Q&A session. Afternoon breakout sessions will allow town meeting attendees to discuss the issues surrounding the revitalization of undergraduate computing education. There will also be time during the meeting to build alliances and form communities. See the agenda below for more details.

Interested members of the computing education community (within the Mid-Atlantic States and beyond) are invited to attend. Participants are welcome from all segments of higher education, as well as from industry, government, and professional societies.

Sponsor and Host

The NSF CPATH Mid-Atlantic meeting is sponsored by NSF and hosted by the
College of Computing Sciences of NJIT.

Other NSF CPATH Meetings

Participants are welcome to the Mid-Atlantic meeting from any part of the US, but NSF expects to hold similar town meetings in other parts of the country.
A CPATH meeting for New England is presently being organized in Boston.

Registration

Registration for the CPATH Mid-Atlantic Town Hall Meeting is free, but is required due to space limitations. 

To register for the town meeting, send an email message to cpath_njit_registration@cs.njit.edu, with your name, address, affiliation, and preferred email address. If you would like to include a short description of your interests and activities in computing education, we will be happy to distribute that information at the Town Meeting. You will receive a confirmation email message. If you register but are unable to attend, please also let us know, so we can plan accordingly.

Participants are responsible for arranging (and paying for) their own transportation. A light breakfast, lunch, and break refreshments will be provided.  Internet access (and power) will be available as well during the meeting.

Draft Agenda

The agenda will be finalized before the workshop. An initial draft agenda is:

 
   

  9:30 - 10:00 am
10:00 - 10:15           
10:15 – 10:30
10:30 – 10:45 
10:45 – 11:30 
11:30 – 12:15 pm
12:15 – 12:30

12:30 –   1:45    

  1:45 –   2:45      
  2:45 –   3:45  
  3:45 –   4:00      
  4:00 –   4:45   

  

Registration, continental breakfast
Welcome and Introductions (NJIT and NSF)
Overview presentation (H. Taylor and A. LaSalle)
General discussion about undergraduate computing education (J.Urban)
CPATH  presentation (H. Taylor and A. LaSalle)
General discussion/questions about CPATH (H. Taylor, A. LaSalle, J. Urban)
Afternoon Logistics (J. Urban and D. Theodoratos)

Lunch -- alliance building and networking

Focus groups (focus groups leaders)
Focus reports/discussion  (focus groups scribes)
Final discussion (A. LaSalle)
Informal discussion with NSF program officers
 

 

Comments, questions and suggestions on the agenda are welcome.  Email: cpath_njit_organization@cs.njit.edu

Breakout Session Topics

The afternoon breakout sessions will provide an opportunity for participants to engage in discussions on revitalizing undergraduate computing education, including the future needs of undergraduate computing education. Breakout session topics will depend on the interests of the participants, but might include topics such as transformative program models, building partnerships and pipelines among institutions, ways in which industry can be effectively involved in CPATH programs, community building opportunities and needs, and similarities differences and synergies among CS, IT, IS, and CE.

We would love to get your ideas for valuable break-out session topics.

 Submit your ideas for breakout session topics!!

To suggest a breakout session topic, send a short email to cpath_njit_organization@cs.njit.edu.  

Background Material

In late 2005 and early 2006, the National Science Foundation CISE Directorate sponsored four workshops on Integrative Computing Education and Research (ICER). The purpose of  these workshops was to bring together a broad range of stakeholders with strong interests in Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) undergraduate education, and to identify and discuss needed transformations in undergraduate computing education in the USA. The results of the workshops were four reports documenting the discussion and overall recommendations that emerged.  The reports below make for interesting reading:

Directions

The CPATH NJIT Town Hall Meeting will be held at the Gutenberg Information Technologies Center (GITC) of NJIT at the corner of Lock Street and Central Avenue in Newark, NJ. NJIT's web site is here. Directions to NJIT are here. A map of the campus is here (the GITC building has number 13). 

Note that the GITC building is easily accessible (it is a 4 min ride) from Newark Penn Station through the Newark City Subway (take the "Grove Street" direction  and get off at the "Warren Street" stop). The GITC building is across the street, 150 feet from the exit of the Warren street stop.

Free parking is available at the parking deck of NJIT. Driving directions to NJIT and its parking deck are here. A map showing the GITC building and the parking deck is here.

Accommodations

A number of hotels can be used if someone wants to spend a night or stay more days in the area.

Note that Newark Penn Station is a 30 min ride by subway (called PATH) from downtown Manhattan and a
15 min ride by train from New York Penn Station (mid town Manhattan). You might consider also combining the workshop and the low price hotels with a weekend in holiday season Manhattan.

For More Information

For more information about the CPATH Mid-Atlantic Town Meeting, please contact
Dimitri Theodoratos at cpath_njit_organization@cs.njit.edu.