BPC-AE: The STARS Alliance: A Southeastern Partnership for Broadening Participation in Computing

The University of North Carolina, Charlotte proposes to extend the size, scope and impact of the existing BPC STARS Alliance. STARS is a cohesive system of regional partnerships that aims to broaden participation in computing. It collaboratively and systematically implements, disseminates, and institutionalizes effective practices for increasing the number of women, under-represented minorities, and persons with disabilities in the computing disciplines. This proposed Extension focuses on the recruitment, bridging, and retention of under-represented student populations, the advancement of junior faculty, and the sustainability and dissemination of the STARS Southeastern Constellation as a replicable network of regional partnerships, that can be implemented in other geographic regions. It includes new activities aimed at K-6. The Extension will grow the Alliance to include at least 20 academic institutions and 80 regional partners, and it will double student participation in the STARS Student Leadership Corps (SLC), including community colleges, as well as middle and high school students, teachers and guidance counselors. Finally, it will extend the existing program evaluation to explore STARS impact on the computing culture at member institutions.