Heads Up: Taulbee Survey to Receive a New Look

By Stu Zweben and Betsy Bizot Full Article

In the May issue of CRN, we expect to publish this year’s full Taulbee report. Beginning this year, we no longer will stratify the U.S. computer science department data based on National Research Council rankings. Instead, stratification dimensions will include whether the institution is public or private, tenure-track faculty size of the reporting department, and the population of the locale in which the institution is located. This will allow our readers to get multiple views of important data, and hopefully gain new insights from them. These dimensions were recommended by the CRA Surveys Committee, and approved by the CRA Board of Directors, following extensive discussion of various options.

Despite Austere Budget, Science Would See Increases in President’s Plan

By Peter Harsha Full Article

In his last annual budget request before facing voters this November, President Obama showed his commitment to debt reduction by calling for cuts across almost all Federal agencies. But amidst the cuts, the President’s budget contains some key investments in research and development, including increased investments in computing research, that demonstrate his belief that Federally supported research can help spark the innovation required to keep the Nation placed at the top of an increasingly competitive world.

Where are the Minorities in Computing?

By Valerie E.Taylor and Richard E. Ladner Full Article

It is well recognized that increasing the diversity of the workforce is very important to the field of computing. In this article we focus on diversity within doctoral programs because it has a significant impact on diversity among both faculty members and researchers in industry and government labs. In particular, we focus on the source of minority students for graduate programs in computer science with respect to the following underrepresented groups: African Americans, Hispanics, and American Indian or Alaska Natives.

Highlights of the CISE Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Request

By Farnam Jahanian Full Article

On February 13, the President delivered the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget to Congress. The Administration is requesting a total of nearly $7.4 billion dollars for NSF, which is an increase of $340 million, or almost five percent, over the FY 2012 NSF Enacted level. The Request also includes an increase of $56 million, or 8.6 percent, over the FY 2012 Current Plan for the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) directorate, for a total of $709.7 million. For more information on the NSF FY 2013 budget, see: http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2013/index.jsp.

Symposium Marks 20 Years of Coordinated Federal Investment in Networking and IT R&D

Prospects for the Future

By Erwin P. Gianchandani Full Article

On Thursday, February 16, more than 150 Federal officials, Congressional staffers, academic researchers, and industry leaders packed a room overlooking the United States Capitol to mark two decades of coordinated Federal investment in networking and information technology research and development with a daylong symposium exploring progress and prospects in the field. Complete materials from this extraordinary day—including videos, slides, and written summaries from nearly twenty 15-minute presentations by leaders of the field, plus a luncheon keynote by former Vice President Al Gore, a longtime champion of information technology R&D — are available on the web at: http://cra.org/ccc/theimpactofnitrd.