This Innovative Practice paper describes the Local Research Experiences for Undergraduates (LREU) program that was established by the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI) at Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) in 2021 to increase the number of students, particularly students from underrepresented populations, who enter graduate programs in computer science. Since its first offering in Spring 2022, the LREU program has involved 182 faculty and 253 students. The LREU program funds undergraduate research experiences at the students' home institutions with an emphasis on first-generation students and those with financial needs. The motivation for the program is to address the low number of domestic students, particularly Hispanics and other minoritized populations, who seek and complete graduate degrees. Research shows that participation in research activities predicts college outcomes such as GPA, retention, and persistence. Even though these studies inform us of the importance of REU programs, many programmatic efforts are summer experiences and, while students may receive support, faculty mentors rarely receive coaching or professional development efforts. What distinguishes the LREU program is the focus on the deliberative development of students' professional and research skills; faculty coaching on the Affinity Research Group model; and the learning community established to share experiences and practices and to learn from each other. Students, who are matched with faculty mentors based on their areas of interest, work with their mentor to co-create a research plan. Students keep a research journal in which they record what they have learned and identify areas for their growth and development as researchers. The LREU provides an opportunity for the LREU participants to cultivate a growth mindset through deliberate practice and reflection from personal, professional, social, and academic perspectives. The paper discusses the multi-institutional perspectives that help CAHSI understand the types of challenges faced in undergraduate research programs, how faculty mentors communicate and make decisions, and how mentors resolve challenges, allowing the research community to better understand students' and faculty experiences. In addition, the paper reports on research and evaluation results that documented mentors' growth in their knowledge of effective research mentoring practices and students' learning gains in research and other skills. The paper also describes the impact of the learning community, e.g., how it supports developing strategies for interaction with and mentoring students from underrepresented populations.

This work-in-progress (research-to-practice) paper describes the Allyship program that has been implemented at Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) to build student support structures, particularly for women and non-binary students. As technology permeates through all aspects of our world, broadening participation in computer science education is critical to securing sustainable national technology and economic development. Unfortunately, women, especially ethnic and racial minority women, have been underrepresented in computing fields for decades. The trends in the number of bachelor's degrees in computing awarded to Latina students have not improved over the past twenty years, consistently accounting for less than 2% of the total number of undergraduate degrees awarded in computing. Most programmatic practices generally feature broader STEM disciplines, are not discipline-specific, and do not specifically support women and non-binary students in computing, which is the least diverse STEM field. Furthermore, most studies of mentoring programs rely primarily on graduate students, faculty, and professional mentorship. To fill the gap in practices and knowledge about the role of near-peer mentoring, explicitly focusing on women and non-binary students in computing fields at Hispanic-Serving Institutions, the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI) an NSF Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES, and BPC Alliance piloted the Allyship program at two HSIs. This paper describes how CAHSI implemented this program in a way that aligns with the theory of community cultural wealth. The Allyship program builds relationships among first- and second-year Latinx students with upper-division Latinx students in computing to build an inclusive community and supportive departmental environment. The goal of the Allyship program is to increase departmental engagement, retention, and persistence in the major. Preliminary assessment results from a participant survey show that following participation, students reported higher scores of sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and interest in computing compared to the beginning of the semester. The findings provide insight into using a strengths-based approach in peer support programs that allows women and non-binary students at HSIs to leverage their cultural knowledge and assets. This peer support program would be particularly impactful at low-resourced HSIs, which have high Hispanic enrollment but lack sufficient institutional resources, as the institutions can make significant changes with relatively low costs to implement sustained peer-to-peer support programs.

This research WIP paper describes computer science undergraduate students' perceptions of career pathways and becoming K-12 computer science teachers. Computer science (CS) education has become critical with the rapid pace of technological development to better prepare students for national technology and economic competitiveness and security. According to Code.org, 57.5% of U.S. public high schools offer foundational computer science courses in 2023; unfortunately, access to the courses remains unequal and maintains wide disparities by race/ethnicity and social class. For instance, Hispanics are 1.4 times less likely to take foundational CS courses compared to their white and Asian peers, and students with low socio-economic status are underrepresented in the overall population. The shortage of CS teachers is one of the significant barriers to why minoritized groups of students do not have equal access to learning CS. Various programmatic efforts have been implemented to address the gap, including the recruitment of undergraduate students who will earn bachelor's degrees in computing. This approach has been considered innovative in building a new pipeline for producing highly qualified CS teachers with the ability to transform computing education and the CS teacher community rather than training in-service teachers certified in other disciplines to receive credentials to teach CS. Studies report that CS degree recipients opt for industry roles and exhibit disinterest in alternative career pathways, such as teaching because they perceive this profession as having lower salaries and unfavorable aspects associated with the job. However, we need a more prosperous and in-depth understanding of why CS degree holders consider industry jobs of greater importance rather than teaching, which would reduce the disparity in K-12 computing education. As a first attempt to better understand the perceptions of computer science undergraduate students at an Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), we collected qualitative data (i.e., student artifacts) in a course offered in the computer science department. Driven by social cognitive career and FIT-choice theory, our findings from the preliminary analysis indicate that CS undergraduate students at an HSI acknowledged the importance of K-12 CS teachers in their communities, but at the same time, they have more concerns about the underpayment and undervaluation of the job. They have shown a conflict between their perceptions of teaching CS and their own career aspirations as CS teachers. These preliminary findings draw attention to the importance of uncovering common career plans among CS undergraduate students.

This research-to-practice paper aims to examine the Collective Impact Model and its application during a network meeting to illustrate its utility in supporting efforts in building a community among a complex system of partnerships and initiatives. We collected data from small group discussions among 56 CAHSI faculty staff and administrators using a Communities of Practice approach to collect evidence of community knowledge development. Emerging themes from data analysis included: a) successful initiatives for CAHSI students; and b) collectively identified challenges. These findings illustrate how the Collective Impact model supports CAHSI network members to be intentional in their efforts by assessing their progress toward a common goal, evaluating the effectiveness of their efforts, and making plans toward next steps. Moreover, capturing the dynamics of the Collective Impact Model allows CAHSI to promote multidimensional change by creating culturally responsive initiatives and learning opportunities for Hispanic students in CAHSI.

Historically, student caregivers have been described as parents over the age of 25. However, the role of a caregiver may extend beyond a parental responsibility to include caring for other family members and may include students who are of “traditional college age.” Failing to acknowledge and provide appropriate support for student caregivers can be particularly problematic for students in engineering and computing. Engineering and Computing programs often require extensive work that must be completed outside of class. Meeting these demands is particularly challenging for students with caregiving responsibilities. However, there are significant gaps in our understanding of college experiences and college outcomes of student caregivers enrolled in engineering and computing programs. To understand the experiences of undergraduate student caregivers in engineering and computing fields, this study explored the differences in non-cognitive and affective factors between students who have caregiving responsibilities and those who do not have responsibilities during college. We particularly focused on student caregivers in the College of Engineering at an R1 Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). The context of HSIs is important given that these institutions enroll a large number of post-traditional college students, students who have significant life responsibilities that are often at odds with the demands of college. Additionally, this study incorporates a Hispanic-servingness approach, a framework centered on institutions acknowledging the realities and needs of the students they serve. Using data from a single institution, we asked the following research question: To what extent are caregiving responsibilities related to undergraduate engineering and computing students' non-cognitive and affective factors? Our findings indicate that the experiences of students with caregiving responsibilities differ on five non-cognitive and affective factors: open-mindedness, engineering/computer science identity, help-seeking, motivation, and time management. Taken together, these findings draw attention to the importance of universities taking a holistic approach to developing student support services for Engineering/Computing student caregivers.