CAHSI's Impact: A National Resource
Knowledge Sharing: Systems Change
CAHSI researchers have contributed to the Hispanic-Servingness literature (visit the webpage: CAHSI Resources-CAHSI Literature). An ethnographic case study of CAHSI departments identified organizational behaviors that promote student success: (1) use of intersectional data to guide decision making, (2) collective responsibility to build career support for students, and (3) adoption of a talent development mentality that includes engagement of departmental stakeholders in continuous improvement to promote student success. The findings have implications for building student success infrastructures and informing how HSIs can better serve their students. CAHSI also advocates for the role of leadership, inclusive excellence, and collective impact for systems change that broadens participation.
National Convener: Highlights
- In 2019, CAHSI organized a two-day CAHSI BPC Community workshop funded by NSF that brought together researchers to make recommendations on how to expand representation in the NSF CISE directorate’s portfolio. See CAHSI Research Capacity Building report.
- In 2020, CAHSI offered a mini-ideation virtual workshop to build research capacity at HSIs. This three-month involved presentation of research ideas, feedback from experts, and refinement of ideas. The effort contributed to the NSF MSI Research Expansion program.
- In 2022, CAHSI in collaboration with other alliances led the 2023 NSF INCLUDES Community Convening to engage leaders from the NSF INCLUDES Alliance Cohorts in deep discussions regarding how to leverage their collective knowledge, lessons learned, and activities to accelerate change in broadening STEM participation. See NSF INCLUDES Community Convening report.
- In 2024 with funding from Microsoft, CAHSI led a national convening that engaged researchers, industry partners, and other participants from the public and private sectors. The topics included: AI research; AI education; and use-driven research. See CAHSI’s AI Convening Report.
- In 2024, CAHSI received funding from Microsoft to convene HSI researchers to collaborate on research proposals that use and contribute to the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) initiative.
Workforce Development
CAHSI’s signature practices and workshops prepare students for a competitive workforce. To learn more about CAHSI’s signature practices, please go to the webpage: CAHSI Efforts. CAHSI partners with the Great Minds in STEM (GMiS) to provide professional development sessions at the conference for both faculty and students with sponsorship from funding agencies, industry, national labs, and other stakeholders. Topics include cybersecurity hackathon, machine learning, data analytics, financial literacy, and supercomputing. The conference also honors students who are pursuing graduate studies. CAHSI has a long-standing collaboration with Google, Reboot Representation, Microsoft, and other partners. Supported programs include the Google Latinx Student Leadership Summit, the Google Tech Exchange program, the Google-CAHSI problem-solving courses, and sponsorship of the CAHSI Advocates and Scholars programs.
Research Capacity Building
CAHSI collaborates across HSIs and partners to advance research capacity and pathways to graduate education. Efforts in this area include CAHSI’s local REU (LREU) and the CAHSI-Google Institutional Research Program [IRP] programs. The LREU program funds undergraduate research experiences at the student’s home institution with an emphasis on first-generation students and those with financial needs. The IRP program builds research capacity of CAHSI faculty and Hispanic students and bridges Hispanic students into computing doctoral programs, assisting in their retention
Contributions to National and State Policy
CAHSI has made contributions to national and state policy. It has reviewed and endorsed various acts from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space& Technology (CSST). Example bills include H.R. 4372 MSI STEM Achievement Act, NSF for the Futures Act, Supporting Early-Career Researchers Act, and AI R&D Capacity Building. In addition, CAHSI regional leads have contributed to policies at the state level.
