CRA Conference at Snowbird '98

If you’re a computer science/engineering department chair or associate chair, director of graduate or undergraduate education, director of an industrial or government lab, a government or professional society leader in a field related to computing research, or someone whose professional interests lie in this area, Snowbird, Utah, is the place to be July 26-28, 1998. These are the dates of CRA’s biennial Conference at Snowbird, so mark them down on your calendar and register without delay. From the special workshop for new departmental chairs on July 26 to the workshop Understanding the Science Policy Process in the final session on the afternoon of July 28, events are being planned that will pique your interest.

The CRA Conference at Snowbird ’98 will in part focus on America’s new deficit: the shortage of information technology workers. The rapidly changing labor market for "core" IT workers – computer programmers, systems analysts, and computer scientists and engineers – is having a major impact on our departments and labs. On the academic side, this is evident in the dramatic increases in majors/course enrollments, and in significantly greater competition for graduate students and new faculty. In research labs, it is reflected in the increased competition for new employees, the higher salaries required to remain competitive, and the "eating our seed corn" phenomenon.

Industrial research directors will attend regular conference sessions and events, including a joint Academic/Industrial plenary session addressing the workforce issue, and workshops on both intellectual property issues and technology transfer. In addition, workshops are scheduled that are specifically oriented toward issues of concern to industry; for example, moving ideas from the research lab into the world of venture capital and managing industrial labs.

Dinner the first evening of the conference will feature a special guest speaker, Graham B. Spanier, President, Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Spanier will offer his perspective on Higher Education’s Information Technology Agenda.

Plenary sessions will shed light on three current issues. The first, Human Resources: Where Are We Now, Where Do We Need to Be, will feature topics such as Ph.D. production projections and the revitalized academic job market, industry opportunities and needs, and reversing the shrinking pipeline. This is a joint Academic/Industrial Snowbird session, and will be organized in a way that will be highly relevant to both groups.

The second plenary session, Preparing for the 21st Century: The IT Revolution, will feature experts who will address the central reorganization and the emergence of IT colleges, and the need to protect the CS/CE domain with the proliferation of "programming in discipline X" courses.

The final plenary, also of broad general interest, will feature a discussion of Current Trends in Science Policy As It Affects CSE.

In addition to plenary sessions, four workshops are planned, each offering three to five sessions that will run concurrently.

Of interest to both Academic/Industrial Snowbird participants is a special Science Policy Workshop, which will cover a range of topics related to improving the impact of the computing research community within Congress and the executive branch. This will be conducted by Rick Weingarten, CRA’s Director of Public Policy, and Peter Freeman, who chairs CRA’s Government Affairs Committee.

The program committee, under the direction of Mary Jane Irwin, Pennsylvania State University, and Jim Foley, Mitsubishi Electric Research, is putting the final touches on what promises to be three days of activities that will provoke discussion and challenge the thinking of the community. Enjoy the pleasant surroundings of Utah’s mountains in summer. Register now and take advantage of a discount for early sign-up.

For additional conference and registration information, including program updates, check out CRA’s website at http://www.cra.org/Activities/snowbird/snowbird98.html. You may also register online at the previous address. The final program will appear in the May edition of CRN. Contact CRA via e-mail at snowbird@cra.org or call 202-234-2111 to request information booklets and registration forms.