CRA Publications

This page contains information on CRA's

• Periodicals
• Best Practices Reports & Student/Career Guides
• Reports on Research Issues
• Workforce and History Reports

Periodicals

Computing Research News: electronic versions of our newsletter. Interested in subscribing to the printed copy?

CRA Bulletin prompts individuals by blog and e-mail of news from and information of interest to the computing research community. Topics covered include CS/CE student and faculty demographics, salaries, R&D, and the IT workforce. Other items of interest, such as events, will also be added occasionally.

CRA's Computing Research Policy Blog: for the latest take on issues affecting the computing research community.

Best Practices Memos & Student/Career Guides

Best Practices Memo: Promotion and Tenure of Interdisciplinary Faculty, September 2008.

Best Practices Memo: University-Industry Sponsored Research Agreements, September 2003.

Best Practices Memo: Commercialization Oversight for Computer Research Departments, July 2001. Prepared by David Patterson (University of California, Berkeley) and Larry Snyder (University of Washington), July 2001. The relentless pressure to innovate in the information technology industry has drawn university researchers and graduate students into entrepreneurial situations to an increasing degree. The trend affects the academic enterprise in diverse ways, both favorable and unfavorable. The risks and rewards are outlined, and the concept of a Commercialization Oversight Committee is described as a mechanism that can facilitate the best outcomes when interests conflict.

Best Practices Memo, Evaluating Computer Scientists and Engineers For Promotion and Tenure, August 1999. Prepared by David Patterson (University of California, Berkeley), Lawrence Snyder (University of Washington), and Jeffrey Ullman (Stanford University) the document comments on the tenure review process in departments of computer science and engineering. This document is also available in PDF format (as it was first printed in Computing Research News) and PS format.

A set of slides on "Why choose a Ph.D. in CS?" (440 KB PDF). Please feel free to use these.

Graduate Student Information Guide (213 KB PDF): this booklet is filled with questions, advice, and details to help plan an approach to graduate school.

Career Mentoring Workshops Booklet (383 KB PDF) contains the wisdom and experiences from nearly a decade of workshops on topics such as "Getting a Job," "Building a Research Career," "Obtaining Federal Funding," "Time Management," "Networking and Professional Social Interaction," "Perspectives from the Smaller Schools," and "Tenure."

Research Issues

CRA-NIH Computing Research Challenges in Biomedicine Workshop Recommendations (45 KB PDF). The result of a workshop held June 15-16, 2006.

Grand Research Challenges report: Revitalizing Computer Architecture Research. The result of a workshop held in December 2005.

Four Grand Challenges in Trustworthy Computing (215 KB PDF). The result of a workshop held November 16-19, 2003.

Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Learning for the Future: a Vision and Research Agenda (170 KB PDF). This report is the result of a series of workshops organized to explore where we are in the application of pervasive computing power to education, and where we need to be. In particular, the intent was to develop a map of where NSF can strategically place its resources in creating the learning environments of the future.

The final report stemming from NITRD's Workshop on the Road Map for the Revitalization of High End Computing, December 2003.

CRA Workshop on Research Related to National Security: Report and Recommendations, September 2003. Also available as a 24 KB PDF.

CRA Grand Research Challenges in Information Systems Final Report, September 2003 (410 KB PDF). The Conference website can be found here.

Testimony and slides (21 KB PDF) of Andy van Dam at the Symposium on Allocation of Federal Resources for Science and Technology, May 22, 2001. The Symposium focused on the National Science Board's draft discussion document, The Scientific Allocation of Scientific Resources. Dr. van Dam is the T. J. Watson Professor of Technology and Education and Professor of Computer Science at Brown University.

Research Challenges for the Next Generation Internet(346 KB PDF). A report resulting from the Workshop on Research Directions for the Next Generation Internet, held May 12-14, 1997.

Computing Research: A National Investment for Leadership in the 21st Centuryis a booklet which uses case studies by industry leaders to illustrate how multi-billion-dollar industries have been created by modest federal investments in fundamental research in information technology.

Setting a Computer Science Agenda for Education Technology, 1996 (263 KB PDF) A report from a workshop sponsored by CRA and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

R&D for the NII: Technical Challenges, 1994. A report resulting from a symposium held February 28 - March 1, 1994

Culture, Society and Advanced Information Technology, 1996. A report sponsored by CRA and the American Anthropological Association.

Workforce and History Reports

Recruiting and Retaining Women Graduate Students in Computer Science and Engineering (159 KB PDF). This NSF-funded study was initiated to test the validity of an earlier report, "Recruitment and Retention of Women Graduate Students in Computer Science and Engineering" (Cuny and Aspray, 2001). It summarizes and expands on the results of a 2006 workshop and outlines research-based practices likely to promote gender balance in graduate computing programs.

Using History to Teach Computer Science and Related Disciplines, 2004 (1.8 MB PDF). Stemming from a series of NSF-funded workshops, this report offers innovative ideas on how to use the rich, empirical material of history to enhance student learning and appreciation for fundamental concepts in computer science and related disciplines. Reports by twenty authors are divided into five parts: 1) two introductory papers; 2) six essays on curricular issues and strategies; 3) twelve course syllabi; 4) five historical case studies; and 5) two essays on key resources in the history of computing. Copies ($15.00 each) can be requested by e-mailing info@cra.org or by calling (202) 234-2111.

Recruitment and Retention of Faculty in Computer Science and Engineering (523 KB PDF). This NSF-funded study was initiated because of CRA's concern about the effect that faculty departing for industry might have on the ability of universities to carry out their research and teaching missions. It provides recommendations for recruiting and retaining faculty and outlines areas where additional research is needed. The results of five surveys that were conducted during the course of the study appear in the appendices. 

Recruitment and Retention of Women Graduate Students in Computer Science and Engineering (193 KB PDF). The report, written by Janice Cuny (U. of Oregon) and William Aspray (CRA), is the result of a workshop that was held in June, 2000. Workshop participants included long-time members of the CSE academic and research communities, social scientists engaged in relevant research, and directors of successful retention efforts. The report's goal is to provide departments with practical advice on recruitment and retention in the form of a set of specific recommendations.

A committee convened by the Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC) released a report entitled Recruitment and Retention of Underrepresented Minority Graduate Students in Computer Science (212 KB PDF). The report offers 25 practical suggestions for graduate departments to consider. These suggestions cover specific recruitment tactics, means to facilitate early success in graduate school, retention methods, and organizational issues such as best ways of providing financial support. The committee was co-chaired by Andrew Bernat (University of Texas at El Paso) and William Aspray (Computing Research Association). The study was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and PACI, with staff support from CRA.

CRA Testimony on the underrepresentation of women and minorities in computing, given by Edward D. Lazowska, Chair, Board of Directors, Computing Research Association, and Chair, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington before the Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology Development (CAWMSET), October 6, 1999.

The Supply of Information Technology Workers in the United States, a study to improve the understanding of the supply of and demand for information technology (IT) workers in the United States, and the surrounding contextual issues.

Women in Computer Science brochure, written for high school and early undergraduate students, profiles the life stories of successful women in CSE. Biographies include family and/or outside activities of the women as well as employment responsibilities and interests.

---

Search WWW Search cra.org

---

Copyright © 2007 Computing Research Association. All Rights Reserved. Questions? E-mail: webmaster@cra.org.