Steps for a Successful CRA-W DLS Program

The DLS event includes:

A distinguished lecture

A panel discussion for undergraduates on attending graduate school

There are 8 steps to a successful event.  The first two steps take some lead time and must complete in time for you to do adequate publicity for the event.

First, we need to choose a distinguished speaker and a date.  The speaker is a woman with a PhD in computer science from academia, or an industrial or government research lab.  The speaker should be of a stature that your department is willing to advertise this event as part of any regular colloquium series.  The speaker may be mid-career (e.g., an associate professor) where being chosen as your speaker will positively impact her career.  Depending on your constraints in providing an audience and planning the event, we can discuss inviting two distinguished speakers, one from academia and one from an industrial or government research lab. Do you have a list of possible speakers in mind or would you like suggestions in an area of computer science? We will also need a list of the dates that you are targeting.  Renee and I invite the speaker on behalf of CRA-W.

Second, immediately after we have a distinguished lecturer and a date, we need to find a panelist who is a female computer science researcher or educator with a PhD in a type of employment (academia, or industrial or government research lab) that is not the same as the distinguished lecturer.   If you invited two distinguished speakers, then they satisfy the requirement for two PhD panelists. We'll appreciate a list from you of candidates for this slot, or we make suggestions if you would like.  Renee and I invite the panelist as well

You will also need one or two graduate students, typically from your school or a member of your alumni, for the panel.   We encourage you to invite local people to keep the overall expense of the event down.  If you want to fund travel or accommodations for the graduate student(s), please contact us in advance. You invite the graduate student(s) directly.

You will also need to select a moderator for the panel.

Third, you need to do a budget for your local expenses.  Will you serve refreshments at the distinguished lecture or panel discussion?  We recommend that you do have food at the panel, in particular, to encourage students to attend.  Will you have a special meeting of the distinguished lecturer and panelists with your women in computer science group?

Do you need refreshments for that?  How much money do you need for advertising?

Once you have a local budget, please get it approved by Renee or Joann.

Fourth, once the lecturer and panelists are in place,  you will need to advertise the event with sufficient lead time.  We encourage you to advertise at your school and neighboring schools where there will be interest in the event.

Fifth, prior to your event, you need to agree to the organization of the panel with the moderator and all the panelists:  your distinguished lecturer, your additional PhD panelist, your graduate student panelist(s).  Template slides for the panel discussion can be found at:

http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~miller/dl/

We have generally found that the best panels solicit questions from the students.  The panelists prime the pump on questions by making short statements at the start of the panel on the topics listed in the template slides.  It's not essential to cover all the topics on the slide in the panelist statements.  The students will drive the discussion based on their interests.

Sixth, prior to your event, you will need to speak with the distinguished speaker and industry panelist to create a schedule for their visit.  Typically, the speaker and panelist will have some free time available to visit with faculty and programs at your campus.  Pease create a visitor schedule for them in conjunction with your mutual interests and their travel plans.

Seventh, at your event, we need you to have participants complete evaluation forms.  There is a form for the audience to complete after the panel and the lecture.   There is also a form for you to complete as organizers, and for the lecturer and panelists to complete.  These can be found at this web site:

http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~miller/dl/

As part of the requirements for continued funding of the program, we need you to collect these evaluation forms.

Eighth, after your event, you and your panelists must submit expense reports to be reimbursed. Expense report forms can be found on the above mentioned web site.

Please be sure to specify the university name, DLS and the dates on your reimbursement forms.