Computer Science Inclusiveness, Diversity, Equity, and Advocacy (CS-IDEA) committee

First gen student chosen for Google mentorship program
B.S. student Gaoxiang Luo is currently participating in the 2021B cohort of the highly-competitive Google CS Research Mentorship Program (CSRMP).

Two professors are leveling the field in computing research
Through Google's exploreCSR program, CS&E professors Maria Gini and Shana Watters are exposing students historically marginalized in computing to research.

#CelebrateFirstGen: Eric Zhong Fritsche
B.S. student Eric Zhong Fritsche is one of the 1 in 4 students at the University of Minnesota to be the first in their family to attend college.

Closing the STEM gap
Maximilian N. Lando Scholarship recipient Swati Rampali co-founded the student group Code the Gap, which is introducing underrepresented kids to science and technology fields.

Research studio to put art first—with the help of science and technology
The ArTeS Collaborative Research Studio will bring art, technology, and science together when it opens in spring 2022.

Ph.D student wins Out to Innovate's Avangrid Scholarship
Zahara Spilka aspires to a career in animation and hopes to create accurate depictions of different races, body types, religions, genders, and sexualities.

Juan Fernando Maestre selected as President's Postdoctoral Fellow
He will work with the GroupLens team to conduct research in human computer interaction with a focus on stigmatized and marginalized groups.

Operation reboot: Student group aims to bridge the diversity gap
The Code the Gap student group provides STEM opportunities to underrepresented groups by teaching computer science at local Twin Cities K-12 schools.

Undergrad advisor wins award for inclusivity and advocacy
Kelly Thomas is a Senior Undergraduate Academic Advisor and has been a diversity and inclusion champion since joining the department in 2015.

Professor Gini wins award for championing underrepresented members in computer science
As a researcher and professor at the University of Minnesota, Professor Gini has helped increase the number of women and underrepresented minorities in the department.

VR researchers partner with Micronesian community of Milan, MN
Read about the partnership, which is part of the Back to Indigenous Futures project funded by the UMN Provost Office's Grand Challenges program.
In both the workforce and educational pipeline, computer science remains one of the least diverse fields, particularly in terms of the involvement of women and underrepresented minorities.
The Computer Science & Engineering (CS&E) department is committed to supporting and recruiting a diverse community of students, staff, and faculty and helping everyone in this community to thrive. This requires deliberate work to build an inclusive and supportive environment for those from historically underrepresented and non-traditional backgrounds, which, in our field, includes American Indians and other Indigenous populations, people of color, new immigrant populations, people with both apparent and non-apparent disabilities, people who identify as women, people of various gender and sexual identities and expressions, first-generation students, students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, people who claim more than one of the above identities, and people who might encounter barriers based on their religious expression, age, national origin, ethnicity, or veteran status.
As part of our department's Inclusiveness, Diversity, Equity, and Advocacy (CS-IDEA) work, we have created this webpage as a home base. We encourage community members to use it to connect with "your people", learn about ongoing initiatives ranging from welcome events to scholarships to curriculum revisions, and get involved in our community.
- Daniel Keefe, CS&E Professor and CS-IDEA committee chair
All upcoming events
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is built within and continues to occupy the traditional homelands of the Dakota people. It is important to acknowledge the peoples on whose land we live, learn, and work as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with our tribal nations.
We also acknowledge that words are not enough. We must ensure that our institution provides support, resources, and programs that increase access to all aspects of higher education for our American Indian students, staff, faculty, and community members. More land acknowledgement resources