About the CS-IDEA committee

Our mission

To attract and retain diverse students, staff, and faculty in computer science and engineering and help all students, staff, and faculty thrive within the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Minnesota.

What we mean by diversity

We recognize our department’s responsibility to serve and support the following individuals and groups:

American Indians and other indigenous populations
People of Color, including underrepresented groups and 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

We also address issues of access and climate for individuals who might encounter barriers based on their religious expression, age, national origin, ethnicity, or veteran status. Furthermore, we recognize the importance of working with people who claim more than one of the above identities.

Committee meetings

The CS-IDEA holds open bi-weekly meetings during the academic year. If you are interested in how we can together make the CS&E department and the field of computer science in general more inclusive, diverse, and equitable, then please join us! Find information about our next meeting, along with links to other relevant activities on campus and beyond, on our Calendar.

Learn more about the 2023-24 CS-IDEA Committee!

Eman Ramadan

CS-IDEA Committee Chair/Lecturer and Research Associate (she/her)

Isayas Adhanom

Post-doctoral Associate (he/him)

Elizabeth Jensen

Faculty (she/her)

Harmanpreet Kaur

Faculty (she/her)

Dan Knights

Faculty (he/him)

Min Namgung

Student (she/her)

Marissa Pederson

Staff (she/her)

2022-23 committee members:

Mohamed Mokbel (chair), Dametrius Coleman, Dan Knights, Min Namgung, Marissa Pederson, Lana Yarosh

2021-22 committee members:

Dan Keefe (chair), Debarati Das, Sean Dorr, Favonia, Mohamed Mokbel, Luc Nelson, Eman Ramadan, Morgan Turner

Learn more about the 2021-22 committee members

2020-21 committee members:

Dan Keefe (chair), Debarati Das, Favonia, Maria Gini, Crystal King, Luc Nelson, Eman Ramadan, Ashmita Sharma, Allison Small, Loren Terveen, Morgan Turner

2019-20 committee members:

Dan Keefe (chair), Klarisse Andre De St Amant, Alisa Dean, Favonia, Victoria Interrante, Eman Ramadan, Ancy Tom, Shana Watters