Dear Faculty,

There are a few diversity themed conferences coming up in the next month and a half.

Through Mason sponsorships we have a few free reservations that are available for your use!

The first is the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Annual Convention. This is the 46th Annual Convention and takes place in San Antonio, TX on March 25-29. There is a great opportunity for early career faculty from underrepresented groups to participate in a professional development symposium that covers topics like “How to Approach Your Department Chair”, “Moving from Term to Tenure Track”, “Lessons Learned from Winning Grant Recipients”, “Creating a Thriving Research Enterprise: Developing a Research Agenda”, and “Moving Beyond Service: Strategic Mentoring Relationships” have been offered in the past. Additionally, editors from Nature Nanotechnology, Advanced Science, and Engineering Science & Technology have given workshops in the past around getting published in their journals.

We will have 10 NSBE students attending the conference, and I am sure they would love to see some of their faculty there as well. Additionally, our new President often attends NSBE. This would be an excellent opportunity to network with him.

Worried about funding?! There is a reimbursable travel grant that is available to early career faculty and post-candidacy PhD students that will cover up to $2000 in expenses. With a waived registration, that leaves all $2000 for flight, food, and accommodations! Interested? Apply here: https://forms.gle/E8wnbHH68cgSUMBy6. We have 5 slots. Priority will be given to our URM early career faculty, but we will also open this opportunity to GMU URM postdocs, and post candidacy PhD students.

The second opportunity is the Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD). This conference is in its 3rd year, and is located just down the way in Crystal City from April 19-22. There are fewer free registration slots, but we would love to see a large Mason presence at such an influential conference in this area. If you are interested in attending, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/F6M8w7rp6bsgyu4D7. Priority will be given to GMU faculty, but we will also open this opportunity to GMU postdocs, and graduate students.

Since this conference is in the local metropolitan area, we will see if funds are available to support more faculty that are interested in attending beyond the free registrations.

I sincerely hope you opt to take advantage of one or both of these amazing opportunities around diversity in engineering and computing.

Kindest regards,

Christopher Carr, EdD(c)
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Chief Diversity Officer
Office of the Dean
Volgenau School of Engineering
George Mason University
Phone: 703-993-2567
Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Web: volgenau.gmu.edu<http://Volgenau.gmu.edu>