SDS is sharing the following opportunity on behalf of the DO-IT Center at the University of Washington.
Are you a computing student with a disability? Looking for an internship? Want to connect with peers and mentors with disabilities? AccessComputing might be able to help you with that.
AccessComputing, a National Science Foundation funded Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) Alliance, provides mentoring and some limited funding for career development activities for students with disabilities in computing-related fields. This might include:
MENTORING: Through our online community, students and mentors discuss a variety of topics. It is a place to connect with others to share your successes, ask for suggestions regarding any issues that may arise for you related to your disability, education or employment, and to support other team members when they need help brainstorming solutions.
CONFERENCES: Interested in attending a conference related to computing, diversity, or professional development? AccessComputing might be able to provide funding for travel, registration, or accessibility-related costs. While we can’t send every student to every event, we do fund many students each year to attend events like Grace Hopper, the Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing, the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference, SIGCSE, and the Computing Research Association’s Widening Participation events, among others.
RESEARCH INTERNSHIPS: Every year AccessComputing funds several students with disabilities to participate in the Computing Research Association’s Distributed Research Experience for Undergraduates Program.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
Age: Participants should be 18+.
Disability: At AccessComputing, we recognize that not all students with disabilities register with their campus disability/accessibility office and that they have a variety of reasons for not doing so. For that reason, we do not require our participants to be registered with their campus disability office, or to provide medical documentation of a disability as a condition of eligibility. We do require a self-report from you, discussing your disability and the ways in which it creates barriers for you. All information provided on the application is confidential and is only ever reported to the National Science Foundation in an aggregate manner. We define “disability” broadly and recognize invisible disabilities – psychological & emotional conditions & neurodivergence, for example – as barriers to student success.
Academics: Participants should be attending a US institution of higher education and studying in a computing-related field which will lead to one or more of the following degrees: Associates, Bachelors, Masters or a PhD.
International Students: Students holding F1 Visa who meet all of the above eligibility requirements are welcome to join AccessComputing but should be aware that funding is more limited, particularly as related to internships and research opportunities.
WHEN CAN YOU APPLY?
AccessComputing does not have an application deadline; because of the way our funding is designed, we can accept applications at any time throughout the life of the AccessComputing program – and guess what? We’ve been around for more than 15 years and have been successful enough that we’re on our fifth consecutive NSF grant!
Find the student team member application and more information at the AccessComputing web page.