At a time when a computing career seems like an impossible dream to certain students, the University of South Florida Lakeland has a program to help make that dream come true. Through the Students &Technology in Academia, Research & Service (STARS) Alliance, the university is working to increase the participation of under-represented populations, women, and persons with disabilities in computing disciplines.

STARS uses multi-faceted interventions focused on the influx and progression of students from middle school through graduate school that lead to computing careers. Through STARS, students receive academic and social development through mentoring and applied learning experiences.

USF Lakeland recently received $117,806 to fund a three-year STARS extension. That money, along with $137,034 it received for the first three years, brings USF Lakeland’s total STARS funding to $254,840.

Dr. E. Nathan Thomas, USF Lakeland director of diversity, says, "The additional funding gives USF Lakeland the opportunity to strengthen our partnership with Polk Community College and to help faculty and staff here and at other universities to recruit, retain and graduate women and underrepresented students in computing. By successfully addressing this issue, we hope to become a model for the rest of the country.”

Formed in the spring of 2005, in response to the National Science Foundation’s Broadening Participation in Computing program, the STARS Alliance is comprised of the following academic institutions: Auburn University, Florida A & M, Florida State, Georgia Southern University, Georgia Tech, Hampton University, Johnson C. Smith University, Landmark College, Meredith College, North Carolina A & T, North Carolina State, Saint Augustine’s College, Shaw University, Spelman College, University of North Carolina Charlotte, University of New Orleans, University of South Carolina, USF Lakeland, University of Tennessee and Virginia Tech.