Hispanic-Serving Institutions educate the bulk of minority and low-income students. The Computing Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institutions (CAHSI) initiative, funded by the National Science Foundation, seeks to increase the number of Hispanic students enrolled in graduate school in computer science and implement research-based practices to increase student success. Eleven member institutions of the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities are participating in the project. The consortium is led by Ann Quiroz Gates, a nationally recognized computer science scholar and vice provost for faculty affairs at The University of Texas at El Paso.
Gates is a founding member and lead of CAHSI, a nationally recognized network of more than 60 colleges, universities and stakeholders that focus on the recruitment, retention, mentorship and advancement of Hispanics in computing.
CAHSI is one of six national alliances funded by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (INCLUDES) program, a comprehensive initiative to develop STEM talent from all sectors and groups in our society. In 2018, Gates’ work with CAHSI led to UTEP’s partnership with Google’s Tech Exchange program, where UTEP students and faculty, along with peers from other Hispanic-Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities, participate in an immersive summer internship at Google in Silicon Valley.
Gates joined the UTEP faculty as an assistant professor of computer science in 1994 and was promoted to professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science in 2005. She served as associate vice president for research and sponsored projects from 2008 to 2012, then returned to her position as department chair until 2019.
