Dear ACM and UChicago Colleagues –

Greetings from the ACM! I write to pick up the conversation around possible strategies for an ACM UChicago Data Science Initiative and see whether we can begin to relaunch this project. Since my last communication in January (see below) and the decision to defer activity until after the Spring semester, I hope everyone has had a chance to take a well-deserved break this summer and re-energize for the fall.

You will recall that we were populating a shared Excel workbook with the preferences that exist across the 14 ACM colleges for the collaborative strategies/opportunities we discussed with David Uminski and his colleagues at the University of Chicago’s Data Science Institute. The roster of possible strategies is listed on each college’s tab in the shared Excel workbook. You can highlight those that are of interest to your college in both the near and longer term by selecting the “TRUE” option from the dropdown box in each cell.

As we begin to move the project forward once again, those who have already filled out their colleges tab are welcome to update your previous selections to better reflect the current context. Those who have not yet made their selections on their college tab can provide that information now. I will monitor the workbook and be back in touch with the group as soon as all of the tabs are populated with the goal of setting a meeting in the early fall to begin talking about the priorities you identify and how to move them forward.

Thank you for your time. I hope you are all well and look forward to seeing your selections and being back in touch by end-of-summer.

Best wishes,

Brian

From: ACMUCDataScience@lists.acm.edu <ACMUCDataScience@lists.acm.edu> On Behalf Of Brian Williams
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 1:37 PM
To: ACMUCDataScience@lists.acm.edu
Subject: [EXTERNAL] RE: [EXTERNAL] Update/Follow Up on ACM UChicago Data Science Initiative

Dear ACM and UChicago Colleagues –

Among the responses I have to the survey referenced below, the preference for how to move forward is to defer any additional planning activity until after the spring semester when (perhaps) the current issues surrounding COVID will have abated. I was in conversation with a colleague about a different project yesterday and he said, “We had planned to [fill in the blank], but COVID.” Someone should design a t-shirt with that sentence.

I’ll be back in touch as the COVID landscape hopefully clears and we can the determine how to proceed. Meanwhile, please stay healthy and safe!

Best wishes,

Brian

From: Brian Williams
Sent: Wednesday, January 5, 2022 4:05 PM
To: ACMUCDataScience@lists.acm.edu
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Update/Follow Up on ACM UChicago Data Science Initiative

Dear ACM and UChicago Colleagues –

Greetings and Happy New Year from the ACM office! I hope this finds all of you well and having enjoyed some downtime over the holiday break.

I write to follow up on our most recent communication (see below) and to inquire about how, if at all, we might best proceed. My hope via the last communication had been that we might be able to schedule a virtual meeting in November/December to discuss the priorities that emerged from your responses in the shared workbook (see  ACM UChicago Data Science Initiative Workbook.xlsx or attached if you cannot gain access through this link). As things turned out, however, the responses to the WhenIsGood poll in email below were few (5 in total) and revealed that there was no date/time that would work for even that small group of respondents. It is also true that some among the larger group have yet to add your preferences for prioritizing the possible data science collaborations in the shared workbook.

I share this information not as a critique, but rather as context for asking whether there is sufficient interest in continuing to pursue this opportunity in the current context. Last semester was very busy for you all with the onset of the Omicron variant and this semester is shaping up to be even more complicated. Perhaps our best strategy is to defer further planning on this initiative until the end of this semester and pick it up again over the summer. Such is the case for many of our best laid plans these days.

To gather your guidance on that question, I have prepared a short survey so that you can share your thoughts and suggestions either anonymously, or with identifying information if you prefer. That survey is available HERE.

Thank you in advance for letting me know your thoughts and suggestions about how we might move forward. I look forward to your responses and will be back in touch with the group after I have received responses from at least a majority of those represented here.

Thanks again, and best wishes,

Brian

From: ACMUCDataScience@lists.acm.edu <ACMUCDataScience@lists.acm.edu> On Behalf Of Brian Williams
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2021 1:38 PM
To: ACMUCDataScience@lists.acm.edu
Cc: Sonya Malunda <smalunda@acm.edu>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Update/Follow Up on ACM UChicago Data Science Initiative

Dear ACM and University of Chicago Colleagues:

With apologies for the time that has passed since our last meeting, I write to update you on the priorities that have begun to emerge in the the  ACM UChicago Data Science Initiative Workbook.xlsx and to encourage those who have yet to highlight your institutional priorities to do so on your college’s tab at the bottom. At present, we have five ACM colleges whose priorities are not yet reflected in the preliminary list of priorities below.

Among those colleges that have responded, the near- and long-term priorities sort as follows (see tabulations on the Projects and Priorities Matrix tab in the shared workbook):

Short-term Priorities

1. Enhanced Access to Data Science Resources – Shared syllabi and other course resources

2. Defining and Integrating Data Science Curriculum Across Educational Models – Experiential Learning Opportunities
1. UChicago Clinic – Modeled on Harvey Mudd Clinic
2. Civic/industry partnerships

Student Pathway Programs – Summer lab opportunities for ACM students/UChicago Summer Labs (DEI Focus)

3. Faculty/Student Research Collaborations – Define the field of data science

Course/Seminar Collaborations – ACM and UChicago faculty visits to seminars/classrooms

Longer-term Priorities (excluding those already on short-term list)

1. Course/Seminar Collaborations – ACM faculty mentors at UChicago Summer Labs

2. Faculty/Student Research Collaborations - Expand research bridges across disciplines

Student Pathway Programs – “Three plus one” or “four plus one” programs

3. Defining and Integrating Data Science Curriculum across Education Models - Curricular design concepts – MasterCard Foundation project funded at UChicago

Student Pathway Programs – Other UChicago high school programs w/ potential for ACM college enrollments – Collegiate Scholars Program

Enhanced Access to Data Science Resources – Shared computational resources for ACM faculty

1. Shared project/data set for student projects (Chameleon)
2. Shared project/data set for faculty research projects (Chameleon)

Next Steps:

• So that we can begin to identify collaborative strategies that might enable the short-term priorities, please go to this WhenIsGood poll to note the dates/times at which you can be available for our next meeting.
• If you have not yet identified your institution’s priorities in our shared workbook, please do so by going to your college’s tab and select “True” in the cell as appropriate for the “short-term,” “longer term,” and “not a priority” options.
• Please also feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the roster of short and long-term priorities above or about how to make your preferences known in the shared workbook.

Thanks in advance. I hope this finds all of you well and look forward to our next conversation.

Best wishes,

Brian

Brian Williams

Vice President for Faculty Development and Grant Programs

Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM)

180 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 2020, Chicago, IL  60601

Phone: 312.561.5922 | Fax: 312.263.5879

E-mail: bwilliams@ACM.edu | Web: ACM.edu