that will eventually build a potential national campaign to draw interest and young students into the field.
The Professions Board transformed the Queue Web site ( queue@acm.org), moving the publication from a print delivery model to an online magazine. With “digital Queue” as its foundation, the Board oversaw the specifications and implementation of the first phase of the Web site for practitioners both within and outside ACM complete with capabilities designed to encourage community input and collaboration. The Queue Editorial Board also joined the efforts to revitalize Communications this year by overseeing the monthly Practice section of the magazine and providing articles of great interest to today’s practitioners.
ACM relaunched the Career & Job Center last fall, greatly expanding its scope of job opportunities in the computing industry. In partnership with Job Target, the site now offers exclusive career-building features, including access to hundreds of corporate job postings, résumé posting, an advanced Job Alert system, and live career advice available to assist in job-seeking preparations.
ACM further expanded its Online Books and Courses site ( http://pd.acm. org/); a highly popular resource among the membership for its valuable materials designed to polish technical and professional skills. Over 9,000 members have taken advantage of the 2,200 Skillsoft online technology and business courses now available as well as the 1, 100 free online e-books from Safari and Books24X7. This resource is offered to professional members as well as graduate students.
The partnership between SIGAC-CESS and the National Alliance for Access to Computing Careers ( Access-Computing) continues to flourish. The goal of this combined effort is to increase the representation of people with disabilities in a wide range of computing careers, including CS, IT, and computer engineering.
The U.S. Public Policy Committee of ACM (USACM) had an extraordinary year in raising the visibility and in-
fluence of ACM with respect to U.S. public policy, meeting with policy-making groups, including Congress, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Election Assistance Commission. In the last fiscal year, members have cautioned Congress against filtering technologies to deal with copyright infringement; issued statements on the REAL ID rules; Web accessibility, and met with policymakers to promote e-voting standards. USACM also works closely with the Computing Research Association on issues that impact the computing field.
The new ACM Education Policy Committee (ACM EPC), established to educate policymakers about the role of computer science in the K– 12 system, held its first meeting this year to focus its priorities. The committee has already engaged the National Science Foundation to improve research opportunities in CS education at the grade-school level. In addition, EPC has initiated discussions with leaders of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and has successfully partnered with Achieve.org—a high-profile education organization led by U.S. governors and corporate leaders—to include a CS course in its Advanced Diploma Project.
The ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy continues to represent ACM interests with respect to a variety of internationally relevant issues pertaining to computers and public policy. In the last year, members of the committee have partici-
pated in panels and workshops examining e-voting technologies, election integrity, cyber security, and system trustworthiness.
ACM’s commitment to the issue of women in computing was apparent this year with the decision to elevate the ACM-W Committee to ACM-W Council (AWC). The AWC will be a part of all leadership discussions within ACM and is chartered to increase the awareness of, and interest in, the issue of gender diversity across all ACM activities.
The 32nd Annual International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals proved a global media magnet. From 6,700 teams representing 1,821 universities in 83 countries competing at 213 sites from September to December, 100 teams advanced to the World Finals last April in Banff, Alberta, Canada. Of the top 10 teams at the 2008 ICPC, four were from Russian universities and three teams represented universities in North America. The top spot went to St. Petersburg University of Information Technology, Mechanics and Optics (Russia).
The ACM Student Research Competition, sponsored by Microsoft Research, continues to offer a unique forum for undergraduate and graduate students to present original research at well-known ACM-sponsored and co-sponsored conferences before a panel of judges and attendees. This year’s winners hailed from Purdue University, Colorado State, University of Tennessee, City College of New York, IIT Bombay, and the University of Waterloo.
ACM’s Committee on Women in Computing initiated a program to provide support for undergraduate and graduate women students in computer science programs who are interested in attending research conferences. Up to 12 scholarships will be awarded annually; and high school students will also be considered for conference support.
SIGCOMM instituted a “Rising Star” award, recognizing a young researcher (no older than 35) who has made outstanding research contributions to the field of communications networks during the early part of his or her career.
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