• An article entitled "Building Bridges to Diversity," by Keivan Stassun, appears in the May/June 2005 issue of Mercury magazine. The full article is available electronically here.
• The May 2003 issue of Astronomy Magazine features an interview with members of the CSMA. The full interview is available for download from their website.
• The CSMA hosted a Special Session at the Seattle meeting on the role of minority institutions and REU programs for preparing minority physicists and astronomers. An article appeared shortly following the session.

CSMA Publications

• An article entitled "Building Bridges to Diversity," by Keivan Stassun, appears in the May/June 2005 issue of Mercury magazine. The full article is available electronically here.
• Enhancing Diversity in Astronomy: Minority-Serving Institutions and REU Programs. Strategies and Recommended Actions (PDF)
  This "white paper" stemming from the May 2003 special session is now available. It appears in the December 2003 issue of the Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society (BAAS).
• To Feed, To Fix: Diversity and the Astronomy Pipeline at the University of Washington (PDF)
  Led by a team of graduate students, the Astronomy Department at the University of Washington has developed a departmental action plan for enhancing diversity at the K-12, undergraduate, graduate, and faculty levels. An article by the plan's author appears in the January 2004 issue of SPECTRUM.

NSBP/AAS Undergraduate Scholarships for Minorities

In the spirit of fostering cooperation between the AAS and professional organizations serving minorities in physics/astronomy, the AAS Council has approved four scholarships to encourage minority undergraduates to pursue advanced study in astronomy and space science. Four new scholarships of $1000 each, funded jointly by the AAS and the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), are awarded annually to undergraduates through a competitive process administered by NSBP. Judging includes participation of AAS members.

NSBP is the largest and most widely recognized organization devoted to the African-American physics community. NSBP represents faculty and students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and its annual meetings draw some 600 attendees, with an increasing number of recruiters from graduate programs around the country. Indeed, a primary motivation for the creation of this scholarship program is to help bring AAS members into direct contact with minority students at institutions that are the primary producers of minority talent in physics and related disciplines.

• Background information on the four individuals after whom the scholarships are named: Michael Anderson, Harvey Washington Banks, Walter McAfee, Ronald McNair.
• National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), including scholarship applications
• Winners of the 2004 NSBP/AAS Undergraduate Scholarships (coming soon...)

Other Activities and Initiatives

• Special Lunch Presentation at San Diego AAS Meeting: January 11, 2005
  Ann Springer, legal counsel for the American Association of University Professors, will give a presentation entitled "Michigan and Beyond: Affirmative Action and the Future of Student and Faculty Diversity". This presentation will examine the Supreme Court's recent affirmative action decisions in the University of Michigan cases, their legal framework, and the current legal landscape for affirmative action. It will then address the practical implications of the decisions and their current and future effects on diversity in student admissions and faculty recruitment. See the accompanying article in the January 2005 issue of the SPECTRUM newsletter.
• Partnerships with Minority-Serving Institutions
  The CSMA is brokering partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. See the CSMA minority resources page for a listing of these institutions and contact info. See also the June 2002 issue of SPECTRUM for articles highlighting these institutions and their role in preparing minority astronomers and physicists.