Current CSMA membership:

• Keivan Stassun, Chair
  Vanderbilt University
• Andrew Baker
  Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
• Beth Brown
  NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Ted Gull
  NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Charles Liu
  CUNY College of Staten Island
• Laura Lopez
  University of California, Santa Cruz
• Windsor Morgan
  Dickinson College
• Dara Norman
  National Optical Astronomy Observatories
• Kartik Sheth
  Caltech, Spitzer Science Center

CSMA Mission:
To enhance the participation of underrepresented minorities in astronomy and astrophysics at all levels of experience.

CSMA Goals:

• To provide an overview of the status of minorities in Astronomy, including identifying areas of concerns and opportunities.To advise the AAS about these and formulate policies for the society to consider. To establish and maintain a statistical base on the participation of minorities in Astronomy over time.
• To act as a facilitator in the communication between minorities themselves, and the programs and jobs which might interest them. This includes putting students in contact with more advanced students or professionals, fostering "mentoring," and "networking" in aid of moving people into programs or jobs.
• To act as a central contact point to other societies or institutions with a useful relation to the mission.

CSMA Methods:
The AAS will supply the CSMA with the resources needed to compile and maintain its informational databases. The CSMA will maintain and update a Website (as part of the AAS Website), which will make available to the community at large all appropriate information. It will be constructed to facilitate communication between those offering assistance, advice, education or employment, and those seeking it. The committee will actively publicize its efforts in appropriate forums to maximize the number of participants in its activities. The CSM will meet regularly, electronically or in person, to monitor its success and create new policies or activities. It will remain aware of other efforts germane to its mission, and make use of them (and avoid duplication) whenever possible.

CSMA History:

The possibility of this committee was first explored under AAS President Frank Shu in 1996. Its charter was formulated by an Ad Hoc committee consisting of Gibor Basri, Cecelia Colome, Paul Ho, Charles McGruder, and Mercedes Richards. The Committee was formally chartered in 1997 by the AAS. The primary work of the CSMA in its first 2 years was the formulation and operation of a survey to determine a baseline for the ethnic membership of the Society. The survey was put on the Web at the beginning of 1999, and data was collected over the next year. At this time, ethnic data collection was also added to the membership form for the Society, so that future surveys would not be necessary. One goal of the CSMA is to track the history of minority participation in the Society. Other surveys which include this goal were also instituted at about this time; notably, the Society began to poll institutions on their ethnic makeup. These surveys help to assess the completeness of any given data set (all are incomplete to some level). The CSMA also undertook to begin this website during the 1999-2000 period. We also began to explore common issues with the CSWA.