- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock computer science students take up recruiting project

John Hill — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 17:03:40 +0000

Sometimes, when you are about to make an important decision, like where to go to college, a friendly ear is all you need. This summer, students from the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Student Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) lent a friendly ear to prospective students (admitted, but not yet enrolled) via phone calls and answered their questions about student life at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “This is not a call to see if they are enrolling. This is a call to get students excited about their departments and letting them know about all the campus amenities,” said ACM Vice President Gaige Ehrenworth, a junior computer science major from Hot Springs. “A lot of the computer science students I called were interested in cybersecurity, and they did not know about the upcoming cybersecurity degree in 2021. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is a very good university for those who wish to get a good education at a reasonable price with flexibility for both the commuter and on campus students.” Ehrenworth led a team of four computer science students who spoke with about 85 prospective students in the Department of Computer Science. “Along with the specific areas of opportunity we offer, the department is also an energizing environment in which to study, in no small measure resulting from the activities and initiatives of the student chapter of the ACM,” said Dr. Albert Baker, interim chair of the Department of Computer Science. “That members of the chapter volunteered this summer to call admitted students who had not yet enrolled, is just one example of the value the chapter brings to the Department of Computer Science and ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Correlation is not causation, but we’ve seen an uptick in the number of enrolled computer science majors over the last 10 days or so. I sincerely thank the volunteers who made the calls.” The additional ACM students who called prospective students include Julia Green, a senior from Maumelle, Brandon “Alex” Norman, a sophomore from Jacksonville, and John Clements, a senior from Little Rock. “I think this was a great project,” Green said. “I’m a nontraditional student. I know how wonderful it is to know that someone cares about you and your education. It’s a nice feeling to know that somebody cares, and it was nice to provide that feeling for fellow students.” Green also fielded questions from women who are worried about the low number of female students in STEM fields. Women in the U.S. make up only about 30 percent of those with a college degree in a STEM area, according to the “I had a few girls ask me what it was like being a computer science major,” Green said. “Some girls are worried that there are not a lot of women in STEM. I was glad that I could provide some reassurance for girls entering the program.” The students even fielded some calls with the parents of prospective students. “There were a few times when parents picked up the phone before the student, and they were surprised that a student was calling to answer their child’s questions,” Norman said. “The parents would tell their kids to talk to us, that it was an important opportunity for you to get to know your college.” The students had such good feedback from the prospective students they called that they are hoping to continue and expand the project. “I would like to start much earlier next year with a larger list of prospective students and get more students from the ACM involved,” Ehrenworth said. “Come this semester, I hope to see some of the students we contacted visit us at the ACM and the computer science department. I don’t see this outreach as ever ending. The department greatly appreciated our efforts, and, hopefully, we will see an increase in enrollment and an increase in campus involvement from our efforts.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock hub hosts Google Hash Code competition

John Hill — Fri, 06 Mar 2020 14:32:28 +0000

More than 20 coders from central and southeast Arkansas took part in Feb. 20 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Google Hash Code is a team programming competition, organized by Google, for students and professionals around the world. Thousands of people participated in the competition from 707 hubs across 89 countries. The event was sponsored by the and the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Emerging Analytics Center. “This was our first year hosting the Google Hash Code competition,” said Dr. Ivan Rodriguez-Conde, assistant professor of computer science and co-organizer of the event. “We are glad to have the opportunity to engage local programmers in the Online Qualification Round of this worldwide competition, thanks to the university’s support.” Google presented coders with a real-world engineering challenge that can be solved with technology. Then, teams had five hours to propose a solution using a programming language of their choice. Google designed the competition to encourage the type of teamwork and communication skills that makes its software engineers successful. Judges from Google evaluated each team’s proposed solution based on the quality of its algorithm. The top teams from the Feb. 20 Online Qualification Round will be invited by Google to compete in the April 25 Final Round at Google’s office in Dublin, Ireland. There, teams will work together to solve another challenge and compete for cash prizes. Local competitors included ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students Jennifer Arthur, John Clements, Gaige Ehrenworth, Julia Green, Brandon Norman, Carlos Ochoa, and Nicholas Stewart. High school teachers and students also participated, including Joshua Favourite and Kaleb Paddie from Lake Hamilton High School, Maddie Anders, Zackery Bailey, Jessie Beatty, Garrett Cherry, Kori Cox, Amy Dreher, Reid Dutton, John Elrod, Lindsay McGriff, and Raley Owen from Star City High School, and Logan Heinzelman, Jonathan Watson, and Logan Williams from Stuttgart High School. “The competition is an amazing opportunity for high school students to put their classroom knowledge to professional know-how,” said Sandra Leiterman, math specialist for the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock STEM Education Center. “Participation in Google’s Hash Code competition significantly authenticates classroom experiences and reinforces learning. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is pleased to support real-world opportunities that engage students in learning and help them be better prepared for life after high school.” Star City High School teammates Anders, Dreher, and McGriff, who competed as team “Pythalicious”, scored 10,495,004 points, the highest score among Arkansas competitors. The organizes monthly web and mobile software development workshops. For more information, contact Rodriguez-Conde at irconde@ualr.edu.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock students provide computer training to Arkansas Secretary of State employees

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 19:59:46 +0000

Three computer science students at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock have used their tech-savvy skills to provide computer training to employees at the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office this fall. The venture began this fall when Kerry Moody, director of communications and education for the Secretary of State’s office, contacted Dr. Albert Baker, interim chair of the Department of Computer Science and advisor to the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) student chapter at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.�� “Our Chief of Staff, Deputy Dwight Southerland, was interested in providing our staff the opportunity to participate in specialized computer training,” Moody said. “He tasked me with finding the right program, and after doing a bit of research, I realized that we needed to reach out to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. I received a call back from Professor Al Baker and knew immediately that we would be able to make something work with his team of students.”�� Three ACM members created a computer training program and provided five three-hour workshops over the course of five weeks to 20 employees at the Secretary of State’s office. The students include Denver Ellis, a sophomore from Parin, Arkansas; John Clements, a senior from Little Rock; and Gaige Ehrenworth, a sophomore from Royal, Arkansas.�� “John, Denver, and Gaige exhibited the level of professionalism expected of IT professionals at any level,” Baker said. “That these members of the student chapter of the ACM provided this excellent service to an office of Arkansas state government exemplifies the kind of cooperation with the Arkansas IT community encouraged by the Department of Computer Science at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.”�� Ehrenworth served as the main instructor during classes, while Ellis and Clements assisted students one-on-one during their class projects. Ehrenworth enjoyed the leadership experience he gained during the training.�� “This was the first time that I got to be the head of a project for the ACM, and it was the first time that I provided a service like this to people in the community,” Ehrenworth said. “There was a lot of hard work involved, but it was a very rewarding experience overall.”��

��Vlog��ý Little Rock graduate students, standing from top left, John Clements, light blue, Denver Ellis, plaid, and Gaige Ehrenworth, black shirt, teach a Microsoft Office training class to employees of the Secretary of State’s Office. The students are members of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Association of Computing Machinery club. Photo by Ben Krain.

Moody said that those who attended the workshop were excited to learn new things. Even those who weren’t expecting to learn much were surprised by the knowledge they picked up.�� “Our staff here at the Secretary of State’s office enjoyed the training and were pleasantly surprised with learning so much. Gaige, Denver, and John were great at helping everyone throughout the process. They definitely knew the programs and were able to share with our employees lots of functional information. Gaige, Denver, and John truly knew how to walk through each program and provide practical tips that everyone could use in the office.”�� Clements said ACM members are excited about opportunities that allow the club to become more in the community. The club shut down five years ago, but restarted one year ago with active members who are excited to get involved.�� “This workshop fulfilled one of our club’s purposes, which is to provide professional development activities to the community,” Clements said. “We do many other community events. I’ve taught a workshop on game development for high school teachers. Our members are also involved in game jams and hackathon competitions.” The workshops served as a pilot program for the ACM. With its initial success, the ACM hopes to offer more workshops in the future.�� “Everyone took something away from the workshops that they will use in their work,” Ellis said. “The ability to teach one-on-one is something that I am very passionate about. I love to tutor, and this provided a new outlet that was beneficial to a lot of people.”�� The Secretary of State’s office plans to be the first to sign up for new workshops.�� “We enjoyed our training, and the staff that were unable to participate this time would like to in the spring,” Moody said. “We were able to interact with three kind, outgoing, and intelligent young men, and they were able to visit with a diverse group of civil servants.�� I think it was a positive eye-opening experiment for all of us. Our office looks forward to working with them again in the future.”

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

����Vlog��ý Little Rock computer science students take up recruiting project

����Vlog��ý Little Rock hub hosts Google Hash Code competition

����Vlog��ý Little Rock students provide computer training to Arkansas Secretary of State employees

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock computer science students take up recruiting project

��Vlog��ý Little Rock hub hosts Google Hash Code competition

��Vlog��ý Little Rock students provide computer training to Arkansas Secretary of State employees