Women in Computer Science (WiCS) Committee - 2007
WiCS is a School committee with faculty, staff, and student representation plus allies from outside of the School. The Women in Computer Science committee (WICS) was established in 2007, as one of the recommendations of the Task Force on Gender Equality at UW-CS, “(report is available upon request).”
The committee’s work includes organizing activities to foster a sense of community among women in computer science at Waterloo and beyond and providing relevant information for prospective and current undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and alumni.
Past Chairs of the WiCS Committee include Anna Lubiw, Nancy Day, Therese Biedl, Naomi Nishimura, Kate Larson, Jo Atlee, Maura Grossman, Lori Case, and Alice Gao.
WiCS Undergraduate Committee – 2014
The WiCS Undergraduate Subcommittee was founded by Elana Hashman (class of 2015). Elana set up the committee’s administrative structure and its goals, initial programming, Code of Conduct, MOU with MathSoc, and policies and procedures – all of which help to provide continuity of the committee term after term.
Nowadays, the WiCS Undergraduate Committee is a student-run initiative that supports the success of women in computer science at Waterloo by:
- Hosting speakers and lecturers in industry and academia
- Running a mentorship program and providing networking opportunities
- Organizing social events and fostering community
- Educating on women's issues and issues of diversity in computer science and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at large
- Providing supportive, women+ spaces
Past Directors of the WiCS Undergraduate Subcommittee include Elana Hashman, Fatema Boxwala, Andee Liao, Arshia Mufti, Jenny Sun, Bhargavi Dameracharla, Saadiya Desai, Monica Xu, Helen Yang, Erin Edward, Alicia Yang, Ray Li, Bonnie Xu, Falah Shazib, Angelina Jin, Caroline Chen, Iris Chen, Celine Lee, Jacqueline Li, Audrey Ho, Sakina Mithani, and Sophia Li.
Director of WiCS - 2015
In 2015, the chair of WICS was elevated to the level of school executive, meaning that they sit on the school’s executive committee and participate in school-level decisions and have the ear of the School’s Director.
This position provides leadership and direction for efforts to increase gender diversity in the School. This role includes outreach educational events, technical workshops, women-friendly learning environments and labs, community-building, and networking and mentoring activities for CS students who identify as women or other underrepresented genders. This role also includes providing guidance on avoiding conscious and unconscious bias against women in School policies, procedures, and activities.
Past Directors of WiCS include Jo Atlee and Maura Grossman.