Every year the USENIX Endowment funds and revenue from our conferences are used to give back to and
help
nurture the development of the advanced computing systems
community
interpreted in the largest sense.
USENIX greatly values students and the research in the advanced computing systems arena that is
generated in colleges and universities. We strongly encourage students in the field to become
members, and to contribute to and attend our conferences. See our Student Programs Overview for
details.
Some of USENIX's recent projects are listed below. Please see our archive for information on older projects.
John Lions Endowed Chair Campaign
The USENIX Board voted to match up to $250,000 in 2006 donations to establish the John Lions Chair in Operating
Systems at the University of New South Wales.
USENIX received $39,224 from outside donors in 2006. Linux Australia made the largest donation,
$18,022. USENIX matched dollar for dollar all donations, so the grand total donated to UNSW for this
campaign will be $80,000.
OpenAFS Project
In 2003, USENIX awarded a generous $35,000 matching fund donation to the OpenAFS project, an
ongoing collaborative effort chartered with enhancing AFS, a widely used
distributed file system. The USENIX donation, matched evenly by Intel and Morgan Stanley, was
distributed to members of the OpenAFS Advisory Council, which is responsible for the overall
direction of the OpenAFS project. The OpenAFS Advisory Council is comprised of representatives from
Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, the University of Michigan, Intel Corporation, Morgan Stanley, and
IBM Corporation. Pioneered at Carnegie Mellon University and supported and developed as a product by
IBM Corporation, AFS offers mid-sized businesses, large enterprises, and universities a scalable,
high-performance, reliable, and secure file-sharing system.
Increasing Representation in Computing
USENIX continues to reaffirm its commitment to increasing the representation of women and
under-represented groups in the computing professions. In our efforts to support more diverse
participation, USENIX is assisting two programs sponsored by
the Computing Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W). The first project is the Distributed Mentor Project, in
which outstanding female undergraduates work with female faculty mentors for a summer of research at
the mentor's institution. The second project is called the Collaborative Research
Experience for Undergraduates in
Computer Science and Engineering (CREU), whereby students work in collaborative teams with a faculty mentor at
their home institution during the academic year.
USENIX Student Programs
Graduate and undergraduate college education is always of the highest
priority to the Association. USENIX and its members value students and
the research in the computing systems arena that is generated in
colleges and universities. Recognizing the importance of this
work, USENIX funds a number of programs for college students.
- Student Membership
USENIX believes the participation of the "younger generation" in the community represents the future
direction of computer technology. Student membership dues are kept low for students studying
electrical engineering and computer science at accredited colleges on a full-time basis.
Student membership information
- Conference Participation for Students
USENIX strongly supports graduate and undergraduate student participation in our conferences. We
offer students very low registration fees for USENIX technical sessions and tutorials. Also, the student grant program provides grants for travel, accommodation,
and fees to attend our conferences. Student contributions to conference programs are encouraged
with best student paper awards and cash prizes.
- University Outreach
Another way USENIX reaches out to students is through its University Outreach program. In exchange for
an annual free conference registration and a complimentary educational
membership, computer science department faculty and staff on various
campuses distribute Association materials to students, maintain a
library of USENIX conference proceedings, answer questions, and spread
the word about USENIX's activities.
- Recent Supported Student Projects
Pre-college Programs
The USA Computing Olympiad is just one of many community and student development
programs USENIX supports, and this is not the first time USENIX has enjoyed the pride of a job well
done. To see the latest team, go to the
USACO Web site. The USA Computing Olympiad is one of
several pre-college and college computer education interests of USENIX.
Support for Other Organizations
USENIX has been a member of Computing Research Association for
several years. The CRA mission is to represent and inform the computing research community, and to
support and promote its interests. CRA seeks to strengthen research and education in the computing
fields, and improve public policy-makers' understanding of the importance of computing and computing
research in our society.
USENIX maintains membership in The Open
Group, which works to achieve better standards in the computing industry. The Open Group is an
international vendor and technology-neutral consortium that is committed to delivering greater
business efficiency by bringing together buyers and suppliers of information technology to lower the
time, cost and risk associated with integrating new technology across the enterprise.