WIC conducts many types of events throughout the year: professional development meetings, volunteer opportunities, industry outreach, and social events. Make sure you have signed up for the mailing list to stay up to date on WIC's activities.

During Spring 2012, WIC meetings are on Tuesday at 5:15 pm in 3105 EB.

Professional Development

Women in Computing regularly invites both faculty and industry speakers to give talks that help members build their resumes, prepare for interviews, and become aware of opportunities in both the academic and business communities. Our goal is to help our members interact positively with professional computing communities by providing resources that help them build and maintain professional relationships. Additionally, the exposure to faculty and industry speakers helps our members become aware of current trends and new developments in computer science.

Volunteer Opportunities

Jessica Parks helping a girl scout
troubleshoot her website.

Because of our commitment to recruiting, supporting and retaining women in computing fields, the majority of our volunteer opportunities involve promoting women in computing. One of our favorite events is our bi-annual Girl Scout workshop. We invite local troops to come to Michigan State and introduce them to programming via mini-workshops that focus on teaching basic programming skills in a fun and supportive environment. The goal is to provide these young women with a glimpse into computer science and increase their awareness of career paths that involve computing.

Social Events

Group picture at our end of
the year lunch.

Fun is the name of the game! A big part of retaining women in the field of computing is encouraging them to build a supportive network of friends and mentors within the computing community. We believe that our social events play a big role in beginning to create that network during a student's time at Michigan State. Whether it be at a 'panda meeting' (one of our regular group dinners) or on one of our social fieldtrips, we love to laugh, talk and just generally have a good time.

Fieldtrips

Field trip to Google's Chicago office.

We build our networks not only on-campus, but off-campus as well, with our trips to visit companies and conferences throughout the year. One of the most important conferences for MSU Women in Computing is the Grace Hopper Celebration, which was founded by Dr. Anita Borg and Dr. Telle Whitney in 1994 in memory of Admiral Grace Hopper, a formidable woman who led the way for women in computing fields. Every year we strongly encourage all of our members to attend this conference. In addition to the Grace Hopper Celebration, we also participate in regional conferences like MicWIC and MidWIC which promote women in computing in Michigan and the Midwest.