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BMCC Student Defies U.S. Industry Trends and Excels in Computer Science

May 1, 2012

BMCC Student Dana Smith Defies National Trend in CIS

Computer Network Technology major Dana Smith was one of eight CUNY students selected to present her research findings—involving database implementation for an Android phone app development project—at a recent conference at the University of Puerto Rico.

Smith, whose research was part of her BMCC Honors Project guided by BMCC Professor Jose Vargas, was also accepted into C-STEP (Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program), and completed a research project aimed at enabling electronic exchange of patient medical records with support from LSAMP (Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program), and BMCC Professor Ching-Song D. Wei.

Ample mentoring has likely been a factor in Smith's success at BMCC, and reflects the college's commitment to support students both financially and academically. As a result, BMCC ranks of 9th in the nation in awarding associate degrees to minority students, according to Community College Week and their reports based on U.S. Department of Labor data.

Dana Smith's success at BMCC also defies the reality that women make up less than 10% of computer science college majors today—a percentage that has decreased, rather than increased with time—according to the Computer Research Association's most recent report.

In addition to mentoring, BMCC offers financial aide in one form or another to the majority of its students, including Smith, who was also just announced as one of seven recipients of BMCC's "Out in Two" scholarship, which will provide her with tuition assistance and the academic support and advisement it will take to graduate in two consecutive years.

"I've always loved computers, but I never knew which area I ultimately wanted to study," Smith said. After earning her associate degree in June 2012, she looks forward to pursuing bachelor's, masters and doctoral degrees in computer science. Thanks to the support she found at BMCC, she says, "I was able to experience that field first hand."

Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) of the City University of New York (CUNY) enrolls over 24,000 degree-seeking and 10,000 Continuing Ed. students a year, awarding Associate Degrees in 31 fields.

Source: PRNewswire: Click Here for more information