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disciplines, attract professionals of color to the ASA, and foster an inclusive culture and climate within ASA (also see From the President on page 8). The committee has met multiple times online and has continued the conversation that originated on June 10.
A number of exciting and impactful ideas have emerged from these discussions, such as organizing an acoustics summer school for students of color, funding summer research experiences for undergraduate students of color in acoustics-related disciplines, and hiring consultants to conduct training workshops to increase the cultural competency and awareness of ASA members and leaders. The CIRDI is in the early stages of planning, and our goal is to propose an assortment of initiatives to the ASA Executive Council that will serve as a blueprint for attracting and retaining more Black students and professionals in acoustics-related fields into the ASA. As chair of the CIRDI, I will share more about the committee and its efforts in future issues of
Acoustics Today. In the meantime, if you are interested in participating with the committee, feel free to contact me (tmp6@utexas.edu) or Vice Chair Peggy Nelson (nelson477@umn.edu). We look forward to working with ASA to move forward on an issue that is of vital importance for the Society and for our nation.
Reference
Riegle-Crumb, C., King, B., and Irizarry, Y. (2019). Does STEM stand out? Examining racial/ethnic gaps in persistence across postsecondary fields. Educational Researcher 48(3), 133-144. https//doi.org/10.3102/0013189X19831006.
Contact Information
Tyrone Porter tmp6@utexas.edu
Department of Biomedical Engineering The University of Texas at Austin
107 W. Dean Keeton Street
Austin, Texas 78715, USA
76 Acoustics Today • Winter 2020