Building community to create a more inclusive tech future!
Sept. 13, 2025 | Dallas, TX
STARS Student Advisory Board — now accepting applications and nominations!
STARS is putting together a Student Advisory Board! This board will serve as a key mechanism to ensure that STARS fulfills its mission as a student-centered organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of computing leaders. STARS Student Advisors will authentically represent their individual and collective interests as students – the core of our organization. We are accepting applications and nominations for the inaugural Student Advisory Board during the month of September 2025. We will share more details during Celebration. Click Here for more information and to apply!
| STARS Celebration Agenda | ||
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, September 11th | ||
| Time | Type | Session Title and Description |
| 8:00am – 9:00am CDT | Breakfast | STARS Breakfast |
| Friday, September 12th | ||
| Time | Type | Session Title and Description |
| 8:00am – 9:00am CDT | Breakfast | STARS Breakfast |
| 8:00am – 9:00am CDT | Workshop | STARS Student Leadership Networking Building on our connections from yesterday, student leaders will brainstorm their needs and wants for the upcoming academic year. What do they want their chapter to accomplish? How can they best use Tapia and tomorrow’s STARS Celebration to build towards these goals? |
| 6:00pm – 8:00pm CDT | Social | Alumni Mixer (invitation only) This alumni-focused mixer brings together alumni of STARS for networking, (re)connection, sharing experiences, and conversation over a meal. The event will include lightning talks and focus groups to understand how STARS can improve national outreach and support of our alumni community. |
| Saturday, September 13th | ||
| Time | Type | Session Title and Description |
| 7:30am – 8:30am CDT | Breakfast; Badge & Reflection Card pick up | |
| 8:30am – 9:00am CDT | Main Session | Welcome & Overview |
| 9:00am – 10:15am CDT | Concurrent Workshop | “STAR-gazing”: Finding Ourselves in STARS STARS recognizes that program adaptation is elemental to the central mission of increasing the persistence and retention of computing students and creating an environment that all can thrive. In this session, STARS leadership will guide participants through identity and future-building exercises, providing a space for the co-production of STARS programming. |
| 9:00am – 10:15am CDT | Concurrent Workshop | Institutionalizing STARS: Sustaining Engagement through Activities, Local Partnerships, and Fundraising Each STARS Chapter adapts to the needs of its students and larger community via partnerships with campus activities, non-profit organizations, and local industry. In this interactive session, representatives from different chapters will provide insight into how their programs work, pitfalls to avoid, and tips for success. |
| 9:00am – 10:15am CDT | Concurrent Workshop | Measuring STARS Impact Measuring the effectiveness of programming is not as straightforward as checking your code for errors, after all one must account for the context of each participating individual. This session is designed for STARS Chapter Research Assistants (RAs) and will actively engage participants in the fundamentals of research and evaluation and the design of a local plan for investigating chapter outcomes. |
| 9:00am – 10:15am CDT | Concurrent Workshop | Brighter Together: STARS Stories that Connect Us The best evidence of STARS success are our alumni and students. Join us to hear current students and alumni discuss their life experience and the role of STARS in this journey. Facilitated roundtable discussions will provide opportunities for sharing experiences and connecting across institutions and states. |
| 10:15am – 10:30am CDT | Passing Period | |
| 10:30am – 11:45am CDT | Concurrent Workshop | Pitching STARS Communication is vital to building community, but how effectively do we communicate about STARS? In this session we will learn strategies and practice communicating about STARS to varying audiences, including potential partners, colleagues, funders, and employers. |
| Concurrent Workshop | Institutionalizing STARS: Sustaining Engagement through Activities, Local Partnerships, and Fundraising Each STARS Chapter adapts to the needs of its students and larger community via partnerships with campus activities, non-profit organizations, and local industry. In this interactive session, representatives from different chapters will provide insight into how their programs work, pitfalls to avoid, and tips for success. |
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| Concurrent Workshop | *New* STARS Membership Portal STARS is launching a new online community space for STARS students, chapter advocates, and alumni. Currently under development, the goal is for this portal to share information and strengthen connections within chapters, across chapters, and between past and present STARS. Join us to provide your feedback and ideas for improvement. |
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| 11:45am – 12:45pm CDT | Lunch | Home Team Planning |
| 12:45pm – 1:00pm | Passing Period | |
| 1:00pm – 2:00pm CDT | Poster Session | We are STARS | Poster Session |
| 2:00pm – 3:15pm CDT | Concurrent Workshop | “STAR-gazing”: Finding Ourselves in STARS STARS recognizes that program adaptation is elemental to the central mission of increasing the persistence and retention of computing students and creating an environment that all can thrive. In this session, STARS leadership will guide participants through identity and future-building exercises, providing a space for the co-production of STARS programming. |
| Concurrent Workshop | Decoding LinkedIn: Networking and Personal Branding LinkedIn is the largest online professional networking platform, with more than a billion members worldwide. While making a profile seems fairly straightforward, how can you use LinkedIn to share your personal brand, grow your network, and find resources and opportunities? This session will explore best practices for creating your professional online presence. |
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| Concurrent Workshop | Strength in Numbers: Recruiting for Resilience in Computing Discover practical strategies to attract new members and build a thriving STARS chapter on your campus in today’s rapidly evolving tech environment. This interactive session will equip you with creative recruitment tactics, retention best practices, and tools to expand your chapter’s reach, impact, and ability to weather industry disruptions. |
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| Concurrent Workshop | What’s Next? Launching your Computing Career Computer science is a rapidly changing field, i.e. jobs available 10 years ago, even 5 years ago, are now antiquated. As you weigh the pros and cons of various computing careers, learn from recent STARS alumni about their own challenges and success and how they found the career path right for them. |
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| 3:15pm – 3:30pm CDT | Passing Period | |
| 3:30pm – 4:45pm CDT | Concurrent Workshop | Making the Most of your Network In this workshop participants will be introduced to a multiple mentor model and the benefits of having more than one mentor. We all need support to (1) get our work done, (2) support our career development, and (3) safeguard our well-being. Participants will learn how to strategically expand their network and how to use their current network more effectively. |
| Concurrent Workshop | Thriving in Academic Systems In this session, facilitators will share strategies for navigating academic systems. Strategies will include Mentoring and Affinity Groups. |
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| Concurrent Workshop | STARS in a Box + Feedback (invitation only) STARS Leadership is developing a kit that supports a bi-directional, responsive model for starting and running a STARS chapter. “STARS in a Box” will provide timelines, checklists, self-assessments, and answers to frequently asked questions to assist this process. This session will solicit your feedback and suggestions to inform revision and refinement of these materials. |
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| 4:45pm – 5:00pm CDT | Passing Period | |
| 5:00pm – 5:30pm CDT | Main Session | Awards & Closing |
| 6:30pm – ??? CDT | Social | STARS After Party |