Add ucf-new-to-research community assessment

communities/ucf-new-to-research/community-assessment.md

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+# Community Assessment: Undergraduate students conducting Computer Science research at UCF
+
+## Definition
+* Undergraduate students either interested in conducting or already conducting Computer Science research at the University of Central Florida.
+
+## Size
+* 140 members of Mad Scientists Research Society (MSRS) Facebook group (the only student-led organization for undergraduate research at UCF); since the group is not specific to Computer Science, the actual number is likely much smaller.
+* No information on number of students overall that are involved/interested in CS research.
+* Would like to have between 200-300 people in the community given the size of the school, or, as many as possible.
+
+## Resources
+* MSRS has limited funding. The group runs a mentorship program for junior/seniors to assist freshman and sophomores. The club does hold meetings, but infrequently. The club also runs a day of student research talks each semester. More experienced students in the organization are resources for less experienced students.
+* Our ACM chapter has a SigAI group that holds workshops on AI-specific topics applicable to research, but no workshops on how to secure funding, network with professors, etc.
+* Aside from the club, UCF has a multitude of funding opportunities and programs available to undergraduate students. UCF also holds several workshops every semester on how to get involved in undergraduate research.
+* UCF Honors College holds many small workshops specific to publishing and networking.
+* Research talks are frequently given by faculty, visiting faculty, and graduate students.
+
+## Accessibility
+* MSRS has supportive officers willing to help any members, but the club as a whole has low visibility in the UCF community compared to other clubs. Since the club does not have any officers dedicated specifically to handling a website or advertising for the club, promoting the club is a lower priority than planning meetings or workshops. As a result, there is limited advertising.
+* While the officers are helpful, executive board meetings are not accessible to the rest of the club and there is no clear path to officership. Since there is no external website for the club, there is no location (other than Facebook) to keep a catalog of meeting minutes. I think the closed executive board meetings stem from the club's perspective on officership- since meetings are infrequent and thus opportunities for member involvement are scarce, officer meetings are less about coming together with the entire club to plan and more about how to provide the best content at the next workshop or meeting. I think a more transparent approach, one that invites members, would be better. Since there are so few meetings in a semester, there are few opportunities for new members to really get involved. As a result, there is no clear way for members to elevate themselves through their contributions and use this in a platform to run for an officer role.
+* There are only a few club meetings a semester, which makes club involvement difficult if a member is working or cannot attend one of the meetings. No resources exist in the club that cater to older or less traditional students; i.e., no childcare is available and discussions tend to be focused on the traditional 4-year degree.
+* Information for UCF's undergraduate research opportunities are all online, and this information is very comprehensive.
+* UCF's Honors College is restricted only to Honors students.
+
+## Interests
+* The community I defined is specific to students who conduct research in the Computer Science field, but does not need to limited to only students majoring in Computer Science. I want the group to be open to all majors adjacent to Computer Science (Mathematics, Industrial Engineering, Linguistics, etc.) and anyone interested in interdisciplinary research.
+* Community is open to other topics (interdisciplinary research).
+
+## Goals
+* Students join research communities to gain skills and experience to prepare them to start research or pursue graduate education. Plenty of students also join who are interested in their chosen research fields, but are not yet sure if they want to pursue graduate school or a job after graduation.
+* Since Computer Science research frequently involves development, skills gained also help students find internships and jobs.
+
+## Location
+* All MSRS meetings are held on campus, typically in the evenings after classes.
+* All of UCF's official workshops are held on-campus, typically in the middle of the day at times that could conflict with student schedules.
+* Public transportation in Orlando is limited, but bus transportation to UCF is more accessible than transportation to most other locations in Orlando.
+* Space is usually ample and food is usually provided.
+* Meetings are rarely recorded and meeting minutes are rarely posted for any of the aforementioned groups.
+
+## Communication
+* MSRS communicates through the Facebook group and also has a website. They could benefit from advertising the group through other clubs or through email lists. The website is also not currently up-to-date, and should be.
+* The ACM SigAI chapter has a Facebook group, gives updates at ACM meetings, and also keeps a GitHub repo of resources.
+* UCF's official undergraduate research office communicates to students via email. Clubs evangelizing for the official office would help more students make it to workshops.
+
+## Culture
+* The communities are all very welcoming to new members. Generally, this is communicated in promotional materials by adding the text "New students/members welcome!" or something similar. There's a general emphasis on welcoming students new to research, but more could be done to ensure it is clearly communicated that all all experience levels and academic backgrounds are welcomed. 
+* For the student communities, documented policies and procedures are not available to general members.