August People Network & RCD Community Calls

Greetings to all members of the Campus Research Computing Consortium (CaRCC) People Network! Mark your calendars for these upcoming People Network Calls (Zoom details included in associated emails). For handy calendar entries, please try the CaRCC Events Calendar.

We’d also like to highlight other calls from our RCD Ecosystem partners and collaborators, as these events touch many, if not all, in our community.

Finally, we have brief information about CaRCC and the People Network. If you’re not on our mailing lists, please fill out our Join the People Network form; or join our Slack channels.

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Join the EPSCoR CI Working Group exploring CI/RCD access for emerging and under-funded institutions!

Greetings, CaRCC members, from all of us in the newly formed EPSCoR CI Working Group (WG)!  Our work centers around recognition that increased access to cyberinfrastructure (CI) and associated best practices is the next challenge for emerging and under-resourced institutions.

The National Science Foundation recently funded an effort (award #2033483) designed to boost awareness, communication, and partnerships using CaRCC-driven assessment and planning tools. Led by the University of Hawai’i, in collaboration with institutional partners from Alaska, Mississippi, Montana, and Nevada, the project advocates for broad use of the Research Computing and Data Capabilities Model (RCD CM) assessment tool across the nation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) jurisdictions and other emerging or under-resourced institutions (interested? Contact us). 

Assessment data will be used by participating institutions in training efforts centered on CI strategic planning and partnership development.  Assessment and training activities will culminate in a workshop to be held in conjunction with the NSF EPSCoR National Conference in Portland, Maine, May 22–25, 2022.  An open access report, publication and related outreach activities will be made available to share findings and planning and partnership initiatives and opportunities. Check back on the working group site to keep up with our work. 

CaRCC Activities at PEARC21

Greetings to members of the Campus Research Computing (CaRCC) Communities!

The PEARC21 Virtual Conference (July 19-22) is almost here. Be sure to attend the many great workshops, tutorials, presentations, and panels from persons in the community. And here are some of the CaRCC-related activities you won’t want to miss:

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July People Network/RCD Community Calls and RCD Survey

Greetings, members of the Campus Research Computing Consortium (CaRCC) People Network and beyond! 

Before you mark your calendars, I want to make sure you saw the opportunity to participate in a study of the Research Computing and Data Workforce.  Please also share this with others on your teams and relevant communities: 

Mark your calendars for these upcoming People Network Calls. For handy calendar entries, please try the CaRCC Events Calendar.

We’d also like to highlight other calls from our RCD Ecosystem partners and collaborators, as these events touch many, if not all, in our community.

Finally, we have brief information about CaRCC and the People Network. If you’re not on our mailing lists, please fill out our Join the People Network form

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New NSF award for Research Computing and Data Resource and Career Center

We’re delighted to announce NSF funding for a pilot CoE to build upon the work of several CaRCC working groups and advance support for RCD Professionals.

The new Research Computing and Data Resource and Career Center will create tools, practices, and professional development resources to support individuals and institutions. The main areas of emphasis include:

The RCD Resource and Career Center portal will gather these and related tools and resources together to support the community. We will place strong emphasis on helping to bridge the gap for smaller institutions that are struggling to get RCD programs started to support their researchers.

We are also excited to continue the work together with the various organizations that currently support RCD professionals and coordinate our respective work to provide a clear voice advocating for the profession. 

 Read the full announcement on the Internet2 website.

Announcing the V1.1 Release of the RCD Capabilities Model

Internet2, CaRCC, and EDUCAUSE are pleased to announce that there is a new version of the Research Computing and Data Capabilities Model (RCD CM) just in time for you to complete your Institutional assessment and contribute to the 2021 RCD CM Community Dataset!

The Research Computing and Data Capabilities Model allows institutions to assess their support for computationally- and data-intensive research, to identify potential areas for improvement, and to understand how the broader community views Research Computing and Data support.

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2021 RCD Capabilities Model Office Hours

Have questions about how to get started with the Research Computing and Data Capabilities Model? Or are you already working with it and just want to discuss the process, or a particular aspect of the assessment tool? Join working group members and your colleagues in the community at one of our upcoming Office Hours to get help, ask your questions, and share your experiences!

Office Hours for 2021 are scheduled for the:

2nd Wednesdays of each month for 1 hour at 11am ET (new)

4th Tuesday of each month for 1 hour, at 2 pm ET.

Update: We’ve added an extra session on September 14th to help with questions leading up to the 2021 Community Dataset submission deadline (at the end of September).

Those dates are:

  • April 27
  • May 25
  • June 22
  • July 14 and 27
  • August 11 and 24
  • September 8 and 28 plus extra hour on September 14, 2pm ET
  • October 13 and 26
  • November 10 and 23

For details on how to join, email the RCD CM working group at capsmodel-help@carcc.org, or subscribe to the capsmodel-discuss@carcc.org discussion list.

2020 RCD CM Community Dataset report available

Scatter Plot showing the capabilities coverage for all 41 institutions

The report describes the first Research Computing and Data Capabilities Model Community Dataset, aggregating the assessments of 41 Higher Education Institutions. These assessments were completed using the 1.0 version of the Research Computing and Data Capabilities Model (RCD CM), over a period of several months in the Spring and Summer of 2020. This Community Dataset provides insight into the current state of support for RCD across the community and in a number of key sub-communities. Download it now! (zenodo.org/record/4344057).

Update August 2021: See also our PEARC21 paper (which won the Best Full Paper award for the Workforce Development, Training, Diversity, & Education track): Assessing the Landscape of Research Computing and Data Support: The 2020 RCD Capabilities Model Community Dataset (also available here if you don’t have ACM access).

The Research Computing and Data Capabilities Model allows institutions to assess their support for computationally- and data-intensive research, to identify potential areas for improvement, and to understand how the broader community views Research Computing and Data support. The Model was developed by a diverse group of institutions with a range of support models, in a collaboration among Internet2, CaRCC, and EDUCAUSE. This Assessment Tool is designed for use by a range of roles at each institution, from front-line support through campus leadership, and is intended to be inclusive across small and large, and public and private institutions. 

We encourage you to check out the Capabilities Model, and begin to use it at your institution. Start with the Capabilities Model Introduction and Guide to Use, which includes background as well as tips for using the model, and a link to the access request form that will create a personalized copy of the Assessment Tool for your institution.  You can also watch the recording of the EDUCAUSE webinar. Keep an eye on the RCD CM working group page for more information and updates.

Capabilities Model Data Submission Deadline Extended to Sept 27, 2020!

Thanks to all the attendees and participants in the Capabilities Model activities at PEARC this year!

Following the CaRCC Town Hall, the Caps Model paper presentation, and the full-day Capabilities Model workshop, we had an overwhelming number of new downloads for the tool. Because of this and the feedback from those institutions already working through the Model, we are extending the data submission deadline to September 27, 2020. We hope the extra time will allow everyone to complete the Model and meet the 2020 community data submission deadline.

To learn more about the Capabilities Model: RCD CM webpage
Start here document: Capabilities Model Introduction and Guide to Use
To request your institution’s copy of the Model: Access Request Form

Upcoming Office Hours:
Tuesday, Aug 25th 11am-1pm ET / 10am-12pm CT / 9-11am MT / 8-10am PT
Thursday, Sept 17th 2-4pm ET / 1-3pm CT / 12-2pm MT / 11am-1pm PT
Tuesday, Sept 22nd 11am-1pm ET / 10am-12pm CT / 9-11am MT / 8-10am PT

For help: capsmodel-help@carcc.org

Original blog post: Announcing the RCD CM 2020 Community Data participation window

Announcing the RCD CM 2020 Community Data participation window

Version 1.0 of the Research Computing and Data Capabilities Model (RCDCM) was released in Spring of 2020. We will aggregate contributed assessment data from the community, and make this available in the Fall. If you complete an institutional assessment and contribute your results to the 2020 Community Data collection by August 30 (deadline extended to September 27) you will get access to the detailed version of the data, allowing you to benchmark your institution’s program relative to peer institutions.

We know there is broad interest in having a community dataset. 88% of the institutions who have requested to use the Assessment tool listed “Benchmarking of current service offerings” as an intended use of the model. Users of the model are fairly diverse: as of early summer, there are over 70 institutions representing 32 states, both public and private, and a mix of R1s, R2s, and institutions with emerging research programs. As more institutions participate, the more useful the Community Cata collection becomes!

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