On February 24, 2026, the CaRCC community gathered virtually for its 2026 Annual Community Update — 90 minutes of track and group updates, an update from our Transitional Board, and simply catching up with each other. In case you missed it, never fear! We’ve provided a summary below, and you can also watch the recording.
If you’ve been around CaRCC for a while, you might know this event as the CaRCC Parade — and yes, we changed the name. The new name reflects a purposeful shift: as CaRCC moves toward 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, this annual gathering will serve as our required annual assembly of the membership, satisfying a key governance requirement for nonprofit organizations. The spirit hasn’t changed a bit, though. It’s still a chance to come together, celebrate what we’ve accomplished, and get excited about what’s ahead.
And as always: none of this happens without you – the people who show up, volunteer their time, lead sessions, and keep the community moving. A huge thank you to everyone who presented, participated, and asked great questions. You’re what makes CaRCC, CaRCC!
The Numbers Behind Our Growing Community
CaRCC continues to grow. The community now includes more than 2,200 subscribers representing 480+ institutions, supported by hundreds of active volunteers — all of it built over nine-plus years of sustained growth. These numbers reflect not just scale, but depth of engagement across a wide range of institution types and RCD roles.
Transitional Board Election Results
The event opened with the announcement of Transitional Board election results. All three incumbent board members were re-elected by CaRCC Chairs to new three-year terms beginning March 1:
- Bob Freeman, Harvard University
- Jason Simms, Swarthmore College
- James Wilgenbusch, University of Minnesota
Congratulations and gratitude to all three for their continued service!
People Network Track Updates
Bob Freeman led an overview of CaRCC’s People Network — the ongoing remote conference structure organized around five “Facings” that reflect the varied roles RCD professionals play in their daily work.
Across the People Network as a whole, 2025 highlights included operational streamlining, improved engagement and inclusion (including a successful May Accessibility Month and cross-track coordination), and intentional succession planning to prevent volunteer fatigue, and encourage fresh perspectives and voices. Looking ahead to 2026, the focus shifts to welcoming new faces, increasing coordination across groups, and continuing the work of organizational maturity — including a CaRCC Handbook for leaders and new volunteers.
Individual track highlights included:
- Data-Facing Track (Deb McCaffrey, Amy Koshoffer): Notable work in 2025 included engagement with the Data Rescue Project and insights from the Realities of Academic Data Sharing (RADS) initiative, as well as Princeton’s Tiger Data project. For 2026, the track is actively seeking new coordinators and plans to expand community input on topics, including data visualization and accessibility.
- Strategy & Policy-Facing Track (Amit Amritkar, Chuck Pavloski): Eleven calls with consistent attendance covered topics ranging from infrastructure planning and the changing RCD landscape to state-wide partnerships and strategic positioning around AI and quantum. In 2026, the track will focus on leveraging emerging resources such as NAIRR and DOE Genesis, and developing strategies for a challenging funding environment.
- Researcher-Facing Track (Justin Booth): AI was the thread running through 2025 — topics included AlphaFold, AI facilitation, AI training and education, and managing AI environments. Member feedback also surfaced real concerns about research funding reductions and communicating the value of RCD work. In 2026, the track is growing its steering committee and planning more panel discussions and calls on emerging technologies.
- Emerging Centers Track (Patrick Clemins, Jason Simms): Highlights included a well-received August session on science policy with former OSTP advisor Kei Koizumi and a February 2026 Unconference focused on peer group formation and “getting started with…” topics. Plans for 2026 include another unconference, more origin story sharing, and deeper engagement with Research Computing at Smaller Institutions and all types of minority-serving institutions.
- Systems-Facing Track (Matthew Smith, Nick Eggleston): Three new steering committee members joined in 2025, and calls spanned server provisioning, an RCD career kickstart session, and a first foray into AI topics. In 2026, the track plans deeper dives into hardware architecture — liquid cooling, FP64 in GPUs, coprocessor alternatives, and non-x86 architectures — along with new audience engagement approaches and a member survey.
Working Groups, Interest Groups, and Operations Groups
Daphne McCanse facilitated a broad sweep of updates from CaRCC’s growing ecosystem of groups. Highlights from each:
Quantum Computing Interest Group (new — Jim Lookabaugh, Santiago Núñez-Corrales)
CaRCC’s newest group marked its inaugural year in 2026, with an inaugural plenary meeting on the horizon. The central question driving the group: how do we as a community anticipate and prepare for the growing role of quantum computing across research?
EPSCoR Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Interest Group (Venice Bayrd, Sean Cleveland, Scotty Strachan)
The group presented at NSF EPSCoR Live! in May 2025 and held quarterly meetings throughout the year. Key themes: the widening technology capability gap between industry and higher education, especially acute in EPSCoR jurisdictions, and the importance of regional cooperation and team science to address it. Plans for 2026 include the NSF EPSCoR Annual Summit and a PEARC26 Birds of a Feather session.
AI Facilitation Interest Group (Daniel Howard, Forough Ghahramani, Semir Sarajlic)
Monthly calls in 2025 featured invited external speakers on topics including the NAIRR Pilot, AI ethics, AI-based scientific assistants, and AI for numerical weather prediction. A community survey shaped the 2026 agenda, with upcoming sessions featuring speakers from Georgia Tech and the University of Oklahoma. The group welcomes topic suggestions and volunteer presenters at ai-facilitation-ig@carcc.org.
HIPAA Challenges Interest Group (Deb McCaffrey)
In January 2025, the group submitted a formal response to a proposed HIPAA rule change. Looking ahead, the group is exploring workshops, grant opportunities, or research collaborations to investigate why sharing clinical data for research remains uncommon — and how to change that.
Research Cybersecurity Interest Group (Jeffrey Weekley, Will Drake, Cyd Burrows-Schilling)
Formally launched under the CaRCC framework in 2025, the group held discussions on NSPM-33, research server management and security, and the intersection of facilitation and cybersecurity. Plans for 2026 include a PEARC26 co-located meeting and sessions on AI in cybersecurity and securing HPC environments.
Workforce Development Interest Group (Betsy Hillery, Michael Weiner)
A major 2025 achievement was a PEARC25 paper cataloging RCD professional development resources, followed by the merger of staff-focused and student-focused arms into a unified group with a new steering committee. In 2026, the group is building on Nexus Day 2025, recruiting volunteers for student microcredential work, and focusing on onboarding, mentoring, and professional development resources.
RCD Professionalization Working Group (Ashley Stauffer, Kimberly Grasch)
The group launched a major RCD workforce survey from July through October 2025, receiving approximately 1,100 responses focused on the complexity of RCD roles and challenges in facilitation, and distributing ~$2,750 in gift card incentives. A PEARC26 short paper is in progress, and 2026 plans include expanded data analysis and a visualization tool to allow the community to explore the findings.
CaRCC Capabilities Model Working Group (Patrick Schmitz, Lauren Michael)
After releasing a new version in Spring 2025 and running an RCD Nexus Day workshop to gather input, the group is now finalizing updated model questions for focus group review and implementation. A new Nexus Day workshop in 2026 will introduce the updated questions and train new campuses. Try the current version on the Capabilities Model Portal.
CaRCC Engagement Operations Group (Chris Reidy, Julie Ma)
Highlights from 2025 included newcomer welcome activities, an expanded newsletter, and support for PEARC and SC25. A standout initiative: the Beyond R1 Project, born from recognition that many CaRCC activities skew toward larger institutions. The project is actively bringing together people interested in expanding CaRCC’s reach to smaller institutions — if you’re interested in joining, activity planning is well underway.
RCD Mentoring Working Group (Betsy Hillery, Alper Kinaci)
The group launched monthly meetings in 2025 and developed a proposal for a community-wide RCD mentoring program, engaging Educause, Educause RCD, and CCMNet as potential collaborators. In 2026, the focus is on forming an advisory committee, launching a program website, and establishing a pilot.
Anaconda Transition Working Group (Geoffrey Lentner, Manasvita Joshi)
After two years of careful work — including direct meetings with Anaconda’s leadership, and working through edge cases on GitHub — the group is nearing the finish line. Plans for 2026 include a single white paper with technical appendix, FAQs, a community feedback period, a final presentation, and a second blog post before the group sunsets its work.
AI Facilitation Materials Working Group (Tim Middelkoop, Lauren Michael)
The group published a PEARC25 paper on “AI Project Facilitation Guidance for Research Computing and Data (RCD) Professionals” — an accessible resource for RCD professionals seeking to understand the AI project lifecycle. A follow-on PEARC26 paper, “The AI Project Lifecycle: Implementation Strategies and Tools,” has been submitted. The group also produced a Collaborative Catalog for Research Computing and Data Professional Development.
CaRCC Logistics Operations Group (Lauren Michael, Timothy Middelkoop, Dana Brunson)
The behind-the-scenes engine that keeps CaRCC running: membership management, website operations, event logistics, the CaRCC newsletter, calendar management, and more. In 2026, priorities include a website migration to a new host and automating working and interest group management.
Transitional Board Update
Dana Brunson, Transitional Board Chair, closed out the main program with a comprehensive update on CaRCC’s path to 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.
Why incorporate? As CaRCC has grown, so has the operational complexity that volunteers alone can no longer sustainably manage. Software and infrastructure costs have grown, and despite its size and influence, CaRCC currently has no legal status. Nonprofit incorporation will allow CaRCC to establish itself as a legal entity, enter formal partnerships, apply directly for grants, and manage resources transparently.
Year 1 progress was substantial. The board selected officers (Dana Brunson, Chair; Lauren Michael, Vice-Chair; Daphne McCanse, Secretary), formed subcommittees for bylaws, membership model, and budget development, and made a series of key decisions ratified by CaRCC Chairs:
- State of incorporation: Oklahoma was selected for its straightforward nonprofit filing process, low cost, and the fact that Brunson resides there and can serve as registered agent. The official filing name — “Campus Research Computing Consortium” — was also ratified by Chairs.
- Bylaws: A near-complete draft based on the existing CaRCC Charter is ready for Chairs’ refinement and ratification. The bylaws focus on what’s legally required for 501(c)(3) status; non-legally-required elements will remain in CaRCC’s policies and processes documents to preserve flexibility.
- Membership model: A proposed model is currently being refined by Chairs before opening a feedback period to the broader community. Key commitments: basic access to CaRCC calls, groups, communications, and resources will remain free; membership will provide additional benefits and voting eligibility; membership will be individual, not institutional. Rollout is anticipated in late 2026.
- Sustainability planning: The board developed a framework for understanding CaRCC’s true operational costs, accounting for central support services and aspirational future needs.
Next steps on the path to full nonprofit status:
- Finalize and ratify bylaws
- Submit incorporation application in Oklahoma
- Submit federal 501(c)(3) application
- Finalize and ratify the membership model
- Convert from transitional to official board status; appoint treasurer
- Roll out new membership model — just in time for CaRCC’s 10th birthday in 2027
Community Questions
Questions asked by attendees included:
- How long will it take to achieve 501(c)(3) status?
- The Transitional Board anticipates completing its filing with the IRS this spring. It should take approximately 8 months from the time of filing to receive offician nonprofit status
- How can I volunteer for CaRCC?
- CaRCC always has a range of open volunteer opportunities, shared on the website and via the monthly newsletter
- Why is CaRCC so awesome?
- Because our community is so welcoming, inclusive, and fun!
Stay Connected
Have a question that came up after the fact — or one you didn’t want to ask publicly? Drop a note to board@carcc.org. General questions can go to help@carcc.org.