CaRCC RCD Monthly Newsletter – December 2025

Research Computing and Data (RCD) Monthly

  December 2025

In this issue:

1. Meet the Nominees! CaRCC Contributor of the Year Award
2. CaRCC in 2025: A Retrospective
3. CaRCC Annual Party: What to Expect
4. December Events and Call Topics
5. All Things AI: NAIRR Pilot and AI-Related Events and Announcements
   
6. CaRCC Volunteer Opportunities

First Annual Contributor of the Year Award: Meet the Nominees & Vote by December 5!

Voting is now open for the 2025 CaRCC Contributor of the Year award. This first annual award recognizes an individual who has made exceptional contributions to CaRCC over the past year through leadership, service, and dedication to advancing the research computing and data (RCD) community. Whether through working group leadership, operational support, strategic initiatives, or community building, each nominee has strengthened CaRCC’s mission and impact in meaningful ways.

Congratulations to our outstanding candidates, who were nominated by you, their CaRCC colleagues: 

• Brian Haymore from University of Utah
• Timothy Middelkoop from Internet2
• Chris Reidy from University of Arizona
• Ashley Stauffer from Penn State University
• Michael Weiner from Georgia Institute of Technology

Voting is open through December 5. Winner will be announced at the CaRCC Annual Party on December 11!  

CaRCC in 2025: A Retrospective

You’re Invited! What to Expect at the CaRCC End-of-Year Party

As we approach the end of 2025, it’s time to reflect on some of the significant strides made by CaRCC this year.

From navigating critical transitions in software licensing to laying the foundations for a nonprofit future, CaRCC has been at the forefront of supporting the research computing and data (RCD) community.

Here’s a look back at some of our key initiatives and accomplishments from the year.

Everyone is invited to the CaRCC End-of-Year Party! Join us on Thursday, December 11 from 1-2:30pm ET to share some relaxed, festive time with your CaRCC colleagues.

This annual tradition will include:  

• A raffle with CaRCC prizes!
• Prizes for those wearing the most festive attire  
• Mingling breakouts based on shared interested and hobbies
• Opportunities to share feedback and get more involved with CaRCC

December Events And Call Topics At-a-Glance 

Mark your calendars for these upcoming People Network and CaRCC Activity Group Calls (Zoom details at the end), as well as Calls from our RCD ecosystem peers. For handy calendar entries, try the CaRCC People Network Calendar (GCal view; calendar integration). And if you’re not on our mailing lists, you can join via our Members page and join our Slack channels. 

CaRCC End-of-Year Party!

Thursday, December 11 from 1-2:30pm ET (calendar invite send to CaRCC subscribers)

Join this year’s party in your most festive attire to partake in casual fun and reflections! We’ll discuss CaRCC contributor opportunities and award the first Contributor-of-the-Year, host hobby-affinity breakouts, and hand out prizes via raffle and voting on the “Best Attire”. We also invite you to provide input to CaRCC, reflect on the recent Supercomputing conference, or partake in other timely discussions. The Call doc and regular Zoom room will be distributed via email, as usual. See you there!

CaRCC People Network Calls

• Data-Facing Track (1st Tuesdays) Tue 12/2, 12p ET/ 11a CT/ 10a MT/ 9a PT 2026 Track Topics Brainstorm
  
• Strategy and Policy-Facing Track (1st Wednesdays) Wed 12/3, 12p ET/ 11a CT/ 10a MT/ 9a PT Supporting Research Computing Beyond Cluster Computing
• Researcher-Facing Track (2nd Thursdays) No call for December. ‘See you at the CaRCC EOY Party!
• Emerging Centers Track (3rd Wednesdays) No call for December. ‘See you at the CaRCC EOY Party!
• Systems-Facing Track (3rd Thursdays) 

Additional Community Opportunities

• Thu 12/4, 1p ET/ 12p CT/ 11am MT/ 10a PT (1st Thursdays): RCD Mentoring Working Group Monthly Meet-Up. Join us for our December RCD Mentoring Working Group session as we continue building out our mentorship program! Meeting coordinates: Zoom Session URL. 
  
• Tue 12/9, 1p ET/ 10a PT (2nd Tuesdays): RCD Capabilities Model Office Hours. Meeting coordinates: Zoom Session URL. 
  
• RCD Workforce Development Interest Group. No call for December.  Instead, join us at the CaRCC End-of-Year Party to discuss volunteer opportunities in workforce development. 
  
• Wed 12/10, 2p ET/ 11a PT (2nd Wednesdays): Regulated Research Community of Practice (RRCoP)Community Discussions. This month, the topic will be Wrapping Up 2025: Ask the Assessor LIVE + RRCoP Resource Roundup.  Please use this Zoom link
  
• Thu 12/4, 1p ET/ 10a PT (4th Thursdays of even months): EDUCAUSE Research Computing and Data Community Group will have its monthly community call on “Building for the Future: Research Computing and Data Workforce Development”. See the Events tab within EDUCAUSE Connect for more information.

CaRCC Calls and Zoom

All CaRCC People Network and Monthly Welcome calls will take place within the Zoom room below, also visible in the CaRCC People Network Google calendar (see above). Please help us keep these details secure (non-public), but feel free to share with a colleague.

https://utah.zoom.us/my/carcc?pwd=TjFuR3VVM2d5eE5zWnEvWWxDTFBCUT09

All Things AI

A quick-hit listing of upcoming events and training related to the NAIRR Pilot and other AI initiatives

Volunteer Opportunities

Help with student engagement, support the next RCD Nexus Day’s Workforce Track, and see several other open volunteer opportunities this month!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: The CaRCC People Network and Track email lists were experiencing technical issues between November 17 and December 3. The problem has been resolved and lists should now be working normally. However, you can check or manage your subscriptions at members.carcc.org.   

RCD Monthly is a newsletter dedicated to the Research Computing and Data (RCD) professional community and others who work to support research using technology. This work is supported by grants OAC- 2436057 and OAC-2100003. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. 

Have a news item or tip you’d like us to share? Complete this form.