CaRCC RCD Monthly Newsletter – September 2026

Research Computing and Data (RCD) Monthly

September 2026

In this issue:

1. Planned Leadership Transition: Welcome to our New Co-Chairs!
2. Celebrating Ten Years: Tom Cheatham on the Ups & Downs of CaRCC’s Early Days
3. How to Collaborate with CaRCC
4. September Events and Call Topics
5. September All Things AI: NAIRR Pilot & AI-Related Events and Announcements
   
6. CaRCC Volunteer Opportunities

Fresh Faces, Same Mission: CaRCC’s 2026 Planned Leadership Rotation

CaRCC has moved to fixed terms for co-chair roles across our Tracks and Interest Groups. 2026 was the first cycle under the new model, which is why we have a list of new co-chairs to welcome, as we also express deep gratitude to those whose terms are ending. Read the full blog post for more details on the new rotation process.

Thank you to our outgoing co-chairs!

Amy Koshoffer, University of Cincinnati (Data-Facing Track)

Patrick Clemins, University of Vermont (Emerging Centers Track)

Justin Booth, Michigan State University (Researcher-Facing Track)

Amit Amritkar, Penn State (Strategy & Policy-Facing Track)

Jason Christopher, UC Berkeley (HIPAA Challenges Interest Group)

Julie Ma, Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (Engagement Operations Group)

Dana Brunson, Internet2 (Logistics Operations Group)

Venice Bayrd, Montana State University (EPSCoR CI Interest Group

Welcome to our new co-chairs!

J. Ray Scott, Carnegie Mellon University (Data-Facing Track)

Tom Marcais, Washington & Lee University (Emerging Centers Track)

Stephen Oglesby, Tulane University (Researcher-Facing Track)

Nannan Shan, Purdue University (Researcher-Facing Track)

Gretta Kellogg, Penn State University (Strategy & Policy-Facing Track)

Colin Odin, Ohio State University College of Medicine (HIPAA Challenges Interest Group)

Daphne McCanse, Internet2 (Engagement Operations Group)

Get involved

Leadership at CaRCC starts with showing up. Join a Track or Interest Group call, get to know the community, and when the next cycle comes around, consider putting your name forward. That is how nearly everyone on these lists got here.

Celebrating Ten Years: Longtime Past Chair, Tom Cheatham on CaRCC’s Early Ups & Downs and What Lies Ahead 

This month we continue our year-long celebration of CaRCC’s tenth birthday by talking with longtime past chair, Tom Cheatham from University of Utah. Tom explains that CaRCC had some early bumps during the startup phase, but navigating those challenges are what led to the strong, open, collaborative, community-focused organization we have today. 

How to Collaborate with CaRCC

CaRCC is often asked to collaborate on funding proposals or other work that require Letters of Collaboration, an MOU, or some other formal documentation. Click below to get helpful instructions on how to collaborate with CaRCC in these ways. 

September 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 Newcomer Welcome and Orientation (October)

Tue 10/13, 3:30p ET / 2:30p CT / 1:30p MT / 12:30p PT (second Tuesday of each even-numbered month)

Whether you’re new to CaRCC or looking to learn more and get more involved, join us on the second Tuesday of each even-numbered month at 3:30p ET / 2:30p CT / 1:30p MT / 12:30p PT for a welcome session and overview of CaRCC groups, tracks, events, and volunteer opportunities. We love meeting our newcomers, and everyone is welcome! Register now for call details.

CaRCC People Network Calls

Data-Facing Track (1st Tuesdays)
Tue 9/1, 1p ET / 12p CT / 11a MT / 10a PT
Topic: Panel on Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) for RCD Resources

Strategy and Policy-Facing Track (1st Wednesdays)
Wed 9/2, 12p ET / 11a CT / 10a MT / 9a PT
Topic: TBD

Researcher-Facing Track (2nd Thursdays)
Thu 9/10, 1p ET / 12p CT / 11a MT / 10a PT
Topic: AI Agents and Models – A researcher-facing discussion of agents teams have built, how they are being used, and common challenges or issues encountered in practice. 

Emerging Centers Track (3rd Wednesdays)
Wed 9/16, 12p ET / 11a CT / 10a MT / 9a PT / 7a HT
Topic: Refocusing the Emerging Centers Track

Systems-Facing Track (3rd Thursdays)
Thu 9/17, 1p ET / 12p CT / 11a MT / 10a PT
Topic: GPU Sharding

Additional Community Opportunities

RCD Capabilities Model Office Hours (2nd Tuesdays)

Tue 9/8, 1p ET / 12p CT / 11a MT / 10a PT
Have questions about getting started, completing, or viewing benchmarking data with the Research Computing and Data Capabilities Model? Or are you already working with it and want to discuss improvements you’d like to see? Meeting coordinates: Zoom Session URL. Join the capsmodel-discuss@carcc.org mailing list, or send questions to capsmodel-help@carcc.org.

RCD Mentoring Working Group Monthly Meet-Up (1st Thursdays)
Thu 9/3, 1p ET / 12p CT / 11a MT / 10a PT
Join us as we continue building out our mentorship program. Meeting coordinates: Zoom Session URL. Join the workforce-mentoring-wg@carcc.org mailing list, or send questions to the RCD Staff and Student Workforce Mentoring Coordinators.

RCD Workforce Development Interest Group Monthly Meet-Up (2nd Tuesdays)
Tue 9/8, 2p ET / 1p CT / 12p MT / 11a PT
Topic: Building the RCD Student Talent Pipeline: Developing Student Roles, Advertising Positions, and Hiring – This session will be an interactive discussion focused on how Research Computing and Data (RCD) organizations recruit and hire student talent. Participants will explore how institutions construct appealing student job descriptions, define required and preferred qualifications, evaluate candidates during the interview process, and balance internship programs with ongoing student employment. The discussion will emphasize practical approaches, lessons learned, and examples from across the community, with the goal of identifying effective strategies for building sustainable student pipelines and preparing the next generation of RCD professionals. Meeting coordinates: See Zoom details below. Join the Interest Group mailing list.

AI Facilitation Interest Group Monthly Meet-Up (2nd Wednesdays)
Wed 9/9, 1p ET / 12p CT / 11a MT / 10a PT
Topic: AI Facilitation Handbook
Meeting coordinates: Zoom Session URL. Join the Interest Group.

Research Cybersecurity Interest Group Monthly Meet-Up (4th Thursdays)
Thu 9/24, 2p ET / 1p CT / 12p MT / 11a PT
Topic: PEARC & CaRCC Leadership Retreat Recap

Quantum Computing Interest Group
Write to quantum-ig@carcc.org to join the group and receive meeting information.

Regulated Research Community of Practice (RRCoP) Community Discussions (2nd Wednesdays)
Wed 9/9, 2p ET / 1p CT / 12p MT / 11a PT
Topic: Don’t Overengineer CMMC L2, and Regulatory Round-Up with Laura Raderman – Meeting coordinates: Zoom Session URL. Contact info@regulatedresearch.org or Carolyn Ellis with any questions.

US Research Software Engineers Monthly Community Call (2nd Thursdays, odd months)
Thu 9/10, 12p ET / 11a CT / 10a MT / 9a PT
Topic: Funding for Research Software Engineering
See the US-RSE calendar for more information.

CaRCC Calls and Zoom

All CaRCC People Network 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

See several open volunteer opportunities this month!

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. 

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