About

What is CaRCC?

CaRCC – the Campus Research Computing Consortium – is an organization of dedicated professionals developing, advocating for, and advancing campus research computing and data* (RCD) and associated professionals. Major activities include building community among research computing and data professionals (see the People Network), and a number of interest groups and working groups around community-driving priorities related to professionalization and workforce development, institutional assessment and strategy, connecting the broader ecosystem of RCD providers, and defining stakeholders and shared value propositions for RCD profession(s) at a time of accelerating change.

The CaRCC Charter defines the following Vision and Mission:

Vision: CaRCC advances the frontiers of research by improving the effectiveness of research computing and data (RCD) professionals, including their career development and visibility, and their ability to deliver services and resources for researchers. CaRCC connects RCD professionals and organizations around common objectives to increase knowledge sharing and enable continuous innovation in research computing and data capabilities.

Mission: CaRCC communities, working groups, and our collaborating partners, advance innovation and sustainability of RCD at academic, government, and non-profit institutions. CaRCC communities connect professionals across RCD roles and organizations, including those who design and operate systems, those who work with software and data, and those who engage directly with researchers. CaRCC working groups explore and develop effective strategies, leading practices, and products that empower researchers across campuses, and at regional, national, and international scales.

CaRCC is continuously evolving and open to new ideas. Get involved! Current areas of high priority, based on survey results and discussions among participants, include the following:

  • Connecting the national community of RCD professionals and promoting community consensus around RCD professional roles.
  • RCD workforce development and professionalization.
  • Defining stakeholders and value propositions for RCD and RCD professionals, broadly defined.
  • Understanding the current state and future roadmap for advocation, support, and sustainability of RCD resources on campuses and beyond.
  • Development of products that help define, support, and steward RCD professions, professionals, and resource providers on campuses.

CaRCC has also referred to (reflecting history and origin):

  • The NSF Research Coordination Network (award OAC-162069) and project entitled “RCN: Advancing Research and Education through a national network of campus research computing infrastructures – The CaRC Consortium”, which established the consortium via an initial set of campuses and campus-associated individual contributors.
  • An extension of the ACI-REF** project (NSF OAC-1341935), a group of campuses who collaborated via network of Research and Education Facilitators to develop common researcher-facing practices and professional networking methodologies that would sustain and maintain the massive growth in demand for research computing across the broader community of campuses.

If you have questions about CaRCC or how to get involved, please contact us at help@carcc.org! 

Who ‘Leads’ CaRCC?

CaRCC is a community-led effort, with leadership of various activities contributed by partners and volunteers at a variety of academic institutions and supporting organizations. If you had to name the Leadership Team, it is largely the people listed below.

CaRCC Chairs

The CaRCC Chairs meet every 2-4 weeks to coordinate activities between the People Network, Working Groups & Interest Groups, and Operational Groups (further below) and includes (as of April 2024):

People Network Coordinators

The People Network is coordinated by a team of individuals, including coordinators for focused Tracks within the network and supporting steering committees to assist with the ongoing monthly efforts.

CaRCC Logistics Team

The Logistics Team develops, coordinates, distributes, and supports the infrastructure of people and resources (email lists, Google Docs, calendars) that enable various CaRCC efforts. If you have questions about CaRCC or would like to learn more, e-mail us at help@carcc.org.

As of 2024, the Logistics Team includes:

  • Dana Brunson, Internet2 (co-Chair, Capabilities Model co-Chair, and on several Groups)
  • Lauren Michael, Internet2 contract (co-Chair, People Network co-Coordinator, and on several Groups)
  • Tom Cheatham, University of Utah (acting CaRCC Chair and on several Groups)
  • Timothy Middelkoop, Internet2, (Staff Workforce co-chair)
  • Patrick Schmitz, Semper Cogito (Capabilities Model co-chair, Career Arcs co-chair and on several Groups)
  • Bob Freeman, Harvard Business School (retired) (People Network co-Coordinator, and on several other Groups)
  • Daphne McCanse, CaRCC Communications (RCD Comms & Outreach, and on several other Groups)

Past contributors: Rich Knepper, Cornell University; Ruth Marinshaw, Stanford University; Scott Yockel, Harvard University

Logistics also oversees Web and Metrics teams, volunteers who assist with web content and can help us understand our community and inform our activities. These teams members include:

  • Kirk Anne
  • Sean Cleveland
  • Bob Freeman
  • Kerk Kee
  • Timothy Middelkoop
  • Anita Orendt
  • Emilie Parra
  • Patrick Schmitz
  • Gabriel Smith
  • Gil Speyer

Past contributors: Abby, Wei Yin, Chris Reidy

Engagement Group

The Engagement Operational Group was established in 2019 with big aims:

  • Increase the visibility of CaRCC as a professional organization and its community-driven activities, and the opportunities for individual and institutional participation
  • Identify organizations and institutions that are underrepresented or are absent, perform outreach, and encourage their participation in CaRCC.
  • Develop and prioritize short- and longer-term activities to encourage and promote participation in CaRCC-related activities
  • Coordinate with other working groups to accomplish high priority and easily completed objectives

As of 2024, the Engagement Group includes:

  • Cyd Burrows-Schilling, University of California San Diego
  • Tom Cheatham, University of Utah
  • Bob Freeman, Harvard Business School (retired)
  • Ann Kovalchick, University of California Merced, retired
  • Julie Ma, Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center
  • Chris Reidy, University of Arizona
  • Tracy Smith, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Past contributors: Claire Mizumoto, Brian Haymore

How to get involved

The Engagement Group has calls on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 1 PM ET. If you want to contribute or help the group engage other research computing and data professionals who are not yet represented, please contact co-Chairs Julie Ma (MGHPCC) and Chris Reidy (U Arizona) or contact all.

CaRCC Advisory Committee

As described in our charter, CaRCC has an Advisory Committee constituting a broader community of visionaries and volunteers in the RCD community that advises the CaRCC Chairs Leadership Team. We sincerely appreciate the time and engagement of our Advisory Committee members.

Amy Neeser (UC Berkeley) Ana Hunsinger (Internet2)
Ann Kovalchick (UC Merced) Ashley Stauffer (Penn State University)
Dan Stanzione (TACC/UT Austin) Danielle Cooper (Ithaka S&R)
Erik Lundberg (U Washington) Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma)
Jackie Milhans* (Northwestern) Jim Bottum*
Linda Akli (SURA/XSEDE) Susan Mehringer (Cornell University)
2022 Advisory Committee members (* indicates co-chairs)

NSF Annual Reports

You can find the CaRCC annual report to the NSF for the CaRCC RCN project:

* “Research computing and data” involves people, scholarship, and resources supporting the IT specific to research and scholarship leveraging compute, data, networking, and software, broadly defined, including the professionals who execute and support these efforts. Whereas entities supporting research computing and data historically emerged from operating and supporting high performance computing, the needs, capabilities and technologies have sufficiently broadened the scope of research information technology to include virtualization, support for the cloud, containers, middleware, workflows, data management, data movement, compliance and security, user training, support of instruction using advanced research computing and data, on-boarding into new technologies, and deep engagement (“facilitation”) to help guide researchers. Check out results from our 2022 survey of the community in “Who We (RCD Professionals) Are“.

** ACI-REF refers to the NSF OAC-1341935 “Advanced Cyberinfrastructure – Research and Educational Facilitation: Campus-Based Computational Research Support” award (PI: Bottum) that supporting building best practices and a network of facilitators support research computing on six campuses (Clemson U, Harvard U, U Wisconsin at Madison, U Southern California, U Utah, and U Hawaii).  http://aciref.org.