Category: professionalization

Workforce Development: Maximizing Your Conference Experience

Going to PEARC24? Here are some things to consider, inspired by the last RCD Workforce Development Interest Group call.

For research computing and data (RCD) professionals, conferences are important professional development opportunities and are a cornerstone of professional development, offering unique opportunities to network, learn, and share within the community. These events are not just about acquiring new knowledge, but also about fostering relationships and laying the groundwork for future communications. By engaging with peers, exploring new ideas, we bring valuable information back to our institutions.  The following is a result of the discussions during the July 2024 CaRCC RCD Workforce Development Interest Group call (thanks to all that participated).

Reasons to attend a conference:

  • Networking: Meet colleagues, strengthen relationships, and lay the groundwork for future communications.
  • Learning and Sharing: Understand the broader community’s solutions, share challenges and successes.
  • Professional Development: Gain new skills, stay updated with the field, and improve services at one’s institution.
  • Presentations: Deliver talks and presentations.
  • Vendor/Product Information: Learn about new technologies and products.
  • Workshops and Tutorials: Participate in learning sessions and report back key findings to the team.

Managing conference attendance:

  • Pre-Planning: Study the agenda and select sessions of interest.  Use the conference app.
  • Scheduling: Plan essential sessions and allow downtime to process information.
  • Communication: Coordinate with team members to cover more sessions.
  • Flexibility: Be prepared to adjust your schedule based on information gained from others and prioritize relationship-building opportunities as they arise.
  • Sessions: Stick to a full session as much as possible, too much is lost in switching.  Don’t forget meals.

Bringing insights back to the institution:

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CaRCC at PEARC24: Headed to Providence? Here’s your guide to all things CaRCC!

It’s going to be an exciting and busy week at the PEARC24 conference in Providence, Rhode Island July 21-25. Plan your schedule now and don’t miss these CaRCC-related activities. 

SUNDAY, JULY 21

RCD Nexus Day

8am-6:30pm Room 551 A&B 

Organizers: Venice Bayrd, Justin Booth, Dana Brunson, Thomas Cheatham, Patrick Clemins Bob Freeman, Clark Gaylord, Brian Haymore, Betsy Hillery, Susan Ivey, Deb McCaffrey, Daphne McCanse, Timothy Middelkoop, Lauren Michael, Claire Mizumoto, Patrick Schmitz, Jason Simms, Scott Yockel

This PEARC24 co-located event will bring together professionals from across the Research Computing and Data (RCD) community for a full day of collaboration and connection. Tracks include What We’re Facing as RCD Professionals and Working with Secure Data. With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), RCD Nexus Day is an open, inclusive event that warmly welcomes all members of the RCD community. Pre-registration is required. 

MONDAY, JULY 22

Understanding the CaRCC Capabilities Model Assessment Tools and How Best to Use them at Your Institution

8am-5pm Ballroom E

Organizers: Dana Brunson, Thomas Cheatham, John Hicks, Lauren Michael, Patrick Schmitz 

This workshop will provide an introduction to the CaRCC Capabilities Model and how institutions approach using the Capabilities Model assessment tools to improve their strategic planning and make the case for increased campus support to advance computationally- and data-intensive research and education. 

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New Release: RCD Nexus Capabilities Model Visualization Portal 

The latest release of the RCD Nexus portal provides new functionality to explore and visualize the community dataset provided by institutions that are using the CaRCC Capabilities Model and/or have contributed their capabilities assessment data. With this release, users can also benchmark their institutional capabilities coverage relative to the community of contributors. Visit portal.rcd-nexus.org/dataviz and try out the new functionality!  If you have questions, complaints, or kudos, please let us know by emailing the RCD CM working group at capsmodel-help@carcc.org. 

Keep reading for more details about the new functionality. 

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant OAC-2100003.

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People Network and Other Community Calls for This Month!

It’s February! Mark your calendars for the below People Network track gatherings and other community events. For handy calendar entries, try the CaRCC Events Calendar.

If you’re not on our mailing lists, please fill out our Join the People Network form and join our Slack channels!

CaRCC People Network Calls

Data-Facing Track (1st Tuesdays)

Tue Feb 6, 1p ET/ 12p CT/ 11a MT/ 10a PT
Lifecycle Support and Compliance for Open Research Practices

Researcher-Facing Track (2nd Thursdays)

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Annual CaRCC Parade and Other Community Calls to Kick off 2024!

As the new year ramps up, please join us and bring along a colleague for the annual CaRCC Parade, Tuesday, January 23, 4-5pm ET (1-2pm PT) for an update on CaRCC activities and how to get involved. Most track-specific calls are also resuming in January.

Mark your calendars for these and other community events, below. For handy calendar entries, try the CaRCC Events Calendar. If you’re not on our mailing lists, please fill out our Join the People Network form and join our Slack channels.

CaRCC People Network Calls

Annual CaRCC Parade (cross-track)

Thu 1/23, 1-2:30p ET/ 12-1:30p CT/ 11am-12:30p MT/ 10-11:30a PT
We will introduce CaRCC for newcomers, talk about the year ahead for CaRCC, and describe opportunities for existing and new members to get more involved. It’s a great way to stay connected with the CaRCC community or kickstart your involvement in CaRCC. It’s also a great way to introduce newcomers to learn more about CaRCC and hear directly from group coordinators, so bring a colleague!

Data-Facing Track (1st Tuesdays)

Tue Jan 2, 1p ET/ 12p CT/ 11a MT/ 10a PT
Round Robin track discussion.

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Community Calls to Kick off 2024!

As the new year ramps up, please join us and bring along a colleague for the annual CaRCC Parade, Tuesday, January 23, 4-5pm ET (1-2pm PT) for an update on CaRCC activities and how to get involved. Most track-specific calls are also resuming in January.

Mark your calendars for these and other community events, below. For handy calendar entries, try the CaRCC Events Calendar. If you’re not on our mailing lists, please fill out our Join the People Network form and join our Slack channels.

CaRCC People Network Calls

Annual CaRCC Parade (cross-track)

Thu 1/23, 1-2:30p ET/ 12-1:30p CT/ 11am-12:30p MT/ 10-11:30a PT
We will introduce CaRCC for newcomers, talk about the year ahead for CaRCC, and describe opportunities for existing and new members to get more involved. It’s a great way to stay connected with the CaRCC community or kickstart your involvement in CaRCC. It’s also a great way to introduce newcomers to learn more about CaRCC and hear directly from group coordinators, so bring a colleague!

Data-Facing Track (1st Tuesdays)

Tue Jan 2, 1p ET/ 12p CT/ 11a MT/ 10a PT
Round Robin track discussion.

Continue reading “Community Calls to Kick off 2024!”

RCD Nexus Day at PEARC23

Registration is now closed for the second annual RCD Nexus Day, a one-day workshop and networking event just for research computing and data (RCD) professionals on Sunday July 23, 8am-7pm preceding the PEARC23 Conference in Portland, OR. It’s an official PEARC co-located event, and there’s no additional cost to attend. Connect with your peers as we explore the topics that matter to you and your RCD career, including:

  • Student and staff workforce development topics and practices 
  • Understanding the RCD Capabilities Model assessment tools, and how best to use them at your institution (details below)

The event will be held at the main conference venue, the Oregon Convention Center. Space is limited and last year the event reached capacity, so don’t wait to register!

Travel support is available for those at U.S. institutions who request it by June 28. Just indicate your need when you register and we’ll send further information. 

See below for a detailed agenda and track descriptions.

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Student Workforce Development & Internship Survey — Please participate!

The CaRCC Student Workforce Development Interest Group invites the research computing and data (RCD) community to participate in a short survey designed to gather information about existing RCD student workforce and internship programs. Survey results will be shared via the CaRCC website to provide a centralized resource for computing facilities looking to start their own student program or working to augment or improve an existing program.

Should you consent to participate, you will find the survey has two sections: A required short section that should take approximately 10 minutes, and a second optional section that requests more details about your program.

Your participation will help create a valuable resource for the entire RCD community!

Register now! Free Virtual Residency Workshop on Research Computing

Do you want to learn how to better help researchers at your institution use research technologies? Would you like to make professional connections and meet others working in the field of research computing facilitation?

The Virtual Residency Summer Introductory Workshop on Research Computing Facilitation is designed to sharpen your skills and connect you with colleagues. Registration is now open for the free workshop that will take place on Zoom June 26 – 30.

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CaRCC/RCD Nexus 2022 Retrospective

Greetings, research computing and data (RCD) professionals! As we usher in the New Year, CaRCC and RCD Nexus would like to take a moment to look back on and celebrate some of our community’s exciting accomplishments in 2022: 

To formalize and ensure community input and evaluation, CaRCC formed a new Advisory Committee and held its first annual meeting in January, 2022. The group consists of 12 members selected for their leadership and expertise within the broader RCD and cyberinfrastructure landscape. The group is instrumental in long-term planning as CaRCC continues a period of rapid growth. 

We ramped up the work of our RCD Nexus NSF Cyberinfrastructure Center of Excellence (CI CoE) pilot grant, and began to provide more resources than ever before to both the CaRCC and broader RCD community. The RCD Nexus website currently serves as the CaRCC Career and Resource Center. 

In May, 2022, CaRCC activity leaders, advisory committee members, and peers from across the RCD community met in Denver and joined remotely for a Strategic Planning Meeting. The meeting included discussion around CaRCC’s role in defining a framework for an RCD-CI professional society.

CaRCC has helped to facilitate the RCD Community Builders Group, a collaborative effort among nine RCD-CI organizations working together to support the community at-large. The group has been meeting monthly since March 2022. Additionally, CaRCC has formalized a partnership and collaboration with the CASC organization and had two meetings and presentations during which the groups discussed opportunities for collaboration. 

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