Category: rcd-nexus

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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CaRCC Capabilities Model Workshop at PEARC24 

Attending the PEARC24 conference and would like to learn more about how to use the CaRCC Capabilities Model? We are offering a full-day workshop “Understanding the CaRCC Capabilities Model Assessment Tools and How Best to Use them at Your Institution” on Monday, July 22. Just select the workshop when you register for the PEARC24 conference; there’s no additional cost.  

About the CaRCC Capabilities Model

The CaRCC Capabilities Model allows participating institutions to: 

  • Assess their support for computationally- and data-intensive research.
  • Identify potential areas for improvement. 
  • Understand how the broader community views Research Computing and Data support.   

Contributing institutions help build the Community Dataset, and enrich the resulting picture we have of our community. You will get access to the benchmarking functionality on the new portal that compares your assessment to the community at-large, as well as segments of the community. As a contributor, you will also get access to more detailed reporting functionality on the new portal, to dig into the data and create custom visualizations. 

About the workshop

The 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. Workshop participants will:

  • Gain an introduction to the CaRCC Capabilities Model and the associated assessment tools and community data exploration portal.
  • Explore and discuss the practical aspects of conducting an assessment for an institution.
  • Develop a clear understanding of the tools and gain experience working through the assessment questions.
  • Discuss and compare effective practices for leveraging assessment and benchmarking data in communications with campus leadership.
  • Build connections with peers at similar institutions and learn about the community resources available to support participating institutions.

Check back here for a detailed event agenda, coming soon!

2024 RCD Nexus Day

Registration is now closed for the third annual RCD Nexus Day, a one-day workshop and networking event for research computing and data (RCD) professionals on Sunday, July 21 from 8:30am to 6:30pm preceding the PEARC24 Conference in Providence, RI. RCD Nexus Day is an official PEARC co-located event, and there’s no additional cost to attend.

The event will be held at the main conference venue, the Rhode Island Convention Center, Fifth Floor Room 551A/B. See full schedule below.

Last year’s Nexus Day was full of energy. Join us and let’s make the 3rd year even better!

Travel support was provided to a limited number of applicants and the application for support is now closed.

RCD Nexus is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant OAC-2100003.

Keep reading to learn about the track topics and detailed event schedule.

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New! Engagement Facilitation Guide for Smaller and Emerging RCD Programs

The CaRCC Capabilities Model Focused Tools Committee has just released a new guide and script designed to support research computing and data (RCD) facilitators as they engage with institutions that have more modest or newly-emerging RCD programs. The guide is designed to help begin conversion about an institution’s support for research and identify key issues and opportunities for growth and strategic planning. The guide and script have already been used successfully with a number of smaller institutions, and we are pleased to share it for use by the wider RCD community. 

This work was developed with support from the National Science Foundation under the RCD Nexus grant OAC-2100003. 

Keep reading to learn more about how this guide was developed.

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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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Capabilities Model Assessment Tool Upgraded to Version 2.1

The Capabilities Model Assessment Tool has been upgraded to version 2.1, which includes a range of interface improvements and institutional metadata updates. See the v2.1 Release Notes for a complete list of all changes. Highlights of the new version include: 

  • Improved topic level display that shows average coverage values for each question in that topic, and main assessment page that shows average coverage values for each Facing
  • Updated progress indicator that filters out Domain Coverage questions, and eliminates them as a requirement for survey submission
  • Updated RCD Profile user interface that shows additional institutional metadata.

Institutional metadata updates include: 

About the Capabilities Model

The Capabilities Model allows participating institutions to: 

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Read the report: RCD Nexus Day 2023

A new report is now available detailing the accomplishments of RCD Nexus Day 2023. Funded by a Cyberinfrastructure Center of Excellence Pilot grant from the National Science Foundation, the workshop brought together 95 research computing and data (RCD) professionals from institutions across the U.S. The event took place on July 23, 2023, and was an official co-located event of the PEARC’23 conference in Portland, Oregon. Thirty-three attendees received travel support, which allowed them to attend both RCD Nexus Day and the full PEARC23 conference.

In addition to a combined opening session and an evening networking session, the event included two concurrent workshops. Workshop 1 was related to using the RCD Capabilities Model assessment tools and was led by Patrick Schmitz of Semper Cogito Consulting, while Workshop 2 was on the topic of staff and student onboarding and led by Claire Mizumoto of University of California, San Diego. These workshops are described in detail in the full report.

Seeking beta-testers for the new RCD Capabilities Model Tool

The Research Computing and Data (RCD) Capabilities Model is rolling out a new web-based version of the assessment tool that offers a much better user experience and is backed by a database that provides a more robust platform for data analysis. We need volunteers to beta test the new tool. 

Whether you are one of the over 180 institutions who requested a past assessment, or if you are new to the process, your feedback and perspective is valuable as we work to continually improve the tool. We will retain all data from the beta testing period, and so (barring any unforeseen problems), you can complete your actual 2023 submission, while also providing us valuable feedback to improve the new tool. 

How do I participate in beta testing?

Check out our Beta Testing guide, and then just  log in to the portal using your institutional credentials (you can also use Google or Microsoft to authenticate). Along the way, please use this Feedback Document to share any issues, challenges, or successes you experience. If you’d like a refresher on the RCD Capabilities Model, see the updated User Guide. 

Not familiar with the RCD Capabilities Model? Keep reading to learn more.  

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CaRCC activities at PEARC23

It’s almost time for the PEARC23 conference and we’re looking forward to seeing many of you in Portland! Be sure to stop by the Internet2 table during open Exhibit hours, Monday, July 24 and Tuesday, July 25 8am-5pm to pick up a CaRCC sticker and other info. A big thank you to our partner, Internet2 for providing space for CaRCC at their table!

Remember that you, our engaged CaRCC members, are the most powerful communication and outreach tool we have as we strive to be diverse and inclusive. If you meet members of the community at PEARC who aren’t familiar with CaRCC, encourage them to learn more at the CaRCC Town Hall, stop by the table in the Exhibit Hall, or visit CaRCC.org to join the People Network.

CaRCC events at PEARC23 include:

Sunday, July 23

RCD Nexus Day — A full day of collaboration and connection for the RCD Community. This year’s topics include Using the Capabilities Model Assessment Tool and Onboarding RCD Staff and Students. (Pre-registration required.)

RCD Nexus is supported as an NSF-funded Cyberinfrastructure Centers of Excellence (CoE) pilot (award NSF-2100003).

Tuesday, July 24

CaRCC Town Hall, 10:30am-12pm, Room F151 — Come hear about current initiative and help shape future directions! Learn how to get involved and how we are connecting with the broader RCD ecosystem through the People Network.

Workforce Track: Understanding the Research Computing and Data Profession, 3:00-4:30pm, Room D135 — Talks include “Career Phases in Research Computing and Data” and Professionalization of Research Computing and Data: An Expanded Agenda” both by Tim Middelkoop. And Christina Maimone will present on “Compensation of Academic Research Computing and Data Professionals”.

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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