Proposals

Abstract

The Research Computing Club (RCC) is perhaps one of the most impactful student organizations at UW and in the United States Higher Education ecosystem, acknowledged and credited in scientific publications, student research symposia, professional society conferences, and federal funding agencies. The RCC sets a successful student-run club model that many domestic and international universities try to follow. With on-average ~2000 users (~700 primary, ~1300 non-primary) every year from nearly all schools/colleges/institutes at UW, the RCC computing resource has an enormous impact in helping UW students develop successful career pathways and has curated and nurtured student leaders in technology who continued to thrive in bigger roles and responsibilities. Despite of the success and impact, the RCC is currently on life support. Many challenges amount to an unfortunate decision -- to close the Club! The RCC STF allocation is a unique resource that makes research computing infrastructure available to all UW students and has been previously funded by the STF. RCC is a student organization that has been responsible for providing administration and training for students using this resource. However, student involvement in RCC has become unreliable over the past 1-2 years. Further, many of the responsibilities currently handled by student volunteers would be better managed by dedicated staff. This proposal seeks funding to allow for a restructuring of Hyak STF management responsibilities to ensure the long-term sustainability of the resource. A full proposal with organization details and strategies for sustainability is included in Optional Attachments.

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