RCD Professionalization Working Group: Census

Overall Priorities and Objectives

Many efforts across CaRCC and beyond have grappled with the notion of defining Research Computing and Data (RCD) professionals and their progression from a community of practice to an established and understood profession. The next phase of this work is to better understand comprehensively the state of RCD staffing across the United States by designing, testing, and implementing a RCD Positions survey tool and using that to conduct a national survey. A group of RCD professionals who wanted to work on this was formed at the National Science Foundation Virtual Workshop on the Research Innovation Workforce for Cyberinfrastructure. If you have ideas about this work or would like to join our efforts please contact Scott Yockel.

Objectives

The main objectives of this group are to:

  • Design, implement and test the RCD Positions survey tool.
    • Perform a literature review on prior surveys.
    • Determine what type of information provides the most value for RCD Professionals and their institutions.
    • Determine the target recipients of the survey and the intended audience for the results.
  • Conduct a US national survey of RCD positions to capture specific information on RCD individuals, their current position, and their outlook on RCD as a profession.

The survey was open in Summer 2021. The data is currently being analyzed. Results will be shared in 2022.

Members

  • Scott Yockel (co-chair) – Harvard University
  • Christina Maimone (co-chair) – Northwestern University
  • Jay Alameda – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
  • Galen Collier – Rutgers University
  • Kimberly Grasch – University of Chicago
  • Christina Maimone – Northwestern University
  • Timothy Middelkoop – Internet2
  • Amy Neeser – University of California Berkeley
  • Ashley Stauffer – Penn State University