The ACCESS CSSN Community Engagement Program (CCEP) provides incentives to members of the CSSN community for their participation in ACCESS Support (MATCH) activities. This program provides incentives (in the form of travel support) to participants for their resource contributions.
There are two ways to participate in the program
(Each way has multiple tiers of effort that allow for varying levels of participation.)
How do I become eligible for incentives from CCEP?
Who can be a member of the CSSN?
Anyone! Members of the CSSN community can include researchers using, or desiring to use, cyberinfrastructure at an accredited institution, and members of the community who support these researchers (i.e. user support staff, research computing facilitators, research software engineers, system, storage, or network administrators, etc). Members do not need to be actively using ACCESS resources.
Community Grants
Community Grants are pre-planned, pre-approved efforts to create Knowledge Base resources including training materials such as documentation, videos, tutorials or live events for the benefit of the ACCESS community. Participants submit proposals through a lightweight process which are then evaluated by the Community Grants Committee and awarded by the MATCH team on a monthly basis.
Expected timeline:
- CCEP solicits submissions on a rolling basis with a review every month
- CCEP committee comes to a consensus with the individual on deliverables
- Once deliverables have been provided, member’s conference registration or travel stipends will be awarded
- Projects will be expected to complete objectives within six months
The application process involves a few sentences answering each of these questions:
- What do you plan to do and how do you propose to do it?
- Note: You will own the content and we will link to your hosted content through the ACCESS Support Portal.
- Is this building on existing materials or a completely new application/program?
- How will you disperse the materials/host the tutorials or events?
- For example, general Linux users, atmospheric scientists, molecular dynamics, or other disciplines or tool users
- How will this impact researchers and the broader community?
Community Contribution Rewards
Community Contribution Rewards Tier 1 recognize ongoing contributions to the ACCESS Support, as well as participation in community efforts to expand the ACCESS Knowledge Base through crowdsourced platforms such as Ask.CI, the Q&A Platform for the Research Computing Community, or the Resource page on the ACCESS Support Portal. Community Contribution Rewards requests are submitted after contributions have been made and are reviewed by the Ask.CI Committee and Community Grants Committee.
Community Contribution Rewards Tier 2 recognize those that desire to give back to the community via mentorship or serving on a committee. The expectation for this tier for mentoring a student is a 6-month time commitment of mentoring a student as part of an active MATCHPlus award. The expectation for this tier of those that serve on the MATCH Plus/Premier steering committee, Ask.CI Committee or Community Grants Committee is a six-month appointment that involves monthly meetings and providing input on submissions.
Expected timeline:
- CCEP solicits submissions on a rolling basis with a review every month
- Ask.CI and CCEP committee approves or denies submissions and requests to be part of a committee
- Travel grant is awarded
Important Fine Print:
- All CSSN members (students, faculty, staff, or CI professionals) need to be affiliated or work for a US-based academic institution.
- The member must have the legal right to work in the United States.
- Reward levels are “up to x amount” and will be awarded based on feedback from the Community Grants Committee Members or Ask.CI Committee Members.
- Approval from your supervisor is required to participate.
- One request may be submitted annually per person.
- The award must be spent during the subsequent 12 months. After 12 months the funds are forfeited.
- The University of Colorado Boulder will arrange all travel rather than provide reimbursement. Once an award is awarded the awardee may receive several links to documentation to complete depending on their selection of conference registration, flight, and/or hotel. Only flight, hotel, and/or registration will be covered. The awardee will need to communicate with those from CU Boulder while bookings are confirmed. All purchases are final, and changes cannot be accommodated except in the case of a documented emergency.
- Conferences can be any US-based domestic conference (E.G. PEARC, AGU, SC, TAPIA, etc.)
- Travel Support awards must be spent on one conference, do not have a cash value, and are not refundable or reimbursable to the awardee. All amounts must be used on travel booked by CU Boulder.
- Proof of conference registration must be shown in order to book flights or hotels through CU.
What else do I need to know?
The CCEP program is constantly evolving, so look for updates as we learn more about what works for our community! And always feel free to email us with feedback or questions!