PAC Meeting Summary, June 23, 2021
External communication.
- Meetings will be recorded, and recordings stored in the private Teams channel. Recordings will not be published (to maintain some privacy and allow committee members to feel comfortable speaking openly).
- Minutes will be taken, and a summary published on PACE website after committee review.
- An update of Advisory Committee activity (approximately quarterly) will be made available on the web and for committee members to share to their units and broadly.
Update on startup and retention funds:
- No expiration date for College of Sciences startup and retention funding is approved and will be implemented.
- EVPR funds will be drawn down first, but EVPR will track this to see if this becomes an issue and adjust if necessary.
- Needs coordinated communication with unit finance staff to handle PACE invoices correctly.
Discussion of pre-purchase credits for internal funds (startup and retention). Invite Jonathan Jeffries to PAC meeting for conversation on this.
Support for unfunded computational explorations (e.g., exploratory research, thesis work, fellowship recipients with no PI).
- Keep 10000 CPU hours/mo. free tier. Very simple and good way for new researchers to get started.
- Backfill queues are free and are in place for current users with a PI.
- Seed grants for higher tier (e.g., 100,000 CPU hours or more). Good skill for grad students to develop. Run seed grant program for 6-12 months and see how it is used and re-evaluate it if needed. Leverage Tech Fees for free tier student cluster? (Different from ICE since not connected to courses, but still primarily student use).
- Undergrad research projects self-directed (no PI) could be accommodated via seed grants.
- Communicate all tiers/options for free use in one place?