MINORITY SERVING -
CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE CONSORTIUM (MS-CC)
CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE CONSORTIUM (MS-CC)
Who We Are
The Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC) envisions a transformational partnership to promote advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI) capabilities on the campuses of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs).
The MS-CC focuses on building a trusted community among institutions to advance the following efforts:
The MS-CC is funded by NSF’s Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure under awards #2137123 and #2234326.
INTELLECTUAL MERIT
Expanding cyberinfrastructure within and across minority serving institutions will enable discovery and scholarship by faculty and staff in these institutions -- expanding the pool of researchers able to leverage computing and data resources. As well, minority serving institutions face cyberinfrastructure constraints that are a product of historical resource constraints. Solutions have the potential to be a leapfrog over settings where there is an embedded cyberinfrastructure. In this regard, there is a potential for innovations to emerge -- where the resource constraints might be seen to some degree as a “feature,” rather than a “bug.”
BROADER IMPACTS
When minority serving institutions are better able to accomplish together what they can’t do separately relative to cyberinfrastructure, three broader impacts can be anticipated.
First, a community of practice will be able to speak in a coordinated way with government agencies, industry representatives, and other key stakeholders in society.
Second, the capacity of these minority serving institutions (HBCUs, HSIs, TCUs, and MSIs) to expand minority talent in the cyberinfrastructure workforce will expand.
Third, research questions relevant to the communities where minority serving institutions are located will benefit from access to advanced computing and data resources in ways that might not otherwise be advanced.
There is not a robust history of collaboration among the minority serving institutions, so the work of the MS-CC involves positive changes in the culture within this community.
BACKGROUND
The MS-CC emerged from an NSF-funded pilot project that was awarded through Clemson University, NSF OAC #1659297 - “CC* Cyber Team: Cyberinfrastructure Empowerment for Diverse Research, Scholarship, and Workforce Development (CI Empower).
This included South Carolina State, Claflin University, Jackson State, and Morgan State Universities, which supported MS-CC meetings, visioning, and chartering efforts.
A working group of 20 attendees formed from our workshop at Georgia Tech in June 2018, and created an MS-CC Chartering document. This charter represents a tangible first step in the community-building process.
Recent News
2023 MS-CC Survey Results Are In!
Read the highlights and download an anonymized version of the 2023 MS-CC pulse survey results.
May 30, 2023
Cyberinfrastructure Plan Community of Practice
As an outcome of the Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium’s (MS-CC) Cyberinfrastructure (CI) 101 webinar series, we will begin hosting a CI Plan Community of Practice for IT leaders, staff, faculty, and/or others leading, interested in, or contributing to the development of Cyberinfrastructure Plan documents for their campus.
April 18, 2023
Five Recipients Awarded Funding, Shared Resources to Accelerate Research Capacity at HBCUs, TCUs
Congratulations to Salish Kootenai College, Jackson State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Claflin University, and Tennessee State University leading a multi-HBCU collaboration with Fisk University, Meharry Medical College, and American Baptist College!
April 13, 2023
New Staff Joins MS-CC Cyberinfrastructure Facilitation Team
Please join us in welcoming Lauren Michael and Russell Hofmann to the MS-CC’s Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Facilitation team! Russell and Lauren have been supporting the MS-CC as consultants, and are now dedicated staff to the MS-CC effective February 15, 2023.
February 23, 2023
MS-CC Needs Your Input! Complete Our 2023 Stakeholder Survey
The Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC) is seeking input from our community to inform our planning in setting priorities for 2023. Please complete this short MS-CC stakeholder survey by March 18, 2023. The survey consists of 11 questions and will take no more than 10 minutes to complete.
February 22, 2023
MS-CC Community Webinars: Virtual Cyberinfrastructure 101 Series
The Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC) is launching a new Cyberinfrastructure (CI) 101 webinar series in 2023 to encourage, educate, and empower our community participants with tools and resources to make an impact on their campus IT infrastructure.
February 8, 2023
5 Reasons to Attend the MS-CC’s IT for Research and Cybersecurity Workshops in 2023
The Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC) and Internet2 are excited to continue our series of IT for research and cybersecurity workshops on the campuses of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) in 2023.
January 30, 2023
2022: The Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium’s Year in Review
The Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC) had an incredible year in 2022 as we advanced cyberinfrastructure (IT for research) capabilities at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), and the broader community of minority-serving institutions (MSIs). MS-CC is a thriving and growing community, and we are glad to share some accomplishments from this past year.
January 26, 2023
This communication was sent to the MS-CC mailing list on Friday, December 2, 2022.
Dear MS-CC Colleagues and Community:
As our community outreach efforts continue to expand, the MS-CC Leadership Council (CLC) recently reviewed and made amendments to the MS-CC Charter that reflect what we’ve learned this past year through these engagements.
It has been an exciting, yet busy fall season for the Minority Serving- Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC) as we participated in multiple community engagement opportunities. We are heading to our final stop this year, and are looking forward to participating in the 2022 Internet2 Technology Exchange (TechEX) in Denver, Colorado, from Dec. 5-9.
Credit: Shutterstock/ metamorworks.
Addressing equity is critical to democratizing science in the 21st century, and in this Q&A published in Science Matters, the OAC director Manish Prashar explains what advanced cyberinfrastructure entails; challenges and opportunities for broadening participation in science and engineering through cyberinfrastructure; and gives examples of NSF programs and initiatives working on addressing these challenges. Prashsar also cites the NSF-funded work of the MS-CC and Internet2, in collaboration with AIHEC, to improve cyberinfrastructure at HBCUs, TCUs, and the broader MSI community. Read the full story.
National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2022: Seeing Yourself in Cyber with the MS-CC
The MS-CC approaches cyberinfrastructure holistically. Having the right technology and tools is one aspect of cyberinfrastructure and cybersecurity, but the people aspect is an equally important factor. Training and retaining your IT workforce is part of what contributes to the success of cyberinfrastructure and cybersecurity.
MS-CC Gearing Up for Fall 2022 Events, Workshops, and Public Engagements
We’re looking forward to participating in upcoming engagement opportunities these next few months to discuss the work of the Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC) to promote advanced cyberinfrastructure capabilities on the campuses of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs).
The Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC) and Internet2 have been awarded a nearly $15 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support the acceleration of cyberinfrastructure-centric research capacity at HBCU and TCU campuses.
On Sept. 22, 2022, at 11:30 a.m. ET, MS-CC Director Lawrence Williams will deliver a presentation focused on supporting historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) through the advancement of campus technology, community building, funding support, and professional development opportunities.
MS-CC and Internet2 Present Cybersecurity Workshop Series for HBCUs, TCUs
A series of ransomware security and cyberinfrastructure workshops will be held on the campuses of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) beginning in June 2022.
Read the latest blog by MS-CC Director Lawrence Williams on what advanced cyberinfrastructure entails, and more importantly, why every campus needs to have advanced cyberinfrastructure.
PAST ARTICLES
Lawrence Williams named New MS-CC Director
February 23, 2022
September 17, 2021
March 8, 2021