Statewide Users Group |
What is SUG?The scientists and engineers who use OSC find interaction in the research community to be central for the advancement of computational methods within and between disciplines. To ensure a productive environment for research, an active Statewide Users Group (SUG) provides the director with program and policy advice. SUG meets bi-monthly and is headed by a chairperson elected yearly from the SUG membership. The SUG has established Allocations, Software and Activities, and Hardware and Operations standing committees to assist in providing advice and direction to the Center. University presidents, provosts, or vice-presidents of research appoint SUG members. These members have been
recommended by the local user communities. SUG Meeting Minutes and Agendas are available online here. Allocations CommitteeThe SUG Allocations Committee oversees a peer review grant process that allocates system resources to all academic users of the Center. Peer review by mail followed by peer panel review guarantees access by all qualified principal investigators and guarantees the State of Ohio that the research conducted at the Center meets nationally recognized standards. This group also reviews proposals from the Software and Activities Committee for system access to support their programs. Hardware and Operations CommitteeThe SUG Hardware and Operations Committee advises the OSC director on user needs and priorities for hardware configuration and aquisitions. It reviews proposals for all major hardware acquisitions for both the Ohio Visualization Laboratory and other public OSC services. The committee is also responsible for discussing policy, procurement, and operational issues. Software and Activities CommitteeOne priority of SUG is to advise the OSC Director on acquiring outstanding software requested by the user community. Commercial and user software supported by the Center is reviewed for availability of the resource, clarity of documentation, quality of user interface, ease of use, logical development of the presentation, effectiveness, contribution to OSC resources, and degree of restrictions. The Software and Activities Committee oversees a program that supplies academic writers of useful software with system time for porting in return for long-term access to the software for OSC users. The Software and Activities Committee also coordinates OSC-sponsored user programs and activities that require SUG involvement. As part of its mandate, this group reviews proposals from users for OSC-sponsored meetings. It also oversees the OSC Visitors Program, which offers system access (on the basis of normal allocation review procedures) to visitors to departments at Ohio academic institutions. |
