RAMPS Communications Framework (Draft)

The Resource Allocations Marketplace and Platform Services (RAMPS) will ensure that the NSF-funded national cyberinfrastructure is accessible and equitable for all researchers no matter the size of the institution, the scale of the planned work, the discipline of the research, or the demographics of the requestor.

ACCESS is an advanced computing and data ecosystem funded by the NSF to support open research in pursuit of discovery.

Allocation Services interfaces with the research community to facilitate requests looking to utilize advanced cyberinfrastructure provided by the NSF.

RAMPS is an open, inviting, and democratized allocations marketplace for a range of novel resources to empower all research communities with a simplified request and review framework through a flexible software environment.

RAMPS is integrating the NSF’s advanced cyberinfrastructure into one flexible and intuitive allocation request system to expedite time to discovery for researchers. The allocations Marketplace and Resource Catalog will serve as the welcoming gateway for a diverse set of resources, researchers and disciplines.

With the sun setting on the XSEDE program, RAMPS is set to take over the Allocations Services for over 50,000 legacy stakeholders currently receiving communications via XSEDE. With plenty of changes to the XSEDE allocations policies planned, RAMPS must communicate clearly and concisely what features and functionality are most critical to the successful transition of services.

Team members responsible for communications originating from RAMPS are summarized here. This document assumes listed personnel can fulfill many of the responsibilities outlined. Specific team members are indicated in specific roles when applicable.

• Laura Herriott - oversees Continuous Improvement activities for audiences and jointly oversees the Allocations Process area as impacted by new capabilities being transitioned into operations.

• Agbeli Ameko - is responsible for preparing the DEI plan, ensuring the plan is executed by the RAMPS team, and guiding the incorporation of DEI improvements into the allocation processes and software infrastructure for all targeted audiences.

• Ken Hackworth - leads the Allocations Group in carrying out the day-to-day allocations procedures and interfaces directly with the research community as well as the allocations representatives from the resource providers.

• David Hart - oversees the Software Infrastructure activities and jointly oversees the Allocations Process area as impacted by the Software Infrastructure.

• Nathan Tolbert - leads the development of Innovative Pilot projects that will interface with RAMPS partners.

• Stephen Deems - chairs the Leadership Team and Management Team and has primary responsibility for overall project management and administration.

Communications regarding RAMPS aligns directly with the four Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) elements of the project:

• Continuous Improvement - is infused into all RAMPS goals. The vision is for all RAMPS communications to include mechanisms for feedback and input from targeted audiences.

• Allocations Processes - are at the core of what RAMPS enables and is of key importance to our top stakeholders (Researcher, Resource Providers, and Reviewers). Ensuring the clarity of these policies and practices is essential for continued success in providing access to the nation’s CI.

• Software Infrastructure - capable of serving an increasingly complex resource environment in an efficient, scalable manner is paramount to the success of RAMPS.

• Administration - that is approachable and attentive to the needs of RAMPS’ target audiences is essential for proficient coordination and management of activities.

Major audiences of RAMPS products and services are summarized here. This list attempts to be general but encompassing of the types of personnel we expect to interact with.

• Researchers - are considered to be all persons who will request or otherwise utilize allocations on the cyberinfrastructure resources

• Resource Providers - are those individuals and organizations who provide and support the cyberinfrastructure resources to the ACCESS community

• Reviewers - provide guidance for ACCESS researchers during their allocation request.

• ACCESS Collaborators - are those individuals who are funded on other service tracks

• RAMPS Partners - are those parties directly listed in the RAMPS proposal as collaborators and are essential to the Innovative Pilots

• NSF - including program, directorate, and cross-directorate leadership

• General Research Community - can be considered all science, technology, engineering, humanities, and mathematics areas who could potentially benefit from CI resources

• HBCUs, MSIs, TCUs - institutions or persons affiliated with Historically Black Colleges & Universities, Minority Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges & Universities

• Scientific Gateways - are specific researchers who lead allocations and host tools for a community of end researchers

• Related Programs - include groups such as the Campus Champions, Science Gateways Community Institute, etc.

• XRAS Clients - are those that pay for XRAS software-as-a-service
  
  

When generating and preparing communications pertaining to RAMPS and ACCESS as a whole, our team aims to prioritize several of the following mindsets when crafting and considering our messaging:

“Make ACCESS look good”

At every moment possible we must strive to make the ACCESS program feel positive, professional, organized, cohesive, and committed to our communities.

“Bring ACCESS to the communities”

While efforts to drive traffic to ACCESS resources will exist, we must be explicit in the need to bring the program directly to community members.

“Encourage community participation”

Wherever and whenever possible we will usher our community members to join in our collective efforts of supporting the researchers using ACCESS resources whether that be through panel reviews, advisory board participation, or focus group discussions.

“Advocate for and empower young investigators”

Future generations of researchers need attention now. Whenever possible we will emphasize the importance of allowing young investigators to pursue their own research endeavors in an effort to build their experience, networks, and confidence.

“Amplify voices of our targeted audiences”

RAMPS is dedicated to listening to and advocating for groups that aren’t well represented in the national research community. In addition to our content creation considerations, we will prioritize feedback from these targeted audiences and incorporate them into our discussions and planned work.

“Leverage community networks”

Whenever possible RAMPS will look to other community networks (Campus Champions, CASC, ACM, CARCC, etc.) to help bring ACCESS to their communities and encourage involvement from all levels of the community.

“Promote content of other service Tracks”

The efforts of other Tracks will be spotlighted whenever possible in communications that are sent to the same or similar targeted audiences.

“Encourage call-to-action and feedback”

RAMPS will make an effort to include a call-to-action in their communications - whether it’s participation in a panel or meeting or ushering audiences to tools/new features - and encourage the sharing of feedback.

Whether developed and managed by RAMPS, another service Track, or the ACO, we plan to leverage multiple channels to reach our target audiences in the ways they prefer to communicate.

• ACCESS Website - serves as the front-door to information and resources pertaining to all the service offerings under the ACCESS program.

• RAMPS Website - is a sub-site of the above website that will highlight the necessary information and resources to all audiences directed to the “Allocations” tab.

• Email - facilitates direct contact with current, past, and prospective audiences.

• XRAS Notifications - provide direct communication to researchers requesting allocations

• Newsletters - allow for short communications across ACCESS tracks directed at targeted audiences.

• Presentations - allow for audience participation, live feedback, and recorded content to be made available after events.

• Trainings/Webinars - will be hosted on the RAMPS website and will allow for audiences to follow along at their own pace and time.

• MATCH Resources - will be leveraged to promote content that’s immediately relevant to researchers who may already be seeking out additional guidance and support.

• Meetings - directed to specific targeted audiences will help address specific areas for clarification.

• Confluence Wiki Pages - will serve as an archive of previous updates, communications, and documentation.

• Slack - will serve as an interactive space to engage with multiple stakeholder groups.

• Reports - will mainly be generated and sent to the

List of Mediums Currently in Use:

• Email (Originating from):

  • PI, co-PIs, Allocations Manager, DEI Facilitator

• Newsletters (Sent by):

  • ACO, Track 3

• Slack (Spaces):

  • ACCESS, Resource Providers, Community Members

• XSEDE Portal

  • Front page, Allocations pages

• Meetings/Presentations (Audiences):

  • NSF, Campus Champions, Resource Providers, XSEDE Advisory Board, Tribal Colleges, HBCUs, RMACC, PEARC, SP Forum, SGCI, SURA

• Websites:

  • Advance to ACCESS, access-ci.org, XSEDE Portal

Metrics surrounding the communications process that will be captured by Allocations website hits, Feedback submitted, and Communications sent.

General Communications

Standard processes for generating and reviewing communications and event creation from RAMPS will allow the group to scale efforts while maintaining consistency and integrity within our messaging.

Upon realization of a need for an event or communication by the RAMPS team, team members will utilize the Content Creation Checklist for preparation and review. The checklist outlines the audiences and mediums outlined above, in addition to concerns paramount to RAMPS DEI efforts. The RAMPS Content Review Team will be responsible for reviewing created content.

Announcements of events will follow the Messaging Matrix (below) to ensure communications reach the necessary audiences through their associated channels. Agenda, related links and any necessary documents will be included in event communications and in calendar entries ahead of time (when applicable). Reminders will be sent for events and communications that require attention and feedback.

For Events

When hosting events the RAMPS team will be sure to remind audience members of adherence to the ACCESS Code of Conduct. For Zoom events, live captions will be enabled, and recordings will be made available (when applicable). A RAMPS team member will be assigned to take notes and record feedback from discussion and chat. Metrics regarding attendance and feedback will be tracked and incorporated into Continuous Improvement efforts. Options to provide feedback after the event will always be made available to attendees.

Feedback that requires follow-up will be handled directly by Laura Herriott and incorporated into ongoing Continuous Improvement efforts and disseminated to appropriate team members.

The following table provides a high-level overview of the audiences we intend to target, associated channels of communications, frequency of communications, messages disclosed, and interested outcomes for said communications.

When crafting any RAMPS communication the team will be mindful of certain considerations regarding the ACCESS program and overall communication coordination efforts.

• Engagement with the ACO will help streamline and unify communications processes and practices. Additional avenues of communication are emerging as we approach September 1, 2022.

• Incorporating input from other service Tracks on communications topics and events relevant to their area(s) will be prioritized.

The RAMPS team acknowledges that urgent issues may arise in the course of the five year program that require immediate action. The following attempts to lay out general communications strategies for several scenarios that could negatively impact RAMPS/ACCESS:

• Infrastructure Problems - if infrastructure outages arise, the communications team will rapidly consult the DevOps team to get a sense of how long the outage may persist for. Relevant stakeholders, notably end researchers, resource providers, and reviewers will be notified through their relevant channels. Follow-up will be sent once the issue has been resolved.

• Natural Disaster - in the event of major or massive outage due to natural elements, the process will be similar to Infrastructure Problems above. Since some of RAMPS infrastructure resides in redundant locations, we don’t expect this to be a persistent problem.

• Late or Undelivered Tools - in the unlikely event that a critical Allocations tool is late or undelivered the communications team will meet with the Management and DevOps team to discuss a path forward while the delay persists. Efforts will be made to minimally disrupt the end researcher community.

• Unethical Behavior - if a RAMPS team member were to act in a way that is not consistent with the ACCESS Code of Conduct in a public setting the RAMPS team will engage the NSF and ACO to coordinate a communication and disciplinary action to move forward with.