Lowering Barriers and Raising Engagement: Stewardship Lessons From Faculty at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions Using National Cyberinfrastructure

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Abstract
Data-intensive science and artificial intelligence-enabled workflows now shape research and teaching, yet faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs) face tight resources and steep barriers to adopting advanced computing tools. This article reports stewardship lessons drawn from interviews with three PUI faculty who use two National Science Foundation-supported cyberinfrastructure ecosystems: Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support and the National Science Data Fabric, which are relied on to support teaching and research. Across fields spanning physics, computer science, and environmental science, the faculty converged on three practical patterns: 1) lower the barrier to first success with low-friction onboarding and ready-to-run examples, 2) make support human and immediate through visible help channels and rapid triage, and 3) make science engaging by bringing real datasets and problems into student projects. We conclude with a compact stewardship checklist for teams building and operating national-scale computing and data services to make computing practical for everyone.
Funding Information
  • National Science Foundation (2138811)
  • National Science Foundation (2138259)
  • National Science Foundation (2138286)
  • National Science Foundation (2138307)
  • National Science Foundation (2137603)
  • National Science Foundation (2138296)

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