Tribal College and University Cyberinfrastructure Facilitation

Through the Tribal College and University (TCU) CI Facilitation initiative the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) collaborates with the 37 TCUs nationwide to enable the identification, refinement, adoption, and integration of cyberinfrastructure resources into the TCU campus information technology environment in support of STEM applications. Specific activities including campus cyberinfrastructure facilitation, cyberinfrastructure engagement, strategy and policy development, and CI workforce and professional development activities to support the advancement and use of cyberinfrastructure resources and technologies for crosscutting mission-driven applications such as Native language, climate science, and geographic information systems. Communities of practice, starting with the IT Directors/CIOs and STEM faculty communities provide collaboration and capacity building opportunities within the TCUs. The initiative’s flexibility allows each TCU to tailor project activities to their individual science application, campus information technology, and faculty and student needs. Access to better cyberinfrastructure resources accelerate the exposure and adoption of new technologies and techniques including data storage policies and technologies that preserve data sovereignty and reflect cultural data access requirements. The CI-enabled STEM research at the TCUs provide education and workforce development opportunities to the underrepresented American Indian and Alaska Native populations serving many first-generation students. The use of cyberinfrastructure resources to support, preserve, and promote Native American culture, languages, and heritage empowers the TCU community, including students, faculty, and staff, to become leaders grounded in indigenous values. This effort is also supported by National Discovery Cloud for Climate (NDC-C) resources. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.