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Cyberinfrastructure

//CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE

Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Team

Since 2017 the AIHEC Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Team works to further the TCUs’ advancement and adoption of campus cyberinfrastructure by leveraging National Science Foundation (NSF) funding including the TCU CI Study (NSF 1644185), North Dakota Cyber Team (NSF 2018975), CC* CIRA TCU CI Strategies (NSF 2018979), and the current TCU Cybersecurity (NSF 2226083) and TCU CI Facilitation (NSF 2334701).  For this program, cyberinfrastructure encompasses all the social and technical information technology (IT) resources that are necessary to connect laboratories, data, hardware, and people that support academic research and education at the TCUs. As indicated in the figure below recent funding for the CI Team has led to 21 cyberinfrastructure initiatives. To date, each TCU has participated in at least two initiatives with an average of seven initiatives per Tribal College. During this time, many TCUs achieved significant progress enhancing their campus IT departments and capabilities, reducing barriers to using CI based resources, expanding and adopting campus-based cyberinfrastructure technologies, and providing a foundation for better alignment with their academic and research departments. The AIHEC CI Team’s ongoing experiences and interactions with TCU faculty, staff, and students are the catalyst for additional TCU cyberinfrastructure-based activities.

(Updated Figure 1)

Despite this progress, many challenges remain, including access to monetary, management, and human network resources, the ability to train and retain a technical staff, and facilitation of a comprehensive understanding of programmatic cyberinfrastructure requirements. Although these barriers are similar to those faced by other small colleges and universities, TCUs have a unique set of mission-specific priorities. Priorities associated with maintaining, preserving, and restoring Native languages and cultural traditions present additional barriers to the adoption and use of cyberinfrastructure technologies.

The project focuses on a crosscutting set of science applications tied to the overall TCU missions. Current focus areas include: drone and unmanned aerial vehicles; artificial intelligence; science, and geographic information systems (GIS); and, Esports.  These areas leverage research and education activities of interest to multiple TCUs, have growing cyberinfrastructure requirements, and are expandable to both other discipline areas as well as to other campuses.

 

Navigate the links below for an overview of the major AIHEC CI Team initiatives with the Tribal Colleges and Universities. Please contact Alex Grandon if you are interested in learning more about the AIHEC Cyberinfrastructure Team and its initiatives.

Major AIHEC CI Team Initiatives

TCU IT DIRECTORS / CIO COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

The AIHEC Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Team hosts the Tribal College and University (TCU) IT Directors/CIOs Community of Practice once every three weeks to engage topics in cyberinfrastructure that impact the Tribal College community.

Primary outcomes or results:

  • Share best practices and work together to address common IT challenges that impact the Tribal College and University community.
  • Provide support from the AIHEC CI team and colleagues in the national CI community.
  • Increase understanding of information technology issues that are impacting the Tribal College community

Previous Topic Areas Include:

Cybersecurity Policy Development
Cyberinfrastructure strategic planning
CI Funding Opportunities
Drone/AI/Esports Working Groups

The TCU IT Directors/CIOs Community of Practice meets every third week on Wednesdays at 2pm CT.

Please contact Alex Grandon for an invitation to join.

AIHEC facilitates the use of cyberinfrastructure (CI) resources in support of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research and academic activities at the 37 TCUs nationwide through a National Science Foundation award (#2334701) titled Tribal College and University Cyberinfrastructure Facilitation (see Press Release). CI facilitation activities for enabling TCUs to identify, define, adopt, and integrate CI resources into their campus IT environments include (1) facilitation, (2) engagement, (3) strategic planning and policy development, and (4) workforce and professional development.

CI engagement through exposure to existing and emerging CI trends will expand the reach, knowledge, and presence of the TCU community, while strategy and policy development activities will empower TCUs to engage and advance STEM research and academic activities more effectively. CI workforce and professional activities will further foster skill development, provide STEM training opportunities, and boost collaboration.

Facilitating communities of practice, starting with the IT Directors/CIOs and STEM-focused working groups, provides collaboration and capacity-building opportunities at the TCUs. CI Team working groups to support STEM programs include:

  • GIT/Drone Programs | Meet via Zoom the first Tuesday of each month at 2pm ET
  • Artificial Intelligence | Meet via Zoom the first Thursday of each month at 2pm ET
  • Esports | Meet via Zoom the second Wednesday of each month at 2pm ET

Please contact Shelly Knight, CI facilitation for the AIHEC CI Team, if you are interested in participating in a working group.

The CI-enabled STEM activities at the TCUs deliver education and workforce development to largely rural, remote areas, serving mostly first-generation students. Building the TCUs’ capacity to provide CI-enabled education and research is critical to Tribal Nations and offers broader impacts on surrounding communities by supporting the local and national workforce and economic development.

The AIHEC Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Team works with TCUs in small cohorts to develop strategic plans for their IT organization and campus-wide cyberinfrastructure that complements the comprehensive strategic plan of the TCU.

Primary outcomes or results:

  • Comprehensive campus cyberinfrastructure baseline assessment for the TCU
  • Recommendations for cyberinfrastructure strategic plans
  • A draft CI strategic plan for the campus to consider and implement

TCUs who have engaged in AIHEC’s CI strategic planning initiative:

Little Priest Tribal College
Turtle Mountain Community College
Aaniiih Nakoda College
Nebraska Indian Community College
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
Ilisagvik College
College of the Muscogee Nation
College of Menominee Nation
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University
Stone Child College

Please contact Alex Grandon for more information on the CI Strategic Planning initiative. The AIHEC CI Team is seeking the next cohort of Tribal Colleges for this initiative.

The AIHEC Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Team encourages TCUs to conduct cybersecurity assessments to provide guidance on developing more secure campus networks. After the assessments, the CI team supports the TCUs on addressing the recommendations, including developing policies and procedures that encourage more cyber secure behaviors among campus end users.

Primary outcomes or results:

  • Cybersecurity Assessments from vetted and trusted cybersecurity firms or non-profits
  • Cybersecurity Policy Development
  • TCU Cybersecurity resources and notifications for TCUs
  • TCU Cybersecurity Working Group

Please contact Alex Grandon for more information on the TCU Cybersecurity initiative.

The AIHEC Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Team provides support to TCUs in support of proposal development for federal, state or other identified funding opportunities specifically focused on supporting cyberinfrastructure resources or collaborations.

Primary outcomes or results:

  • Overview of the currently available CI funding opportunities
  • Proposal best practices, solicitation review and identification of proposal requirements
  • Identification of CI based collaborations.

Please contact Alex Grandon for more information on the CI Funding Support initiative.

The AIHEC Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Team collaborates with the regional and national CI community, understanding best practices within the community as well as providing an opportunity to grow collaborative relationships between the CI Team, TCUs, and the broader CI community.  Current collaborations include:

  • The Quilt, the consortium of Research and Education Networks nationwide committed to collectively advancing research & education networking by solving problems and learning together as well as developing and exchanging best practices.
  • The MS-CC (NSF #2137123 and #2234326) is a nurturing alliance to improve cyberinfrastructure capabilities at historically Black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and minority-serving institutions.
  • Northern Tier Network Consortium empowers its collective research and education faculty to ask the bigger questions and engage in holistic research with colleagues.

The AIHEC Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Team hosts Cyberinfrastructure Workshops for the Tribal College and University community.  The first workshop was hosted in May 2024. AIHEC will host the next TCU CI Workshop on March 31 – April 2, 2026 in Minneapolis, MN.

Primary outcomes or results:

  • Presentations from across the TCU community on advancements in cyberinfrastructure
  • Presentations from trusted partners on available CI resources for the TCU Community
  • Discussions on recent CI challenges and possible solutions among the TCU Community
  • Available funding to support travel by TCU personnel

Please contact Alex Grandon for more information on the TCU CI Workshops.

The AIHEC Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Team has released an application for all Tribal Colleges and Universities to use to consider becoming a Cyber Team. TCUs selected to become a Cyber Team will be provided a $100,000 subaward to advance campus cyberinfrastructure and be engaged with the AIHEC CI Team over a two-year period in a customize program to further develop CI on your TCU campus. Initiatives included in the customized program may include:

● A CI site visit resulting in focused engagements to assess and address cyberinfrastructure issues and campus priorities identified during the site visit.
● CI strategic planning and policy development
● Hands-on proposal development support to fund future CI activities and equipment.
● Campus-specific cybersecurity support and guidance.
● CI facilitation for campus research activities, especially in Native language, Climate Science, GIS, and Data Storage.
● CI professional and workforce development support.

For more information, please contact Alex Grandon, Cyberinfrastructure Coordinator.

Download the The Cyber Team Application