Two weeks ago we held the first US-RSE Community Building Workshop, in Princeton, NJ. 50 community members spent two full days discussing pertinent issues around RSEs and the US-RSE organization. The energy was palpable and a significant amount of work was accomplished - but there is still much to do.

Breakout working group sessions focused on specific topics related to US-RSE’s 4-pronged mission (Community, Advocacy, Resources, DEI) as well as US-RSE’s internal organizational structure. Each group had the specific goal to produce tangible outputs such as blog posts, white papers, or concrete plans for a future event. Because the workshop space was limited, we were aware that not everyone in the community was able to participate. As a result, over the next month, we aim to bring as much as possible back to the US-RSE community for input, contribution, and feedback as the outputs are completed.

Expect ongoing discussions to happen in dedicated sack channels in US-RSE’s slack workspace. Because of the number of topics, this is the best way to keep focused discussion without overwhelming emails, #general, or another catch-all channel. Over the next few days/weeks, specific breakout session groups will share what contribution opportunities exist and how to best contribute. We openly encourage everyone to join in the conversation!

Breakout working group topics included:

  • Career Path and Professional Development
  • Guidelines and Structure for US-RSE Working & Affinity Groups
  • Regional US-RSE Groups
  • Steering Committee Leadership Processes for Diversity - opportunities and awareness
  • Steering Committee Leadership Processes for Diversity - nomination approach
  • US-RSE financial sustainability
  • Elevating the Stature of RSEs Within the Broader Community
  • Hiring RSEs (e.g. retention, diversity, salaries)
  • Forming an RSE Group (metrics, funding, business models, case to leadership)
  • Education & Training
  • Infrastructure and tooling to support RSEs
  • Planning an in-person Fall Workshop around Hiring RSEs and Data Scientists (US-RSE & ADSA)
  • 2023 US-RSE Conference Planning
  • RSEs in National Labs

Keep an eye on slack over the next week for individual topic updates and opportunities to contribute! If you aren’t on US-RSE slack already, you will get an invite when you join US-RSE.