A Partnership Framework for Scaling aWorkforce of Research Cyberprofessionals

The research cyberinfrastructure community has long recognized challenges recruiting, developing, retaining and scaling a strong workforce given the irregular cycle of sponsored research projects and institutional initiatives. The challenges are myriad, and across academic institutions, often vary based on the particular route through which the cyberinfrastructure enterprise evolved. Here we focus on a few specific challenges: building credibility with the research community, ensuring avenues for staff development and advancement, and providing diverse 'hard money' positions to retain talented staff. This paper lays out the approach behind some recent successes in confronting these challenges at the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute in the hopes of providing a general framework for other institutes to adapt.