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This document outlines the rights and responsibilities of both collaborators (PI’s and Co-PI’s) and NCSA staff, in hopes of fostering successful collaborative efforts by respecting both the needs of collaborators as well as the needs of NCSA staff.
NCSA efficiently staffs the project with experienced personnel during normal business hours (Monday - Friday, 8am-5pm), while:
- Coordinating employee efforts between projects
- Incentivizing employees with longer term career paths
- Allowing projects with less than an FTE of funding to utilize NCSA expertise
- Allowing projects with less than a year of funding to utilize NCSA expertise
- Leveraging past efforts to rapidly ramp up a new project.
To ensure a successful collaboration, we lay out below the rights the group provides individual projects, and the rights the project provides the group.
Collaborator Rights
Hiring: Collaborators may sit in as ad hoc members of an interview committee for candidate finalists, as appropriate.
Access: During the course of the project, the collaborator may approach and set meetings as desired with NCSA employees paid on their project.
Evaluations: Collaborators will be given the opportunity to provide input on annual employee evaluations for NCSA employees funded on their projects.
Selection: Current and potential collaborators may approach NCSA employees to discuss the possibility of future collaborations.
Scope Adjustment: Collaborators may discuss changes in the scope of ongoing collaborations with NCSA employees and group leads, to determine if NCSA employees has the required availability and expertise to deliver on the updated scope, and to update the statement of work.
Collaborator Responsibilities
Communication: During the course of the project, NCSA employees should be in active communication with the collaborator. The collaborator should be responsive to NCSA employees, and guide the work toward the intended deliverables. If there is a lack of guidance from the project, NCSA employees will communicate this to the Group Leads, and attempt to be proactive in identifying and carrying out development that is perceived as being needed for the advancement and success of the project. As mentioned above, substantial changes in the statement of work and/or desired deliverables should be formally communicated (ideally with changes to the original statement of work) and mutually agreed upon by both the collaborator and the Group Leads.
Performance: Collaborators should raise any project concerns, including staffing/performance concerns, with the Group Leads. A level of dialogue should be maintained with the Group Leads such that any concerns could be brought up early and addressed sooner rather than letting small problems turn into bigger more difficult ones later on.
Funding/Appointment Changes: If funding levels to the group need to be changed, e.g. amount of staff time, this should be discussed with the Group Leads 6 months in advance, or as far in advance as possible, to allow the group time to shift personnel.
Statement of Work: Collaborator’s expectations on deliverables should be based on a statement of work (ideally, all NCSA employee efforts on the project will be captured in a written statement of work). If the collaborator needs to make changes to the statement of work, it should be discussed with the appropriate Group Lead to allow sufficient time for employees to close out current activities and shift direction.
Memorandum of Understanding: If the project funding is managed by a unit other than NCSA, NCSA will additionally draft a Memorandum of Understanding to which the collaborator, NCSA employees, and NCSA group leads must agree.
Crediting NCSA Contributions: NCSA employees should be appropriately credited for intellectual contributions made to the project, including being added as co-authors on scholarly and scientific publications and co-creators on invention reports to the Office of Technology Management.
Employee Rights
Funding/Starting/Completing Work: A statement of work should be agreed upon by both parties, and funding for the work should be formalized, before the NCSA employee begins working on the project. Should funding end, a plan to wrap up the final aspects of the work with the remaining funds should be established. Employees will take vacations and sick-leave time off periodically, so responses may not be immediate.
Employee Responsibilities
Communication: During the course of the project, NCSA employees should be in active communication with the collaborator. The NCSA employee should be responsive to the collaborator, and work with the collaborator to ensure satisfactory completion of the deliverables. If there is a lack of response from NCSA employees, the collaborator will communicate this to the Group Leads and attempt to be proactive in identifying and carrying out development that is perceived as being needed for the advancement and success of the project. As mentioned above, substantial changes in the statement of work and/or desired deliverables should be formally communicated (ideally with changes to the original statement of work) and mutually agreed upon by both the collaborator and the Group Leads.
Selection: NCSA employees should bring collaborator requests to be on a project to the attention of the Group Leads and get approval before any work is carried out. The Group Leads will strive to accommodate requests based on overall group and group project needs. In the case of limitations on the desired NCSA employee’s time, a portion of the NCSA staff’s time may be assigned to the project along with the time of another NCSA staff, which will be coordinated with the requested NCSA employee member.
Out-of-office: If NCSA employees are planning out-of-office days, where possible and relevant, they should proactively notify the project at least two-weeks in advance.
Allocations: NCSA employees will strive to ensure the allocated time on a project is given to the project. For example if 50% of a staff member’s time is on a given project, then the staff member spends 50% of their work week on that project. In the event that strong management practices are not present for a given project and tasks are not sufficiently continuous to ensure the allocation commitment is met, the developer will attempt to be proactive in identifying and carrying out development that is perceived as being needed for the advancement and success of the project.
Management: A level of dialogue should be maintained with the Group Leads of NCSA employees paid on projects such that any concerns could be brought up early and addressed sooner rather than letting small problems turn into bigger more difficult ones later on.
Expectations on Deliverables: Collaborator’s expectations on deliverables should be based on a Statement of Work (SoW) or tasks agreed upon between the collaborator and the group (ideally with a written SoW). If the collaborator needs to make changes and evolve the work plan it should be discussed with the appropriate Group Lead to allow sufficient time for staff to close out current activities and shift gears into the new direction.