Purdue University

Leadership Team

Student Liaisons

• Sathvika Kotha
• Kate Koury
• Amari Gardner

Office Support Staff

Members of rcac-students@groups.purdue.edu

• Leadership Team
• Student Mentor Leads/Mentors
• All Student Employees

Members of ec-students@groups.purdue.edu

• Envision Staff
• Envision Students

Your Mentor will conduct your orientation to research computing which includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Provide a tour of the Envision center, Data Center, and RCAC offices and introduce them to the team
• Review Student Handbook and sign Appendix A
• Review the One Purdue Employee Portal SuccessFactors - grad students only (Timecard, Leave Requests, Performance Management, etc.)
• Provide an overview to the student and schedule training sessions for the first two weeks.
• After the first two weeks, the student should follow up with the Mentor to determine if additional training is needed in specific areas

Students should be expected to work between 10 and 20 hours. Students working less than 10 hours or more than 20 hours will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

• F-1 Visa students may work up to 20 hours per week while school is in session and may work full-time on campus during holidays and vacation periods if intending to register for the next academic semester
• Hourly students do not accrue vacation, sick leave, or other paid time off
• Grad students - see the policy here
• Students are not expected to be available on scheduled vacation, university holiday breaks or during major academic times, such as quiet week and finals. However, if there is an urgent matter that needs a student's attention during scheduled time off, management reserves the right to contact the student via call or text. If there are client meetings or research computing events a student is scheduled for during these times, it is the responsibility of the student to ensure the Mentor and client are notified

In order to help disseminate information to everyone, management will provide an announcement that includes notable items and upcoming events. This will be sent as applicable to the rc-students@list.purdue.edu.

Students are asked to inform their Mentor when all primary work tasks and secondary support tasks have been completed. To support research computing’s mission, it is strongly encouraged for student employees to devote time to learning and research (i.e learn a new software, research new concepts/techniques of interest, etc.)

If at any time there are questions concerning an assigned project, task or event - PLEASE ASK your Mentor for additional clarification.

When the management team contacts a student via email, it’s important to respond in a timely manner. If an urgent matter comes up needing a student’s immediate attention, the management team reserves the right to contact the student via call or text.

The purpose of the performance evaluation process is to promote communication and provide useful feedback about job performance, to facilitate better working relationships, to build a historical record of performance, and to contribute to professional development.

Student employees will participate in an annual performance evaluation during the spring semester on an individual basis with the management team. Each student will be evaluated on the following metrics and, if applicable, a salary increase may be granted and effective July 1.

• Quality of Work - the end product is produced to Research Computing and the Envision Center's standards and satisfaction
• Innovative Thinking - creative ideas/concepts implemented to complete a project
• Efficiency - completing projects in an efficient manner, minimizing waste
• Attendance

Students will also participate in a mid-year review during August/September to promote continual professional development. This mid-year review is for discussion only and will not result in a salary change.

In order to promote a relaxed and positive work environment, the dress code is relaxed compared to most workplaces at Purdue. Students can wear jeans and comfortable clothing with some restrictions noted below, but not limited to:

• No holes in clothing
• No pajama pants
• No crop tops
• Offensive content

While common sense is the governing principle, management has the final word regarding appropriate dress.

During Research Computing outreach events, students are required to wear the appropriate branded attire. Students will be provided a department branded polo and tshirt by the staff upon hire. Depending on the event, the Mentor will communicate which shirt should be worn: t-shirt or polo.

If you have concerns or questions about the dress code, please discuss them with your Mentor.

The use of profanity, distasteful humor, slurs, and other potentially offensive or abusive language is unacceptable.

Discrimination and/or any type of harassment will not be tolerated. Anyone who violates this policy will be investigated and subject to disciplinary action, which may include suspension or termination. If you feel you are a victim of discrimination and/or harassment, please notify your Mentor directly.

If at any time you feel you are being discriminated against and/or harassed by a client, contact management either in person or via email.

All individuals submitting a report of discrimination and/or harassment to will be kept confidential.

You can also contact the Office of Institutional Equity at 765-494-7255 or equity@purdue.edu

Research Computing will provide the equipment to students for completion of assigned work as necessary. Workstations and equipment will be shared by student employees.

Students are permitted to use Research Computing resources for class work or other noncommercial personal projects with these conditions:

• Must not be during your scheduled work hours
• Must not impair or conflict with Research Computing projects or other employees who are working on Research Computing projects
• If using specialized equipment (AR/VR), must be authorized by Mentor
• Any content produced using Research Computing resources may not be commercialized

Software and tools can be added to equipment hardware upon request. Please ask your Mentor for approval prior to downloading or buying any software. If approved, provide the purchase information to the office support staff to complete the purchase. All purchase receipts and packing slips must be turned in to the office support staff.

Personal identifiable information should not be saved on workstations or left at workstations. Since the work area is open and accessible to all who enter the building, it is best to not leave any personal belongings at workstations. Storage containers are provided by the center to the student for personal items.

Workstations must be kept clean and tidy at all times. Prior to leaving at the end of your shift, make sure all personal items are stored, trash is thrown away, and chairs are pushed in. The university custodians only pick up trash and do not clean the center. It is our responsibility to sweep and keep the center clean. If you see a mess, please clean it up!

Students need to complete the WebCert training annually on HIPAA and FERPA. Understanding what this is, as well as how to handle this type of controlled information is important in not only keeping those who the information entails safe and private, but also protecting students from finding themselves in trouble regarding the mishandling of HIPAA and FERPA data.

Always lock your computer (⊞ Win+L) when leaving your desk. Do not leave personal belongings in the student area.

In an emergency, call 911! Report any suspicious activity or persons to your mentor. If you are working in the Envision Center, email the Envision staff at envision@purdue.edu to report any suspicious activity or persons.

Projects are established with a client once a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Statement of Work (SOW) has been created and approved. Each project will consist of a student team lead (project manager) and student employees with the applicable skills needed for the project. The management team will determine which students will be on each project, as well as provide oversight and support for all projects.

For HPC and the REU program, students will be assigned a project at the time of hire.

All students will have the expectation to create and present about their work/project upon the end of the program or at the end of the spring semester and may also have the opportunity to present at a conference.

Asana is a project management tool that is used by Research Computing to track progress and set timelines and due dates for certain objectives.

You may view ASANA 101 on the Resources page of CISTEP

Projects within Asana should be kept as up to date as possible so there is no repetition of work. If the project manager assigns a task to an employee, it is the responsibility of that employee to follow up on the assignment within the timeline specified.

Project Managers are expected to enter status updates on the projects they are working on in the ‘Progress’ section of Asana.

Once a project has been completed, it will be archived by management (not deleted).

Harvest is the time tracking tool used by Research Computing to capture hours for time spent on projects (both billable and non-billable), research, outreach, training, etc. Training will be provided during the onboarding process on how to use Harvest, if your role requires it.

Everyone required to use Harvest will be given the ‘admin’ role in order to set up new projects and add themselves as a team member to an existing project. Please ensure that a project does not already exist before creating a new one in order to avoid duplicate projects. It is the expectation that all hours worked during the week are entered into Harvest on a weekly basis. Please ask your Mentor if you are unsure about where hours should be logged.

All students are given access to the applicable projects folder in Box or Teams during orientation. These application is used for all applicable project documentation (i.e. WBS, SOW, project user manuals, meeting notes, etc).

Students shall file Weekly Status Report on projects to highlight accomplishments and review any blockers that may need peer or staff attention. This requirement is based on conversations and determine by your mentor.

Students working on projects will store and access data on Data Depot along with local active spaces, version control storage and archival space:

1. Local storage on dev machines (1TB Hard Drive): this space is for active temporary storage for local fast access. Please do not use the OS SSD drive for file storage (C: drive)
2. Data Depot: This is for routine backup, inter-office transfer and project storage. Active, pending and recent projects are located here. Do not run, open or edit files directly from remote drives as program crashes and network connection problems can corrupt files. Transfer working files to the local hard drive (not C: drive), then routinely backup on remote storage (Data Depot).
3. Data Depot/archives: Older inactive projects slated for archival can be stored here. (years inactive 2-4)
4. Fortress: Tape storage is available for inactive projects for long term archival
5. Version Control:

   a. Unity Team shall be used for active unity projects as the team and version control. Backups should still be made to Data Depot.

   b. Github/Bitbucket is also available for non-Unity projects and will need to be discussed on a project basis with the Mentors

6. Box - Envision students have access to EC Projects in Box

The management team recognizes and supports the following priorities listed in order of importance:

1. Physical and mental wellbeing
2. Course work and activities
3. Work

RCAC relies on student staff as a vital part of our organization. It is essential that students report to work on time on the days they are scheduled.

Each semester the student will use the student calendar to communicate each student’s work schedule. The student should enter their work schedule at the beginning of each semester in the calendar. Although last minute changes may occur, every effort should be made to communicate these changes at least 24 hours prior to the start of the shift to the appropriate management team.

Create/edit your schedule through Teams

Preferences will be considered but Mentors retain the ability to schedule accordingly, outside of academic requirements to meet center’s needs. Students are expected to be available to work Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm unless during university scheduled holidays. Students may be asked to volunteer for occasional outreach events that take place on evenings or weekends. Weekly work schedules can be adjusted to accommodate these events.

Absences are excused when an email request is sent a minimum of 24hrs prior to scheduled work time, and management has responded with an approval. Illnesses are also considered excused as long as they are communicated via email to the applicable email list as soon as possible.

Excused absences include:

• Vacation requested and approved
• Work-related injury leave
• Bereavement leave requested and approved
• Trauma-related leave
• Illness

Academic rescheduling, including:

• Class schedule changes
• Class team meetings
• Instructor meetings

Absence from scheduled work that has not been communicated and approved. This will result in the start of the progressive discipline process.

Absence from scheduled work for more than 15 minutes (includes being late and/or leaving early), without prior approval, will result in the start of the progressive discipline process.

1. Coaching
2. Verbal warning will be issued
3. Written reprimand will be given outlining the incident, why the behavior is inappropriate,
4. Termination

*Situations involving discrimination and harassment fall outside of the progressive discipline model and will result in immediate termination.

Helpful Information for REU Students:

Students will receive a stipend of $600/week plus travel costs to attend a conference such as SuperComputing or PEARC.

Housing Information

Dining

Students are on their own for dining. We do not purchase dinning/meal plans as meal swipes can only be used at the pre-arranged times and if you do not use them, you lose them.

Schedule

REU projects are usually planned for a 11-week period during the summer. Students are anticipated to work on-site in person at Purdue, working 40hrs per week.

Time Off

Send an email to your mentor requesting time-off

Accounts

Non-Purdue students need to go through the R4P (Request for Privilege's) process:

Projects

Students are assigned one of the research projects and a mentor for that particular project. Students will utilize Asana to track project deliverables and milestones. Additional information about how to use Asana can be found on the CISTEP Resources Page under 'Videos'. Project tracking can be done via other methods, this needs to be a conversation with your mentor.

Presentations

Each student will be required to give a presentation on their work. At the end of the program, RCAC will have an afternoon mini-symposium at which time each student gives a short (15 minute) oral presentation and or presents a poster. to which all students, all Anvil and RCAC staff, and key people from across and outside of the University are invited. These talks will describe what has been accomplished, and plans or suggestions for the future.

Laptops

Students will be provided a laptop if needed. Mentors should notify the project director if a laptop is needed at the time of hire to help ensure it will be ready when the student arrives.

• Hawkins Hall
• community refrigerator available
• rates and timeframe on web page (Summer Intern Housing)
• parking, can park with anywhere with a Y
• Move in - show up with your stuff any time on or after the opening day (see website for date hall is open/closes)