Inter-institutional Resource Sharing in Undergraduate HPC Education: Interviews with University Administrators

Abstract

High performance computing (HPC), typically used only in research until recently, is being integrated more into undergraduate curricula across disciplines. HPC resources are expensive but lend themselves easily to sharing among institutions. However, in the context of undergraduate education, inter-institutional sharing of such resources is still relatively rare. The authors hold the belief that generating administrator support early in system-wide initiatives for sharing resources is crucial for long term success. Taking the case of a specific HPC cluster at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, part of the University of Wisconsin System (UW-System) of higher educational institutions, the authors asked 15 administrators from the system about the barriers as well as the path forward for better cluster sharing in undergraduate education. The responses to the interview questions were analyzed qualitatively for themes and sentiments. Five themes arose from this analysis, related to awareness of and access to HPC, cost-sharing structures, industry needs, institutional factors, and variations in benefits depending on the field. The sentiments were overwhelmingly positive, but with variations depending on the questions asked and approaches taken by the interviewees. Overall, the responses indicated a positive attitude and willingness to incorporate HPC in undergraduate education as well as the importance of awareness of such resources. They also indicate that cost-sharing structures and institutional factors are both the biggest barriers and the keys to better sharing practices and industry partnerships. At the end, the authors make recommendations for anyone looking to establish a framework to share HPC resources across institutions.