Maintenance and Archiving of Faculty Research Projects in Arts & Sciences

A&S IT is here to support your research projects with clear guidelines and versatile support. This page will provide you with information about our process for project planning, budgeting, and expectations for ongoing maintenance and support for those joining WashU. It will also provide information about how we can help faculty who are departing the university and wish to take their projects with them. We look forward to supporting your research and welcome you to the Washington University community!

New Projects

The faculty member and the assigned A&S IT project team must create a clear statement of work containing the following information: 

  • Expected staff time commitment along with any potential technology-related costs – including any fees for monthly storage and server hosting that go above and beyond what is provide to faculty by A&S IT or WashU IT.
  • The number of revision requests for the initial project work.

Ongoing maintenance expectations

  • Once the agreed-upon work is complete, if new features are requested then a new statement of work will be created.
  • If the project requires an update to the underlying software or code after 3 years from completion, the faculty member is responsible for any resource costs associated with that update.

Why can't A&S IT commit to the perpetual hosting of research projects?

  • Technologies/coding languages change over time. If the code or OS is outdated or becomes unsecure, we cannot guarantee we will have the resources to rewrite/update the project.
  • As appropriate, a new project statement will need to be established for this type of update. The faculty member will be responsible for some or all of the costs associated with the update.
  • If the project requires an update and the faculty member is unable to fund the project by grant, research funds, department funds, or by appealing to the Dean of A&S, the project data will be archived.
  • A&S IT will notify faculty members when they become aware of a potential change or security risk that will “break” the project.

Some funding agencies have specific requirements about the period of time research data is accessible/maintained which could be beyond the 3-year initial commitment of A&S IT.

  • In these instances, A&S IT will work with the faculty member to find the most appropriate solution which could include:
    • A&S IT continues hosting if the project can continue to be hosted in its original state.
    • A new project is initiated to update the project.  Faculty should be expected to fund the update.
    • Olin Library’s Data Services
    • The Internet Archive
    • Academic, non-profit, or government repositories

 

Project hosting and maintenance upon faculty departure, retirement, or emeriti status

  • A&S IT will make a reasonable effort to give a departing faculty member a copy of the project to take with them regardless of how long it was maintained at WashU. What data can be released is dependent on the type of data being requested and what WashU is allowed to share by law/ WashU policy. General counsel or the Office of Information Security may need to be consulted.  This is especially relevant for data that is regulated by law including PII, PHI, FERPA, and HIPAA.
     
  • If the faculty member chooses not to take the research with them, the decision about what to do with the project and the data goes to the department Chair, program Director, center Director or other University unit that produced the project. If the decision is made to continue the project, all future costs related to the project will need to be funded by the sponsoring area.
     
  • When a faculty member becomes emeritus, the project sponsorship transfers to the department Chair, Program Director, center Director, or other University unit that produced the project. If the decision is made to continue the project, all future costs related to the project will need to be funded by the sponsoring area.
     
  • For a project to stay at WashU after a faculty member departs, there must be a WashU academic sponsoring entity whether it is another faculty member, a department, a center, or a program.

Project Funding

A&S IT makes every effort to accommodate faculty research through a basic offering of web hosting, data storage, and compute resources.  If the project expands beyond the basic offerings, faculty are expected to find funding to meet the needs of their research project.  Potential funding opportunities include:

  • A 50/50 funding split with A&S (A&S IT) and a faculty member’s research account or departmental funding.
  • A&S IT resources can, with prior notice and Dean approval, be considered cost-sharing when submitting grants.
  • Internal seed grants
  • Research funds or departmental funding
  • Center or other WashU unit funding
  • Special request to the Dean’s Office

New faculty bringing in existing projects

If a faculty member wants to bring a project to WashU that requires resources whether storage, programmer time, or hosting the needs of the project should be negotiated as part of the offer letter.

  • Tenure track faculty are granted a startup fund or research account, and any project requirements should be written into that funding.
  • If it was not written into the offer letter initially, the faculty member will need to go to their department chair to request support and possibly funding
  • A charter agreement must be written between the faculty member and the A&S IT group or sponsoring Center.
  • Before moving the project to WashU, a faculty member will need to contact and get clearance from three groups:
    • IRB – Institutional Review Board (If this does not seem relevant, consult with the Director of A&S IT): They will provide approval for any project that contains PII, PHI, or HIPAA data or any project with human subjects.
    • Office of General Counsel: They will ensure this project is not opening WashU, or you, to any potential legal liability.
    • Information Security Office: They will scan the code for security issues and vulnerabilities.
  • The faculty member must facilitate communication and coordination between A&S IT and their previous institution to determine project requirements including code libraries, OS, compute capacity expectations, etc.