In Fall of 2018, the Columbia University Libraries coordinated the rollout of a new campus-wide program to provide students with access to instruction in the fundamentals of computational literacy. Filling the gap between formal course-credit offerings and do-it-yourself approaches, Foundations for Research Computing is the result of a multi-year, multi-stakeholder effort to respond to a need for elemental research computing knowledge as a graduate student core competency. Supported by the graduate schools, campus IT, the office of research, and the libraries, Foundations for Research Computing translates a faculty-led vision for critical instructional intervention into several coordinated services and initiatives, actively assessing program success along the way. Through intensive boot camps, workshops, lectures, and peer-consultation opportunities, Columbia students receive novice-to-intermediate assistance in the use of computational approaches, tools, and infrastructure. The presenters will walk attendees through the development of the partnership that led to the resourcing of the Foundations program and they will discuss opportunities and challenges in coordinating a high-level informal instruction program in computing skills.
http://columbia.edu/rcfoundations
