I-Light proactively engages its members through an annual member meeting, regular site visits (approximately 12 per year), periodic email communications, and direct staff participation in member infrastructure projects (i.e., campus expansion, backbone upgrade, etc.). I-Light also regularly reviews the performance of its backbone and connections to its members. This information is shared with members to inform their decisions regarding capacity and infrastructure planning.

Through this proposal, I-Light’s needs-assessment approach will be transformed to include a multi-step process that engages I-Light member researchers and member CI champions (i.e., those who support CI on the local campus). This process is intended to increase the exchange of information concerning researcher needs and campus + I-Light capabilities. Bringing these campus constituents together, along with experts from Indiana’s larger research institutions (e.g., Indiana University, Purdue University, etc.), for the purpose of ensuring the campus and regional networks are meeting current and near future needs, will allow I-Light’s and the campus’s CI Planning to provide the best possible compliment.