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New Renaissance Computing Institute director inherits 35% budget cut

Stanley Ahalt

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By Rick Smith, Local Tech Wire Editor

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Budget cuts within the University of North Carolina system last week took a huge 35 percent biter out of funding for one of the Triangle’s highest profile technology efforts – the Renaissance Computing Institute.

A collaboration of the UNC system, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke and North Carolina State, RENCI (pronounced Ren-si) focused on development of high-end computer and networking applications, such as virtualization.

Inheriting as budget that was sliced from more than $11 million and a staff that will be cut by 23 people is Stanley Ahalt, who agreed to take over RENCI last month. Eighteen people were laid off, and another five positions will not be filled.

RENCI, which launched in 2004, was spared further reductions, however, by the fact that Duke has made no cuts in its RENCI support, Ahalt said.

Among the cuts are several software developer positions and on-campus facilitators.

Ahalt, answering questions through RENCI spokesperson Karen Green, said he was aware the budget was being cut before he accepted the position. He left his position as director of the Ohio Supercomputing Center to lead RENCI and to become a tenured professor at UNC-Chapel Hill’s department of computer science.

In a Q&A with Local Tech Wire and WRAL.com, Green and Ahalt explained how RENCI plans to operate at reduced levels.

What steps is RENCI taking to deal with the reductions?

“We first cut all possible expenditures, but unfortunately we also had to lay off 18 staff members. We now have a new director about to start and under his leadership we are looking at carrying out our core mission with the greatest amount of efficiency possible.”

Will RENCI seek outside funding to compensate for the reductions?

RENCI annually brings federal grant money and other funding into UNC and North Carolina - close to $3 million in FY09. We will continue to seek funding from federal agencies and from industry for projects that help us carry out our mission. A diverse RENCI funding portfolio with more dollars from federal agencies and industry is a good thing for RENCI, the universities and the state.

Since Duke is part of the consortium that supports RENCI, are any cuts being made by Duke in funding and in Duke participation?

Fortunately, there is no cut in the amount of money Duke is providing in support of RENCI. That portion of RENCI’s support is a modest portion of the overall RENCI budget. RENCI will continue to partner with the Duke community, as well as the N.C. State community, and we hope deepen those partnerships.

Have decisions been made other than personnel reductions about what programs might be reduced or terminated?

That is a work in progress. Our exact plan for moving forward with reduced state funding will be developed under the leadership of our new director.
 

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