CRA Update: Convening the Community in Uncertain Times – Introducing the CRA Affinity Group Meetings
By Tracy Camp, Executive Director and CEO, CRA
The computing research community is facing a period of profound uncertainty. Recent executive actions, including potential NSF budget cuts and restrictions on federally funded programs, raise serious concerns about the future of U.S. research leadership, workforce development, and innovation. As these policies evolve, CRA remains committed to advocating for the computing research community and ensuring that our institutions, researchers, and students continue to have the resources they need to thrive.
In our recent statement, NSF Budget Cuts Would Put the Future of U.S. Innovation and Security at Risk, we emphasize how reductions in NSF funding — responsible for nearly 80% of fundamental computing research at U.S. academic institutions — would have devastating consequences for American competitiveness, national security, and economic growth. A broader summary of executive actions and their potential impact on computing research appears in the next article in this issue of CRN.
Introducing the CRA Affinity Group Meetings
As CRA continues to support and advocate for the community, we also recognize the need to bring computing research leaders together to share knowledge, discuss challenges, and collaborate on solutions. To foster these connections, we are launching the CRA Affinity Group Meetings — a new opportunity for leaders from similar institutions to network, share experiences, and discuss common priorities.
The CRA Affinity Group Meetings will be held virtually in July 2025, bringing together representatives from like institutions, e.g., large R1 universities, research-emerging institutions, liberal arts colleges, and minority-serving institutions (MSIs). These discussion-driven sessions will strengthen connections within each institutional group while also offering opportunities for cross-group engagement, enabling institutions to explore new partnerships and collaborative strategies.
Participation in the CRA Affinity Group Meetings is open exclusively to CRA member institutions. Each CRA member’s primary contact may either attend personally or designate a representative to participate.
We also welcome institutions that are not yet CRA members but are interested in joining these discussions. If your unit would like to take part, we encourage you to explore CRA membership. Units that join by July 1, 2025, will be eligible to attend this year’s meetings. To learn more about membership options, please reach out to me directly at ceo@cra.org.
If successful, we plan to continue this initiative in future years, with an in-person component at the 2026 CRA Summit (formerly the CRA Conference at Snowbird), taking place in Prior Lake, MN, July 21-23, 2026. Block your calendar for CRA’s flagship biennial event!
Help Shape This New Initiative
We encourage CRA members to take an active role in shaping this new initiative. If you are interested in helping lead this new initiative and define these discussions, please fill out this interest form to be considered for a leadership role. Your insights and participation will help ensure these meetings are valuable, productive, and responsive to the needs of the computing research community.
Through collaboration and shared knowledge, the computing research community can remain strong in the face of uncertainty. CRA is committed to bringing our community together—to advocate, to support, and to ensure that computing research remains a driving force for progress in the U.S. and beyond.
