History and Logistics: how a center?
- We made a pitch to our department, to CINSAM, and to the dean of A&S,
and got a green light.
- Initial Staff:
- Jim McKenney (a statistician) was retiring, and signed on to direct the statistical end of things
- I would be the administrative leader, and handle applied math projects
- We found a small contingent of (good!) students to get started (3 UG, 1 G)
- The rest of the statisticians in the department would be
"associates", available for consultation if necessary
- The Shoestring:
- Jim got $10,000, for perhaps 12 hours per week
- I got a course release
- The students got $9/hour, working 10 hours per week, and receiving
credit (three hours).
- Initial Financial Backers:
- Users would pay no fee (we wanted to develop a client base!)
- CINSAM had cash to spend on undergrads - they promised $10K
- The Department
- promised $10K for Jim (dept has a slush fund)
- provided office
space, scrounged computers, phone, supplies, etc.
- The Dean kicked in some for additional expenses
