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Online Research Collaboration Areas (ORCAs)

The College supports faculty collaboration on the web as a way to further scholarship, research, interpretive and creative programs.  The ORCAs program assists by providing private collaboration area. ORCAs are usually organized around a central research question or creative project involving multiple faculty. We are particularly interested in assisting interdisciplinary groups and research programs that intend to compete for public or private funding in the near future.

Online Research Colaboration AreasWe invite faculty to consider how the ORCAs program can further their scholarship. Common uses include; online document sharing and libraries, academic community building, subject recruitment, and increasing the connections in your intellectual community. Faculty and staff are also encouraged to consider how these sites may enhance administrative functions.

ORCAs are built using Microsoft SharePoint Services. This software allows teams to collaborate by sharing documents, creating file libraries, building resource lists, assigning tasks, hosting discussion groups, posting events, making announcements and more. Please contact us if you would like to see a demonstration of the SharePoint technology.

Eligibility

The primary contact for the Online Research Collaboration Area must be a member of the College of Arts & Sciences faculty or staff. There are no eligibility restrictions for other members of the Collaboration Area. They can be UW faculty, staff or students. They can be at other institutions. You can collaborate locally or globally.

System Requirements

Collaboration Areas are built on the Microsoft Sharepoint platform. Minimum requirements to use the site are an internet connection and a browser. You can use the text editor and browser of your choosing. However, the number of features available to users with Internet Explorer and the Microsoft Office suite will be higher. The Microsoft Office suite is covered in the College's site license agreement, and is available free to Arts & Sciences faculty and staff, when installed on university owned computers.

Setting Up Your Collaboration Site

Collect the names, affiliations and email addresses of the people who have agreed to be in your group. Send these to sfricks@u.washington.edu.

 


Questions about this page should be directed to Shane Fricks at sfricks@u.washington.edu.