Executive Members propose and ratify policy for the coming year, and are consulted by the Director when possibilities of new initiatives arise. There is one main meeting of the Executive per year, with less formal meetings arising as needed. Much of the consultation is done via email.
Participating Fellows are research fellows employed on research contracts awarded to CSAC members, or who choose to associate themselves with the Centre. Participating Fellows are consulted on major issues and initiatives, and are encouraged to propose new initiatives.
The staff associated with CSAC are either permanent members of the University who use CSAC as a research focus or are paid from grants administered by the Centre. The use of computers as a base for research makes necessary acquisition and/or upgrading of equipment regularly. This is mainly financed through requests in Research Council grants, and to a lesser extent through the University Research Committee, the Faculty Research Committee and the Department. The most serious long-term problem is the maintenance and replacement of our Unix server, Lucy. Lucy is central to our research and publishing activities, and provides a platform that reduces significantly our other resource requirements. The first Lucy was purchased through a Computer Board grant, and later upgraded with a smaller Computer Board grant. The latest incarnation was funded through an competitive infrastructural grant from the University Research Committee. The Computing Service provides support for our activities on Lucy. Hardware maintenance for Lucy is financed by DoA as a contribution based on the teaching role of Lucy in our programme.