Thanks to You, We’re on Cloud Nine

By Sean O’Brien - Associate Vice President, NET+, Internet2

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Volunteers are integral to the work we do every day to make a better cloud for the research and education community. During National Volunteer Week (April 17 – 22), we thank NET+ volunteers for all they do to support our efforts. 

Established in 1974, National Volunteer Week provides a welcome opportunity to recognize and thank volunteers who lend their time and talent to ensure NET+ services are optimized for research and education. Whether you were a member of an advisory group, you participated in a service evaluation, or you provided content for an event, you have made a difference.

The theme for the week is Celebrate Service. In recognition of the occasion, we’re celebrating you and reflecting on some of the ways you have made our work impactful. I asked the NET+ team to share some of their experiences working with volunteers. 

“I would like to thank the many dedicated volunteers in my programs. Without them, my programs wouldn’t be successful! Without them, new services wouldn’t be added to the NET+ programs! Many thanks again to numerous volunteers that participated in the service evaluation for the NET+ Palo Alto Networks program. For my NET+ Duo,  NET+ Code42, and NET+ Splunk programs, I have 5-7 campus volunteers representing the community, providing direction and feedback to make these programs successful!” —Nick Lewis “Sincere thanks to the members of BPLAC for volunteering your time and providing your procurement and legal perspective and expertise to NET+. We appreciate your willingness to serve so that we can better serve our community.” —Sue Gavazzi “When Cornell University announced it was winding down the Cloud Forum, individuals from nearly 20 institutions volunteered to help Internet2 keep the event alive by taking it to other institutions. The forum has always been a community labor of love, and it is great to see that energy renewed with so many new volunteers!” —Bob Flynn “When Google announced the end of unlimited storage in 2021, over 30 universities came together and engaged with Internet2 through a NET+ service evaluation which included pricing and storage negotiations, to bring Google Workspace for Education into the NET+ program. We are grateful to every single person who volunteered their time and expertise to this effort.”  —Dana Voss

These volunteer contributions and many others make it possible for us to provide services that minimize your risk, but maximize your opportunity, in the cloud.

Our heartfelt thanks go out to our current and past members of NET+ governance and advisory groups, which include the NET+ Program Advisory Group, the Business, Procurement and Legal (BPLAC) and Cloud Services Technology Architecture (CSTAAC) advisory committees, and 14 service advisory boards (SABs). 

Are you interested in getting involved? New volunteers are always welcome. There are a few immediate opportunities to get engaged. To get involved, email us. Make the cloud better for research and education.