Board reviews planned closure of Alabama Cyber Institute as university advances high-performance computing center proposal

The University of Alabama informed trustees on June 6 that it is proposing to close the Alabama Cyber Institute (ACI) effective Sept. 30, 2025, as part of a two-phase plan to establish a new High Performance Computing (HPC) and data center.

Senior academic officers told the academic affairs committee that ACI’s essential efforts will be incorporated into the formal proposal for the HPC center, which the university expects to request for formal establishment this fall. "The university sees this as the first of a 2 phase plan and is working to determine how best to incorporate the essential efforts of the ACI into the proposal for the new High Performance Computing Data Center," the system presentation said.

The nut graf: trustees were advised that the closure has been reviewed with campus and system officials and is not expected to negatively impact students, gifts or endowments; the administration will work with affected ACI faculty and staff to identify elements to include in the HPC proposal and to minimize disruption.

Additional details: the proposed HPC center is described as supporting interdisciplinary research and workforce development in computational science and is expected to strengthen research infrastructure across campus. University presenters said the ACI closure is intended to be administratively neutral for gifts and student programs and that affected personnel and activities will be evaluated for incorporation into the HPC plans.

Ending: The board took the informational item as presented; no separate vote or funding authorization for the HPC center was taken at the June meeting.