Project Charters

The charter is the foundational document that describes the research purpose, deliverables, overall timeline, terms and conditions, and outcomes of a CDH project.

Charters are written by core members of a project team in a series of planning meetings before the work starts. Led by the CDH Technical Project Manager, the planning process is intensive, collaborative, and requires substantial input from everyone on a team. Charters serve as formalized agreements among team members on such crucial questions as scope, technical design, infrastructural needs, and success criteria. At the CDH, each project charter is peer-reviewed by the Assistant Director, Executive Director, and Faculty Director.

The charter has a twofold importance: 1) it defines the contribution of the CDH Research Software Engineers within the faculty partner’s larger research agenda and 2) it embodies a commitment to a set of intellectual, ethical, social, and political values, providing space to negotiate topics like equity and fair labor, accountability, accessibility, sustainability, and community practices. Charters are the result of a social process, establishing communication norms and setting the tone for the collaborative work that follows.

CDH charters and their planning documents exist in several forms as we have refined them over the years and tailored them to the several types of projects we have supported. For more about CDH project management, including the charter process, visit: https://cdh.princeton.edu/programs/project-design/.