Abstract
Providing facilities and support for excellent computational research is costly. Most college and university computing centers don't have budgets to meet these exceptional needs, yet simulation and computation play a critical role in research for many disciplines. The problem is providing high-end facilities to significantly extend the reach of one segment of a university's computing community without creating inequities in overall funding for instructional, general academic, and administrative computing. This paper presents a model for building centralized research computing facilities that emphasizes partnerships and leveraged funding. Key elements include good communication with end-user groups, correct timing, and solid partnerships with research support units in the university, external funding agencies, and vendors.