> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.rhinofcp.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.rhinofcp.com/collaborators/closed-membership-workgroups.md).

# Closed-Membership Workgroups

High-trust projects sometimes require strict, pre-approved membership. To enforce collaboration boundaries (thus creating “closed cohort governance”), you can create closed-membership workgroups for the project. Once created, you can add the closed-membership workgroup for a high-trust project.

This article explains what a closed-membership workgroup is and how to create one.

### About Closed-Membership Workgroups

In Rhino FCP, a *workgroup* is a foundational unit of collaboration, which is often a lab or a small team within a larger organization. You can also add other collaborators, who might be outside of your organization, to the workgroup so that you can collaborate on federated research projects. For a brief primer on workgroups, see [What is a Collaborator?](/collaborators/what-is-a-collaborator.md).

By default, a *default* workgroup is **not** set up as a closed-membership workgroup. A *closed-membership workgroup* is a workgroup where Rhino administrators and Workgroup Admins cannot add members.

### Prerequisite

Before you complete this procedure, do the following.

* The Workgroup Administrator must send a request to the Rhino Administrator to create a new Closed-Membership Workgroup. The Rhino Administrator will add workgroup members and set the *Closed-Membership Workgroup* flag to true.
* Once complete, the Rhino Admin notifies the Collaborating Workgroup Admin.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Once a workgroup is designated as closed-membership, it cannot be changed back to the default workgroup. At this time, only Rhino Administrators are able to set a workgroup.
{% endhint %}

### Overview

After the prerequisite has been met, the steps for setting up a closed-membership workgroup in Rhino FCP involves three steps and two roles. The roles are: Collaborating Workgroup Administrator and Project Lead Administrator.

Here are the three steps:

1. The Project Lead creates a new project and in the permission policy, sets *“Allow Only Closed-Membership Collaborators”* to “Yes”.
2. An admin member of the Project Lead’s group creates a project and adds the closed-membership collaborator(s).
3. An invitation is sent to the Collaborating Workgroup Admin. The admin accepts the invitation.

Here are a few additional details.

* Once a workgroup is established as *Closed-Membership*, it can be added as a collaborator to a project that is configured to *“Allow Only Closed-Membership Collaborators”*.
* Once a Workgroup is set by a Rhino Administrator as a *Closed-Membership Workgroup* and that Workgroup joins a project with “ *Allow Only Closed-Membership Collaborators”*, this setting becomes locked and cannot be changed.
* The *Closed-Membership* option is enabled by the Rhino Admin setting the *Closed-Membership* flag to true. Establishing a *Closed-Membership Workgroup* can only be done by Rhino administrators with approval from the Workgroup Administrator.

### Creating Project and Setting the Closed-Membership Collaboration Policies

To set up a closed-membership workgroup, complete the following steps. Note that this should be done by the Project Lead.

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### From the main screen, create a project

From the main screen, select the Create a Project button, then add the name of the project and a description.

Select the Permissions Policy downward arrow to view policies.

In the Project Level permissions, set the Allow Only Closed-Membership Collaborators policy to Yes.

![](/files/26ec266881fd3e790da05ef6b0a257742077994c)

Finish entering the rest of the permissions. For more details, see [Creating a New Project](/projects/creating-a-new-project.md).
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Create the project

Select Create Project to create the project.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

### Adding a Closed-Membership Workgroup as a Collaborator

To designate a closed-membership workgroup as a collaborator, complete the following steps.

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Open the collaborator list

In the project that you want to add the collaborator to, select the Collaborator button.

![](/files/99853d960f3ac77dc1bf5c7621d2a222a1605001)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Select the closed-membership workgroup

Select the closed membership workgroup you want to add.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Approve the invitation

Scroll to the bottom of the screen and select the checkbox to approve inviting selected collaborators to this project.

![](/files/4b3cfc801f49e737c7f55f2fee82f7e443814f09)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Wait for collaborator approval

A message appears in the collaborator’s box on the collaborator’s screen that indicates that it is waiting for the collaborator to approve joining the project.

![](/files/b7bd3af1b16a469f45324ef0e3e0483267b56fcf)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Begin collaboration

Once the collaborator approves, the closed-membership workgroup members can interact in the group as they would normally.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
Once a *Closed-Membership* workgroup has been added to a project, no additional members can be added to that workgroup, only removed (unless it is one of the Project Lead’s workgroups).
{% endhint %}