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Each year, as a part of the AURA Annual Meeting, the Member Representatives
conduct a round table discussion to air important policy issues, understand
more fully the views of our member institutions, and to develop guidance for
the AURA Board for the future. The two topics for this year are:
1. Implementation and Impact of the NSF Senior Review.
NSF is currently
implementing many of the recommendations of the 2006 Senior Review. For
AURA, these include a new role as a "national program manager" for GSMT, see:
http://www.aura-astronomy.org/nv/Steps%20Towards%20a%20National%20GSMT%20Program%20Final.pdf
as well as improvements to NOAO and NSO telescope infrastructure, and
attention to optimizing a "community access system" over a range of
apertures. The AURA Board seeks advice on how AURA should work with NSF
to provide and operate astronomical facilities, to balance the need for
cutting-edge telescopes and instruments with community access to 2-8m
telescopes, and to leverage the investments from private and public
institutions and consortia with NSF operations funding. We also would
appreciate advice on how to help NSF/ASTR increase the support funding base.
2. Planning for the Next Decadal Survey.
The NRC, AAS, and other
organizations have begun planning for the next A&A Decadal Survey,
including identifying the "lessons learned" and handling the backlog
of missions and facilities from the 2000 study (Astronomy & Astrophysics
in the New Millennium). Some obvious suggestions include: mixing science
drivers and mission/wavelength themes; obtaining better cost estimates;
re-prioritization of carryover projects with new science ideas; creating
broader community involvement; producing a unified ranking system of
priorities. In our discussion, we hope to focus on AURA-specific actions,
such as workshops to define major initiatives in ground-based or space-based
astronomy. We may also wish to re-examine current projects that are not
yet started or have yet to receive substantial funding from NSF and NASA.
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