Navigating Challenges and Opportunities for WIYN: A Strategic Vision for Future Partnership
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Presentation Transcript
Themes • Serious issues to consider, short term and long term • Significant commonality in goals among partners • WIYN’s capabilities of limited match to department faculties • Focus on single observer and/or common survey modes needs more discussion
What Is Our Process for Understanding and Resolving Issues? We face many issues in finding new partners or establishing a future vision for ourselves • Site – what is Kitt Peak’s future? • Financial – What are the costs? How will we manage? • Legal – What is our status if partners pull out? • Competition from other consortia (ARC has a clear financial plan and known costs) • Capabilities on WIYN and elsewhere – do they meet the needs of potential partners?
Short Term Tasks • Accept NOAO’s offer to support operations • Hire Interim Operations Director • Hire consultant to help understand finances, and develop cost and staffing models • Need to define tasks more clearly • Need to define operations models to cost • Organized board effort to find new partners
What is the right leadership model? • Short Term - Three key positions • Interim Operations Director • Consultant for planning • Day to day management • Longer Term – What is the role of a director • Can we define what a director would direct? • Must wait until we have greater clarity on our future
Out of the Box • 4-m “SMARTS” model • Need a group of 4m telescopes with already secure funding • Hard to do with multiple funding sources and multiple sites • Combine with another underfunded telescope to operate ONE of them • Do we need to save WIYN first, and then try to create a broader consortium • Role of AURA? Can we explicitly ask for their help? • Opportunity: AAS Meeting in a Meeting • BigBoss LIGO, PHAs, other groups may find WIYN of use