ACURA is a not-for-profit intended to promote, propose and manage the mutual interests of Canadian Universities in astronomical facilities. The rise of the Canadian Foundation for Innovation as a major funding source for research infrastructure has made the creation of something like ACURA crucial, although quite a few people have endorsed the concept as "overdue". The value of the organization is to bring the organizational sophistication and financial stability as well as the priorities of University astronomers into helping Astronomy in Canada maintain its international excellence. ACURA is intended to complement the roles of HIA/NRC and CASCA in the operation and governance of Canadian astronomy. Hence, its proposed by-laws include the President of CASCA and the HIA Director General as non-voting members of its Board.
At this time most Universities with astronomy have appointed institutional representatives to undertake the task of creating ACURA. Membership is open to any University that employs at least one full time astronomer or astrophysicist. There are about twenty institutions taking an active interest in this task, ranging from the smallest to the largest. The interim chair is Pekka Sinervo at the University of Toronto (pekka.sinervo@utoronto.ca) who should be contacted for more detailed information and expressions of institutional interest to join. Or, better yet, contact your institutional representative.
At the present time there are various sub-committees looking at the various implementation issues. These include by-laws, dues and finance, and an interim nominating committee. There will soon be a call for "Letters of Intent" to any institution that wants to be a founding member.
An important principle is that ACURA will be a broad organization designed to serve the interests of the Astronomy community on the national scale. It does not limit the right of any University or group of Universities to undertake projects of its own. There is already some evidence that the development of an inclusive organization withresponsible management is having some positive effects, but the real tests will be with the success of future projects.
For your comments, or, more information
about any aspect, please contact
carlberg@astro.utoronto.ca