The Review of the Long Range Plan for Astronomy gets underway


The purpose of this article is first to announce that the committee to review the Long Range Plan (LRP) has begun its task, second, to remind the community of the background for the establishment of the committee, and third,to indicate how the committee proposes to operate. We would also like to have your early feedback on the proposed procedures.The following excerpt from the e-mail exploder announcement of 26 February, 2004, describes more fully the background for this review and describes the committee's terms of reference:

" It is four years since the completion of the report of the NRC-NSERC Long Range Planning Panel on the future of Canadian astronomy (LRP). Since that time, and with strong federal Government support, CSA and NRC have made important commitments to begin achieving several LRP primary goals. These include Canadian involvement in the James Webb Space Telescope and meeting the conditions of the NAPRA agreement enabling Canadian partnership in ALMA.But the LRP is, at minimum, a ten-year plan while the incremental funds are for a maximum of five years. Not all LRP recommendations are funded and, in some cases, budgeted monies run out in March, 2005, e.g., for studies leading to Canadian partnership in projects such as the Square Kilometer Array and a Very Large Optical Telescope, which were strongly recommended in the LRP. Moreover, new factors such as the availability of CFI funds for national and international projects and the establishment of the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA) are changing the landscape for Canadian Astronomy. NSERC has recognized the increasing involvement of Canadian astronomy in large international facilities and has
suggested that our community consider an envelope funding scheme such as that used by the subatomic physics community. It is clearly time to review the LRP.As a mid-course review, this will not be as extensive or elaborate a process as the original LRP, but it requires the same integrity, commitment to openness and involvement of the Canadian astronomers. The report will build
on the original LRP and will be the tool by which the community will seek funding for the next phases of the LRP. The purpose of the review then is to assess the progress achieved in the first five years of the plan and to make
recommendations on what steps need to be taken to ensure that the goals of the plan are achieved. The LRP Mid-Course Review Panel, in consultation with the Canadian astronomical community, CSA, NRC, NSERC, ACURA and relevant industries is requested to review progress toward the LRP goals, identify any serious implementation gaps that have emerged, and recommend strategies for the next five years. The Panel should consider areas in which little progress has been made, such as establishment of instrument labs in universities, and how to sustain the operations of the international facilities in which Canada is, or will be, involved. The scope of the review should incorporate all initiatives outlined in the LRP, but should not include a major revision or expansion of the plan that is inconsistent with the original goals. In conducting the review, the Panel must openly involve the community through procedures which make possible input from all members of CASCA. The Panel should make a direct report available to CASCA members no later than May 31, 2004 and there will be an opportunity for discussion of that report during the CASCA Annual General Meeting (June 13-16). The final version of the report should be completed by Sept. 30, 2004. Board of Directors
Canadian Astronomical Society
DATE: February 26, 2004"

Our first challenge as a committee is to ensure that the committee's operational procedures are as open as possible while accommodating the more limited scope and time frame of its mandate compared with the that of the original LRP. After some deliberation, we have decided on the following operating procedure:
  1. Open a discussion forum on the CASCA website as soon as possible.
  2. Ask all PI's for LRP initiatives to prepare a report outlining (a) progress since the year 2000, (b) how LRP resources were distributed since 2000, and (c) the plan and resource requirements for the second five years of the LRP. The PI reports are due by April 9, and would be placed on the CASCA website as soon as they are received.
  3. Hold a meeting of the panel with the PI's, some of the CASCA committee chairs, and representatives from the funding agencies (NRC, NSERC, CSA) and ACURA. The committee will hear presentations by the PI's based on the reports on the CASCA website. Part of the time will be used to discuss a number of strategic issues with the agencies. These would include the impact on the LRP of funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, already supporting some LRP initiatives. This meeting is scheduled to be held at HIA in Victoria April 22-24, and all scientific presentations would be open to all HIA astronomers. We also have a plan to web-cast this meeting for the benefit of the rest of the community. The community will be alerted by e-mail exploder to this opportunity to observe the proceedings. We also have a plan to provide for "live" e-mail feedback, which will be monitored at the meeting, so issues from the community can be addressed on-line.
  4. Prepare a preliminary report of the committee and make it available on the CASCA website by May 31, 2004 for comment and discussion. The report will also be presented to the membership and discussed at the CASCA Annual General Meeting (AGM) in mid-June.
  5. Prepare a final report over the summer, after reviewing all comments and suggestions by the community, to be submitted to CASCA Board by the required deadline of September 30, 2004.

If anyone has concerns, advice, suggestions either now or at any time, please contact me at seaquist@astro.utoronto.ca.


Ernie Seaquist
Committee Chair