Users Org Business Meeting to review and conduct the business of the - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Users Org Business Meeting • to review and conduct the business of the Fermilab Users Organization UEC and GSA members at our November meeting T. Adams - FSU Fermilab Users' Meeting - June 1, 2011 1

Users Executive Committee • Thirteen members representing you – six members elected each summer to serve two year term – past chair serves an additional year • Meet monthly – currently Friday noon-3:30pm – GSA officers always invited – agenda: (varies month to month) • News • Chat with the Directorate • View from Washington D.C. from Lewis-Burke and Associates • Special guest • Subcommittee and GSA reports • All other business T. Adams - FSU Fermilab Users' Meeting - June 1, 2011 2

2010-2011 Activities • This year’s special guests – Stuart Henderson, new Associate Director for Accelerators – Mel Shochet, chair of HEPAP – Mike Crisler, COUPP – Craig Hogan, Center for Particle Astrophysics – Dan Kaplan, proposed anti-proton program – Bruce Chrisman, Chief Operating Officer – Katie Yurkewicz, Office of Communications – Rick Van Kooten, chair of Fermilab PAC • Subcommittees (and Chairs) – Government Relations (Marj Corcoran and Dave Schmitz) – Non-U.S. Users (Heather Gerberich) – Outreach (Manfred Paulini) – Quality of Life (Michael Cooke) – Users’ Meeting (William Wester) T. Adams - FSU Fermilab Users' Meeting - June 1, 2011 3

Non-U.S. Users Subcommittee • put on a series of presentations – “If the Tevatron Run is extended, how will your stay be extended? (and general issues related to visa extensions),” Amanda Thompson, Dec. 8, 2010 – “The Unexpected Tax Obligations of Foreign Nationals Visiting the U.S.,” speakers from KPMG, Feb. 1, 2011, also streamed live to Argonne – “Immigration Presentation on Permanent Residence,” Amanda Thompson. Feb. 15, 2011 – “Self-Sponsored Petitions for U.S. Permanent Residence,” Attorneys Kevin Aiston and Terry Feiertag, Apr. 5, 2011 – Coming soon: “Family Based Greencards for Spouses and Fiances,” Amanda Thompson, June 2011 – well received and particularly informative • many thanks to Amanda Thompson for her work with the committee T. Adams - FSU Fermilab Users' Meeting - June 1, 2011 4

Quality of Life Subcommittee • Chez Leon – worked with Chez Leon to implement results of survey, attendance is improved – one UEC member was a guest chef this year • arrange session with Rob Roser on academic job searches for post-docs • worked on modifications to Fermilab Access Control Policy that would affect Daughters and Sons to Work Day • encouraged Valentine’s Day evening hours for Day Care Center and concurrent Chez Leon dinner • Taxi service – joint GSA/UEC/management effort – test program for after hours taxi service – working on a contract for non-FNAL taxi company to provide rides around Fermilab site after business hours – more details to be announced T. Adams - FSU Fermilab Users' Meeting - June 1, 2011 5

Government Relations • Email/letter campaigns to contact U.S. Congress in support of HEP research – April 12-15, 2011 (right at time of • Washington, D.C. trip 2011 budget resolution) – Four organizations: Fermilab UEC, USLHC Users Org, SLAC Users Org, DPF – 47 participants (19 from Fermilab UEC) – visited >215 Congressional offices – visited DOE Downtown (S. Koonin), DOE Germantown, NSF, and OSTP – FRA/URA support critical to this effort – the trip was a success, educated Congress and gained support – need to maintain relationship throughout the year New advocacy wiki: http://www.fermilab-uec.org/mediaWiki/index.php?title=AdvocacyInfo T. Adams - FSU Fermilab Users' Meeting - June 1, 2011 6

Outreach and Users Meeting Subcommittees • Outreach – investigated activities to help local teachers near users’ universities • Users’ Meeting – exciting program – 32 talks: physics, program status, theory, overviews – public lecture by Secretary Chu • thank you to the lecture committee and Office of Communications for joint effort – excellent banquet, Festa Italiana special commemoration – URA Visiting Scholar funds awarded to support young scientists attending the meeting: ~12 graduate students and post-docs supported – informative and fun T. Adams - FSU Fermilab Users' Meeting - June 1, 2011 7

Other UEC Activities • Yearly activities – nominations for new PAC members – planning for the holiday potluck party • New activities – “Meet the UEC” coffee break – solicited feedback from users in Jan. – submitted written testimony on behalf of the users to the House and Senate appropriations subcommittees in support of the DOE Office of Science and NSF – NUFO Congressional Event • represented Fermilab at a reception/poster session in the House of Representatives Office Building – nominated a graduate student for the Traffic Safety Committee T. Adams - FSU Fermilab Users' Meeting - June 1, 2011 8

Users Org Constitution • The Users Organization has a constitution • In reviewing the constitution, we noticed a few things that maybe should be changed – primarily a few outdated items, such as votes by mail • Process to change the Constitution – present proposed changes at a general meeting – hold a vote no sooner than 1 week later – need 2/3 of votes in favor • Our plan – proposed changes summarized on next page – proposed new Constitution at the link below – vote to be held in conjunction with UEC elections (in July) http://www.fnal.gov/orgs/fermilab_users_org/constitution/new_jun2011.html http://www.fnal.gov/orgs/fermilab_users_org/constitution/new_jun2011_markup.html T. Adams - FSU Fermilab Users' Meeting - June 1, 2011 9

Changes to the Constitution • In Sec. B, remove the following line: "The geographical distribution of the members of the Committee should approximately reflect the distribution of the Users, so that the interest of the entire high energy physics community shall be represented.” • In Sec. B, remove "by mail ballot" from "The Executive Committee shall consist of 12 members elected by mail ballot for two-year terms." • In Sec. B, change "additional nominations may be made by written or email from any 10 members." to "additional nominations may be made by a written petition signed by or email from any 10 members." • In Sec. D, remove the line "The program shall be emailed to each member in advance of the meeting date.” • In Sec. F, remove the word "written" from "This constitution may be amended by a written vote of the members." T. Adams - FSU Fermilab Users' Meeting - June 1, 2011 10

UEC Membership • term ending 2011 • term ending 2012 – Marj Corcoran – Todd Adams – Heather Gerberich – Michael Cooke – Ron Moore – Dick Gustafson – Mayly Sanchez – Jonathan Lewis – Dave Schmitz – Manfred Paulini – William Wester – Brian Rebel – Lisa Whitehead I want to thank all current members for their hard work this past year and for the great results T. Adams - FSU Fermilab Users' Meeting - June 1, 2011 11

Why should I join the UEC? • You are needed – without a strong UEC, the Users Organization would lose effectiveness • You can make a difference – quality of life: housing, pool, clubs, food, taxi, … – non-U.S. users: visas, immigration, taxes, support, … – advocacy: we must convince members of government and the general public of the value of our work – annual meeting: this meeting belongs to the users and needs our effort to make it happen – feedback to the Directorate on issues that concern us • Please stand for election to the Fermilab UEC – nominations open until June 17, 2011 – election in July – term starts in September T. Adams - FSU Fermilab Users' Meeting - June 1, 2011 12