Thread: IRIS/UNAVCO Community Town Hall

Started: 2020-05-29 13:40:00
Last activity: 2020-05-29 13:40:00
Robert Detrick
2020-05-29 13:40:00
Dear Community Members:

We are writing today to tell you about the progress of merger negotiations between IRIS and UNAVCO. While we certainly haven’t confirmed all of the details yet, we have made excellent progress towards developing a new organization that will leverage the expertise and knowledge of both IRIS and UNAVCO. Our positive, collaborative, and forward-looking discussions have abundantly demonstrated that while there is a long history and deep culture associated with each organization, we will be able to come together in a merger of equals to create a new and innovative organization that will make vital contributions to an engaged society, which is resilient to geohazards and is informed by geophysical discovery and global collaboration.

Our staff and community members are critical to our two organizations; therefore, we welcome feedback and participation throughout the merger process. We’d especially like to hear from early career geophysicists about their aspirations for the new facility. The new organization will continue to be committed to its community, just as IRIS and UNAVCO are today, and your input is essential to ensure that it is better than ever.

With that in mind, we invite you to join us for a Virtual Town Hall meeting on Thursday, June 4, 2020 3:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada), where we will present some aspects of the developing merger arrangement, talk about future plans, and answer your questions (see connection information below). As part of this, we’ll also be discussing details for a contest to name the new, merged organization and a Request for Information (RFI), soliciting possible locations for future operations. Our goal is to incorporate your comments and suggestions into our ongoing efforts. At any point, please also feel free to directly reach out to any of the IRIS-UNAVCO negotiation committee members, who are listed below, with your comments and/or concerns.

We also want to share an approximate timeline for the remainder of the merger process. The timing of more complicated steps and steps later in the process is likely to change as our negotiations progress and each organization adjusts in response.

Late May – June 2020: Town hall meetings for staff and community members

June-August 2020: Merged consortium naming contest and RFI on possible locations of future facility operations and offices

August 2020: Boards of Directors vote on merger terms and merged corporation by-laws

September 2020: Second round of virtual town halls with staff, community and IRIS/UNAVCO member representatives

Fall 2020: Membership representatives from IRIS and UNAVCO vote on merger terms

September 2020 – December 2021: Merger implementation planning

Spring 2021: NSF solicitation for a new geophysical facility released

Winter 2022: Proposals due to NSF

Fall 2023: Close of current SAGE2 and GAGE2 Cooperative Agreements with IRIS and UNAVCO, and transition to a new merged corporation and a single, integrated geophysical facility

We acknowledge that change can be challenging and unsettling, and we know that many of you have concerns about how the upcoming merger may impact your work and professional life. However, we hope you will join us in focusing on the benefits and opportunities of this merger. We also want to hear your concerns and ideas so that we can address them during the ongoing negotiation and planning process. We are excited to share our vision for the new organization, which will be much greater than the sum of its parts, and which will facilitate transformative interdisciplinary science while retaining our rich culture of scientific and technical rigor and shared history.

Members of the IRIS-UNAVCO Negotiation Committee:

Rick Aster (IRIS Board chair), rick.aster<at>colostate.edu

Becks Bendick (UNAVCO president), bendick<at>unavco.org

Bob Detrick (IRIS president), detrick<at>iris.edu

Lucy Flesch (UNAVCO Board chair), lmflesch<at>purdue.edu

Ronni Grapenthin (UNAVCO Board member), rgrapenthin<at>alaska.edu

Samantha Hansen (IRIS Board member), shansen<at>ua.edu

Glen Mattioli (UNAVCO GI Director), mattioli<at>unavco.org

Chuck Meertens (UNAVCO GDS Director), chuckm<at>unavco.org

Ed Nissen (UNAVCO Board member), enissen<at>uvic.ca

Susan Schwartz (IRIS Board member), syschwar<at>ucsc.edu

Doug Wiens (former IRIS Board chair), doug<at>wustl.edu

Bob Woodward (incoming IRIS president), robert.woodward<at>iris.edu



You are invited to a Zoom webinar.

When: Jun 4, 2020 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Topic: IRIS/UNAVCO Community Town Hall



Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://zoom.us/j/91044973912?pwd=bmtQUkIyY1dvQkJnNUN2SW9GTS9tdz09
Password: 813737



Or iPhone one-tap :

US: +19292056099,,91044973912#,,1#,813737# or +13017158592,,91044973912#,,1#,813737#

Or Telephone:

Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):

US: +1 929 205 6099 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799

Webinar ID: 910 4497 3912

Password: 813737

International numbers available: https://zoom.us/u/az1b9eOw3

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