Thread: Update on June Meeting of UNAVCO/IRIS Negotiation Committee

Dear IRIS Community:

On June 16th and 17th, the joint IRIS/UNAVCO negotiation committee held its 4th meeting. The meeting once again reflected the complementary perspectives and approaches of both organizations and a commitment to solutions that best meet the needs of the respective research communities. Meeting outcomes included:
Review of the draft bylaws of the combined organization.
Refinement of a set of merger terms, incorporating feedback from each organization’s negotiation team and governance bodies on the prior draft terms. The final terms will be presented to each Board at their August meeting for discussion and voting. If adopted, these terms would then be presented to voting institutional representatives for ratification.
Discussion of opportunities to engage the IRIS and UNAVCO communities to continue education about the proposed merger, identify options for facility hosting https://www.iris.edu/hq/news/story/geophysical_facility_rfi, and determine a new name https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxbpf_Z0W2ggYLN_W4UAXct_ExyuptOHxmrbOBA9J6Fnb_gA/viewform for the combined organization.
Clarification of materials needed to support Board member review and decision-making at the August meetings.
Discussion of the overall timeline to a merger, including the steps to Board and membership approval as well as a tentative plan to implement the merger upon approval. High-level implementation steps will be shared with the Boards and members ahead of their votes, while detailed implementation planning will occur upon ratification by the institutional representatives.

We are excited about the potential of a combined organization and look forward to sharing updates with our members and presenting our recommendations to the respective Boards in August for a vote.

Please contact Rebecca Bendick (bendick<at>unavco.org <bendick<at>unavco.org>) or Bob Detrick (detrick<at>iris.edu <detrick<at>iris.edu>) with questions.