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Organization
and Procedures for the National
Nuclear Physics Summer School
The annual Nuclear Physics
Summer School is supported by the NSF and the INT
and is managed by a Steering Committee with rotating membership drawn from
the
nuclear physics community at large, with input from the DNP of the APS.
I. Steering Committee:
The present Steering Committee (established approximately January 1, 1995)
has the following membership:
Steering Committee.
The members of the SC are in rotating positions, except for the NSF grant
PI,
whose membership is by virtue of being grant holder.
The normal tenure of a SC member will be four (4) years, so
each year two (2)
members will be replaced. The intention is to each year replace one
theorist
abd one experimentalist, so that an approximate parity between theorists
and
experimentalists is preserved.
Comments:
- The NSF proposal suggested three year terms, but four-year terms are
better,if the Chair and Vice-Chair
are to have terms of two years each.
- A person is appointed as Vice Chair after serving for two years on the
SC would serve as Vice Chair for
years 3-4 and then as Chair for years 5-6, ie for a total of six years
on the SC; the annual rotations would then
need to be adjusted appropriately,
either by someone rotating off before
the full term of four years
or by postponing a replacement.
II. Organization of each
year's Summer School:
It is envisioned that the Summer School will take place at
different locations
from year to year, being organized by 'volunteers' from the NP community
as it
has in the past.
In the spring of each year, a notice is placed in the DNP
and INT newsletters
inviting potential organizers for the next year's Summer School to submit
informal proposals, indicating possible sites and anticipated funding schemes.
The deadline for proposals to organize will be August 15 of the year preceding
the School.
The Steering Committee will discuss the proposals and select
an 'Organizer'
(which may be a team of people) and one of the proposed sites.
Remarks:
- The NSF grant provides funds for student
support and advertising.
- The host institution will be expected
to assume responsibility for the transportation and living costs
of the speakers.
- The INT has agreed to serve as a default
host institution, with the site being the UW Seattle campus,
on the understanding the the Organizers of such Schools would ordinarily
come from outside the INT.
- The INT is supporting the School by providing
secretarial assistance, including mailing out the posters,
assembling the applications, and carrying out the correspondance,
if needed.
Comment:
The years 1995 and 1996 were
anomalous and should not be seen as typical. Ordinarily, the Organizer would
have no particular relation to the INT, and the site could be anywhere
in the country. Subsequently, the SC will compose
the lecture program for the School,
in close consultation with the designated Organizer, and with due attention
to topical balance and recent programs.
Remarks:
There are usually five major
lecture series, with time and material for study provided, as well as 'office
hours' where the students can ask questions and have in-depth
discussions with the lecturers. There is also a possibility for the students
to present seminars, plus occasionally a few special seminars.
The Organizer (who may be a team of more than one person) invites the lecturers,
negotiates the practical arrangements regarding the site, prepares the
poster,
selects the students, and runs the school. After the School is completed,
a
report must be filed with the SC and a financial statement made to the
grant
holder.
Remarks:
Ordinarily, the target group
consists of applicants who are at most
one year away from the PhD (plus
or minus), with the priority falling off rapidly in both directions.
In a steady state, it should then be possible for any student to
take part in one Summer School at some point.
Summary of duties:
A. Chair of the Steering Committee:
a) Chairs the Steering Committee.
b) Places the ad in the DNP
and INT newsletters.
c) Leads the discussions with
the SC members regarding
i) selection
of the Organizer(s) and site from the proposals,
ii) composition
of the lecture program,
iii) the rotation
of the membership, including the solicitation of suggestions from the DNP Executive Committee, and
iv) the selection
of the new Vice-Chair.
d) Serves as main contact person
between the SC and
i) the
Organizer of the School,
ii) the grant
holder, and
iii) the INT.
B. Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee:
a) Serves as the principal adviser
to the SC Chair.
b) Serves in place of the Chair,
when necessary.
c) Is the designated successor
of the SC Chair.
C. Grant Holder:
a) Serves as the principal liason
with the NSF.
b) Oversees the budgetary aspects
of each year's School.
D. Member of the Steering Committee:
a) Help advertise the Summer
School and encourage applications.
b) Help recruit potential Organizers.
c) Participate in the process
of identifying an Organizer and a site.
d) Help compose the lecture
program.
E. Organizer(s) of the Summer School:
a) Submits a proposal to organize
next year's Summer School, containing
proposed possible sites and the anticipated funding scheme.
b) Takes active part, with the
Steering Committee, in the composition of the lecture
program. Organizational and practical aspects of the particular
School, including
i) inviting the selected lecturers (if an invited lecturer cannot
accept, the program process is iterated with the SC),
ii)
preparing the poster,
iii) selecting
the students for admission to the school,
iv)
making the practical arrangements regarding the site,
v) running the school,
vi)
preparing and submitting a report on the school to the SC,
including student questionaires, and a financial accounting
to the grant holder.
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COVER LETTER:
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To: Dirk Walecka, Chair, DNP Executive Committee
From: Jorgen Randrup, Chair
Bruce Barrett, Vice Chair
Steering Committee for the Nuclear
Physics Summer School
Copy: Ben Gibson, Secretary-Treasurer, DNP Executive Committee
Date: 30apr96
About: Nuclear Physics Summer School
We thought that the upcoming DNP meeting would be a good opportunity to
draw
your attention to the information below regarding the National Summer School
on Nuclear Physics, since the School is intended to serve the DNP community
at
large and will depend on input from the DNP for its continued success.
The Nuclear Physics Summer School started about ten years ago on the spontaneous
initiative of a group of theorists that had gathered for informal discussions
at
the Capra Ranch outside Los Angeles. The School has been very successful
and,
in order to ensure its long-term continuation, we have recently tried to
firm up
the associated procedures.
We are enclosing the current draft describing the (intended) organization
of the
School and we are inviting your comments. The envisioned role of
the DNP is
primarily two-fold: 1) To suggest names for the annual replacements on
the
Steering Committee, and 2) to help advertise each year's School and solicit
proposals for organizing the following year's School.
We feel that the support and involvement of the DNP is an important element
in
the Summer School and that it will help to ensure that it be responsive
to our
filed's needs for timeliness and diversity, as they develop over time.
Please
do not hesitate to contact us for for discussion/information.
Finally, since it so happens that Wick Haxton will be coming to the DNP
meeting
(while we will not), we have asked him to make himself available to you
to try
answering any questions you might have about the School. We are grateful
to Wick
for agreeing to help in this manner, even though he has rotated of the
Steering
Committee. Wick is very familiar with the development of the School,
since he
was one of the originators and served on the Steering Committee until recently;
he also coorganized the 1990 NP Summer School in Santa Cruz.
Yours Sincerely,
Jorgen Randrup, Chair
Steering Committee for the
Bruce Barrett, Vice Chair
Nuclear Physics Summer School
Information for potential organizers:
The school is run by a 'Steering
Committee' which solicits proposals
two years in advance from people interested in serving as 'Organizer'
of the school; such proposals should contain one or more suggestions
for the site, a budget, and a suggested list of lecturers and topics
for the summer school (discussed more below). The Steering Committee
will then discuss the proposals and seek to arrive at a preference.
The selected Organizer and host institution are responsible for handling the practical arrangements (housing and meeting facilities, recruitment and selection of students, and management of the day-to-day activities of the school). The INT can provide poster production and mailing if desired, as well as assistance with financial projections. A subcontract will be established with the host institution, and the host institution will send an itemized invoice to the INT at the end of the summer school to be reimbursed for the costs covered by the grant. The NSF grant (held by Wick Haxton and Bruce Barrett) is for participant support costs only (no indirect allowed), intended to cover approximately 75% of room and board for the students, 100% of room, board, and travel for the lecturers, and up to $3K for coffee break refreshments. It is expected that each student's home institution will cover the remaining 25% of room and board as well as the student's travel costs. The host institution should plan on providing about $5,000 in support to cover various social activities of the school (receptions, excursions, etc.).
The lecture program is decided by a suitable interaction between the Organizer and the Steering
Committee, by iterating on the originally suggested program. There are usually five major lecture
series (each consisting of four 90-minute lectures, for a total of 20 lectures), some possibility
for student seminars, separate time for 'office hours,' during which the students can interact with
the lecturers (a very important part of the summer school), plus occasionally a few special
seminars. Each school's lecture program is intended to be broad (as opposed to focussed), which
not only helps to broaden the perspective of the (often too specialized) new generation but also
helps to attract students from the entire cross section of the field, thereby greatly aiding the
formation of a community spirit within the nuclear physics field (this is something the students
tend to emphasize as one of the very positve aspects of the NPSS). The Organizer is responsible
for making the practical arrangements, including the selection of the students (we are usually
oversubscribed and tend to target students that are within approximately one year of their PhD
degree, with either sign). The Organizer is not expected to lecture as well.
History:
The Nuclear Physics Summer School grew out of discussions at an informal meeting between a group of theorists held at the Capra Ranch 26-28 February 1987. It has been held each summer since 1988, with the exception of 1994 when we went through a transition phase to the present more formalized structure which involves the DNP in the rotation of the Steering Committee membership.
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