*************************** ** THE GEM MESSENGER ** *************************** Volume 16, Number 23 October 15, 2006 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. New GEM Bylaws ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: From: Jimmy Raeder The GEM steering committee has voted unanimously to modify the way that GEM operates. In the past GEM was organized into ~3 parallel campaigns, each having ~4 working groups. An important aspect of this structure was the finite lifetime of campaigns which forced a periodic renewal of research foci and an explicit demonstration of success when a campaign closed out. While this approach has worked well for over a decade it has lately become increasingly difficult to close out campaigns and start new ones. In addition, campaigns often found it necessary to reinvent themselves in the middle of their activities by closing down working groups and creating new ones. The new structure replaces the campaigns with standing research areas, and the working groups with focus groups. While the research area coordinators oversee the focus groups, the latter are more independent than the current working groups. New focus groups are proposed by the community and selected by the GEM steering committee. To preserve the periodic renewal of research topics the focus groups are limited to a 5 year lifetime. Currently 9 focus groups are carry-over working groups, and ~3 new ones will be established at the 2007 summer workshop (see proposal solicitation below.) The goal is to have approximately 12 focus groups at any given time, which means there will be 2-3 new focus groups every year. With this structure we hope to make GEM even more dynamic than in the past. The format of the summer and pre-AGU workshops will not change. The new bylaws are posted at http://terra.sr.unh.edu/wiki-gem-org/index.php?n=Main.GEMBylaws. The bylaws may still need some adjustments, which will be discussed at the Fall AGU meeting of the steering committee. Please let members of the steering committee know if you have suggestions for improvement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Solicitation for GEM Focus Group Proposals ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jimmy Raeder In accordance with the new GEM bylaws the steering committee solicits proposals for new focus groups which would start their activities at the 2007 summer workshop. Please consult the bylaws (http://terra.sr.unh.edu/wiki-gem-org/index.php?n=Main.GEMBylaws) for the required content of a proposal. Please send your proposal in "pdf" format to J.Raeder@unh.edu. Proposals will be posted on a web page (http://terra.sr.unh.edu/wiki-gem-org/index.php?n=Main.FGProposals2006) as soon as they are received. If you consider submitting a proposal please consult this web page first to see if someone else had already a similar idea. The steering committee will select ~3 proposals at its December 10 meeting. Proposals will be accepted until December 6. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |To subscribe GEM Messengers, send an e-mail to | | with the following command in the body of your e-mail message: | | subscribe gem | |To remove yourself from the mailing list, the command is: | | unsubscribe gem | | | |To broadcast a message to the GEM community, please contact Peter Chi at | | | |Please use plain text as the format of your submission. | | | |URL of GEM Home Page: http://www-ssc.igpp.ucla.edu/gem/Welcome.html | |Workshop Information: http://gem.rice.edu/~gem | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+