Brookhaven Science Associates U.S. Department of Energy 1 Communication Issues -- Brant Johnson, BNL NUFO Meeting, PNNL, April 25, 2008 Communication Issues

Brookhaven Science AssociatesU.S. Department of Energy 1Communication Issues -- Brant Johnson, BNL

NUFO Meeting, PNNL, April 25, 2008

Communication Issues - Brant Johnson, BNL

Communication Issues - Brant Johnson, BNL

Part I: General Issues of User Communication

User Questions and Concerns

Partners in Communication (internal and external)

Methods of Communication (push, pull, and respond)

Part II: My Brief History as a User and User Rep.

Part III: A Specific Example (RHIC & AGS)

Reorganizing a Users’ Executive Committee

Startup and Evolution of a Users’ Center



Part I: User Questions and Concerns Part I: User Questions and Concerns

As a user, how do I understand:

What is expected of me.

(regulations, procedures, dos and don’ts) What has changed.

(regulations, procedures, dos and don’ts) Who can help me.

(site access, lodging, remote computing, etc.).

To whom to report problems and suggestions. How to convey the importance of my work.



Partners in Communication:Partners in Communication:

User Administrators (the “go to” people who are there to help me).

User Organization or Executive Committee (elected and appointed liaisons).

Experimental Research Team (a few, formal group, or large collaboration).

Facility Administration (scheduling and operational issues).

Laboratory Administration (environment, safety, security, and health).

Stakeholders in Washington (must know rules of engagement).



PUSHing information to users:PUSHing information to users:

web pages

(news, information, announcements, changes)

e-mail

(to individuals, distribution lists, or list servers)

face-to-face

(open forums and other meetings)

telephone, paper mail, FAX, telegraph, pony exp.

(rarely or never used)



PULLing information from users:PULLing information from users:

e-mail

(sending out requests for feedback or surveys) web pages

(comment boxes, interactive forms for surveys face-to-face

(walk-ins, open forums, and other meetings) telephone, paper mail, FAX, telegraph, pony

exp.




RESPONDing to user concerns:RESPONDing to user concerns:

e-mail

(receive concern, investigate, reply, follow-up) telephone

(real time answers or follow-up later) face-to-face

(walk-ins, open forums, and other meetings) web pages

(updates and acknowledgements) paper mail, FAX, telegraph, pony express




Part II: My brief history as a userPart II: My brief history as a user

A local user (atomic, plasma, beam physics):1971-1975 EN tandem at Univ. of Texas at

Austin1975-1984 dual MP tandems at BNL1984-1992 National Synch. Light Source at BNL

A visiting user (atomic and plasma physics):1977 EN Tandem at Oak Ridge Natl. Lab1979 Super HILAC, Lawrence Berkeley Natl. Lab1980 Triumf Cyclotron, Vancouver, Canada1984 Max Planck Inst.

tandem,Heidelberg,Germany1984 GSI, Darmstadt, Germany

A local user (nuclear and particle physics):1992-pres. RHIC and AGS at BNL



Part II: My brief history as a User Rep.Part II: My brief history as a User Rep.

1989-1992 Representative, Special Interest Group on AMO Science to NSLS UEC.

1991-1992 Chair, NSLS Subcommittee on Beam Line Operation & Safety Awareness

1992-pres. Principal Liaison (now Official Host) for 500 users on PHENIX Experiment at

RHIC.2001-2004 Elected Member, RHIC & AGS Users’

Executive Committee (UEC)2004-2005 Chair-Elect, RHIC & AGS UEC2005-2006 Chair, RHIC & AGS UEC2006-2007 Past-Chair, RHIC & AGS UEC2007-2010 Elected Member, RHIC & AGS UEC



UEC Chairs in the Era of RHICUEC Chairs in the Era of RHIC

Succession of Chairs for 3 year terms unchanged

Jim Thomas, LBNL Chair 1999-2001

Rich Seto, UCR Chair 2001-3, Past Chair 2003-4

Vicki Greene, Vanderbilt Chair-Elect 2002-3, Chair 2003-4, Past Chair 2004-5

Gary Westfall , MSU Chair-Elect 2003-4, Chair 2004-5, Past Chair 2005-6

Brant Johnson, BNL Chair-Elect 2004-5, Chair 2005-6, Past Chair 2006-7

John Hill, ISU Chair-Elect 2005-6, Chair 2006-7, Past Chair 2007-8



Users’ Group Ex-Officio MembersUsers’ Group Ex-Officio Members

BNL employees holding the following positions are registered as Ex-Officio members of the Users’ Group:

Director of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)

BNL Deputy Director for Science and Technology

Associate Director for Nuclear and Particle Physics

Chair of the Collider-Accelerator Department

Chair of the Physics Department

Accelerator Division Head

Experimental Support Facilities Head

Director of Users’ Center (and GUV Center).



2. Discussion on working groups2. Discussion on working groups

Vision: 1. Reorganize previous UEC Committees into four Working Groups to cover broad areas of UEC concern.

2. Carry out the “work” of the UEC through active engagement of 6-10 members “working” together in each Working Group.

3. Charge each UEC Member to concentrate their efforts as a Convenor of one Working Group or as a member of only one or two Working Groups (except Ex-Officio).

4. The Working portion (10:00 to 11:15) of each monthly UEC meeting shall be devoted to reports from each Working group on outcomes of previous ACTIONS, status of current ACTION ITEMS, and initiation of new ACTION ITEMS.



UEC Working Groups (UWG)UEC Working Groups (UWG)

Brookhaven Site Access• Physical Access (Visa, Guest Appointment, Gate Access)• Computer Access (Cybersecurity, Scientific Computing)• Safety, Training, Scientific Computing and data transfer issues

Funding and Political Action• Funding: Facility Operations, Research, and User Support.• Political Action: Interactions with DOE, OSTP, OMB, Congress

Meetings and Open Forums• Annual Users’ Meeting and semi-annual Users’ Group Meetings• Quarterly Open Forums and Monthly UEC Meetings.

Quality of Life• Housing and Transportation; Recreation and Socialization• Site Enhancements (better lighting, foot paths, maintenance)• Agenda input for Open Forums at BNL and User Group Meetings• Liaisons to Association for Students And Postdocs (ASAP)



Ex-Officio Conveners of Working GroupsEx-Officio Conveners of Working Groups

Brookhaven Site AccessDirector of Users’ Center (user

administrator)

Funding and Political ActionUEC Chair

Meetings and Open ForumsUEC Chair-Elect

Quality of LifeUEC Past-Chair



Major Concerns of RHIC User CommunityMajor Concerns of RHIC User Community

1. FUNDING for Research (groups and nations)FUNDING for RHIC and Detector OperationsFUNDING for RHIC and Detector UpgradesFUNDING for long-term future (RHIC II, e-RHIC)

2. Visa Issues and Approval for BNL Site Access: Of 1030 RHIC Users, only 319 are U.S., while 711 (69%) are non-U.S. Currently 230 RHIC “sensitive” country users: Russia (113), China (62), India (43), Israel (4), Taiwan (4), Pakistan (2), Georgia (1), and Ukraine

(1).

3. Safety, Training, and Quality of Life at BNL.

4. Staying abreast of changing rules and regulations.e.g., Homeland Security Presidential Directive, HSPD-12



3. List servers and web pages3. List servers and web pages

List servers:

The Users’ Center has developed and maintains several list servers to communicate with the general user community and specific subsets (e.g., RHIC-AGS, NSRL, ATF, tandem, UEC members).

Documents

Brookhaven Science Associates U.S. Department of Energy 1 Communication Issues -- Brant Johnson, BNL NUFO Meeting, PNNL, April 25, 2008 Communication Issues