Dear Colleague:

The eighth meeting of the Astronomy Department Chairs, organized biennially by the AAS, will be held at the usual venue: the Hilton Hotel at Chicago O'Hare airport on Saturday November 3, 2012. All are encouraged to attend, or to send a representative. You will have to cover your own travel and lodging costs. There is an optional registration fee (we suggest $50) to cover snacks, lunch & refreshments.

Breakfast will be available from 8am Saturday and the meeting will end at 4pm. The first session will be a round table opportunity to report any snippets from your school that would be of interest to other Chairs.

We have confirmed that Jim Ulvestad, the NSF-AST division director and David Helfand, AAS president will be making presentations regarding their perspectives on the current status of Astronomy and Astrophysics programs, both national and international. There will be an opportunity to discuss the NSF/AST Portfolio Review issued August 2012, and the implication of these recommendations on research programs and the astronomy workforce.

If people have other agenda items, please send them to Dave Kieda. Other items that have been discussed in previous years include issues related to the undergraduate and graduate curriculum, dealing with the administration, retirement and faculty renewal in times of shrinking budgets, program assessment, challenges in E/PO activities, and strategies for managing departments. A final agenda will be posted here shortly before the meeting.

An exchange of ideas for teaching Astronomy 100 will take place in the evening of Friday Nov 2, if there is sufficient interest.

The Astronomy Chair's meeting is scheduled in conjunction with the annual MidWest Physics Chair's meeting, which will be held Sunday, Nov 4, 2012 at the same location as the Astronomy Chairs meeting. The MidWest Physics chairs meeting is open to all Astronomy Chairs, and is independently organized by Nick Giordano at Purdue University. Many Chairs will arrive Friday night and leave Sunday afternoon, allowing them to attend both the Saturday Astronomy Chairs meeting and the Sunday MidWest Physics Chairs meeting. Details regarding the Nov 4 Physics Chairs meeting can be found by contacting Nick Giodano.

We have a block of rooms at the O'Hare Hilton at a rate of $99/night plus tax for Friday 11/2 and Saturday 11/3. You can call the Hilton directly (1-773-686-8000) and ask for the AAS rate, or you can ask Jeri Cochran of UIUC (email contact below) to assist when you officially register for the meeting.

Meeting logistics will be organized by the AAS, with local help from Jeri Cochran and Charles Gammie of UIUC. The e-mail list and this website are maintained by Jerry Sellwood.

To help offset some of the costs, the AAS has set up an online donation option to help fund the expendable costs associated with the Astronomy Dept. Chairs meeting. For legal reasons, the donation page is currently available to AAS members only. Attendees who wish to donate login to the AAS Members Web pages and click on the donate button. By entering $50 in the Dept. Chairs meeting, you will both provide funds directly to support this effort and get a tax deduction.

If you plan to attend the meeting please e-mail an RSVP to Jeri Cochran at AAS-chairs@astro.illinois.edu. Please provide the following information:

Name:
Institution:
Will you attend the meeting on Nov. 3?
Will you attend the Nov. 2 evening gathering?
Do you need a reservation at the Hilton?
If Yes, please give arrival and departure dates/times:
Suggestions for discussion topics:

Please respond no later than 5 pm OCTOBER 15. Jeri or the AAS will send your hotel confirmation number around this time, if you asked her to book your room.

Dave Kieda