THE
Senate Document Number
1005S
Date of Senate Approval
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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:
IDC 3: Proposal to authorize the establishment of the
Pisgah Astronomical Research and
1. Name of the Proposed Center
The
2. Specific Objectives and Goals of the Proposed
Unit
The mission of PARSEC is to provide students and
faculty from across the UNC system with access to world-class, state-of-the-art
astronomical instrumentation in a setting that serves as a conduit for
education and research opportunities.
Through a contractual Master Agreement with the Pisgah
Astronomical Research Institute (PARI), PARSEC will have access to the
facilities, equipment and infrastructure located on the 200-acre PARI campus,
approximately 30 miles southwest of
● To obtain infrastructure at PARI
necessary to support increasing research and education
accomplished through the following:
a.
Generating
funding to maintain, improve and expand instrument functions
b.
Providing
administrative support to enhance research and education projects and programs
● To stimulate new and ongoing university
scholarship across the UNC system in various
ways:
a.
Providing
“hands-on” accessibility and experience with instrumentation for undergraduate
and graduate students and faculty
b.
Maintaining
flexibility to respond to tracking current astronomical targets of opportunity
c.
Capitalizing
intellectual development of faculty, students and visitors
d.
Attracting
graduate students from other states, as well as providing new research
opportunities designed to keep
● To generate multidisciplinary
collaborations across the UNC system and other
universities; this will be achieved by:
a.
Attracting
collaborators from academically diverse backgrounds
b.
Creating
new collaborative opportunities for faculty in innovative areas of research and
education
● To promote undergraduate research across
the UNC system which is currently being
accomplished by:
a.
Providing resources and
mentoring projects at PARI
b.
Creating mentoring
projects across the UNC system (several UNC institutions are currently
participating in such projects at PARI)
● To provide
multidisciplinary educational programs and learning opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, post-doctoral
and life-long learners in the astronomical
sciences and extending into other areas including computer
sciences, environmental
sciences, life sciences, physics, engineering and media arts.
● To create a world-class,
state-of-the-art Center utilized by a broad cross-section of users
in the
following ways:
a.
Providing
collaborative opportunities for research and education on an international
scale
b.
Enabling
remote access to cutting-edge instrumentation, network technologies and
expansive facilities
c.
Hosting
participants locally at PARI facilities
● To actively secure financial stability;
this will be achieved by:
a.
Creating
new initiatives and collaborations with public (federal and state) and private
sources to ensure steady income streams
b.
Conducting
aggressive grant writing and contract development
c.
Developing
a PARSEC endowment fund
3.
The Unit’s Relevance to the Institutional or University Mission with
Impact on existing academic departments, schools, institutes, centers
UNCA acts as the
administrative institution of PARSEC, with funding coming from external sources,
such as the State Expansion Budget, grants, contracts and private sources. UNCA has a long history of supporting and
encouraging multidisciplinary research and education, and its active
involvement in PARSEC and PARI will enhance its curriculum and scholarship on
different levels and areas. PARI is
currently participating in projects with a number of UNCA departments,
including Physics, Computer Sciences, Education, Mathematics, and Multimedia
Arts and Sciences.
Institutions from across
the UNC system will benefit from access to educational and research
opportunities and increasingly strong technology infrastructure at PARI, along
with the unique availability to access cutting edge instrumentation both
locally and also remotely.
Instructional programs
at UNCA will be positively affected by the establishment of PARSEC. Course offerings at UNCA will be impacted as
research collaborations across the UNC system increase. UNCA has recently filled an endowed chair
with a radio and optical astronomer whose primary responsibility will be to
stimulate the use of the Center using PARI facilities.
4.
Statement about anticipated effects of proposed unit on instructional
programs of proposing institution
Currently several UNCA
departments and programs are actively engaged with PARI. The following are from
2004 alone:
· a UNCA mathematics major
was awarded a grant from the UNCA Undergraduate Research Program to analyze
stellar spectra taken with the
· a physics major is
currently developing a new laboratory exercise for the School of Galactic Radio
Astronomy Smiley Project at PARI with support from the Space Telescope Science
Institute Hubble Space Telescope Education/Public Outreach Grant to PARI and
UNC-CH (the Smiley Project allows students to remotely access PARI’s 4.6 meter
radio telescope and to date has been used by more than 3,000 students in grades
8-12)
· a computer science
major, supported by a grant from the Janirve Foundation to PARI, is building
and programming a robot for the new PARI
ScienceZone project (designed to allow K-8 students to control the robot over
the Internet and conduct physics experiments)
· an astrophysicist in the
UNCA Computer Science Department developed the PARI 4.6-meter Smiley Radio
telescope Java Internet controls
· multimedia arts and
science majors, funded by a National Science Foundation grant to PARI, are
developing new multimedia exhibits for the PARI StarLab programs.
UNC-Chapel Hill’s
Department of Physics and Astronomy has completed a three-year optical survey
to find
detached low mass eclipsing binaries and is using the data to make direct
measurements of masses and radii. A
graduate student earned her Ph.D. with this research. Also underway through the
efforts of UNC-Chapel Hill is the assembly of an instrument for use in detection of
near-infrared (NIR) emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs).
Increased collaboration
with other UNC institutions are envisioned with UNC-Chapel Hill’s astronomy
program, UNC-Charlotte’s optics program, North Carolina A&T’s Space Science
program, Appalachian State University’s observatory, as well as several astronomy
programs at UNC-Pembroke, UNC-Greensboro, North Carolina State University,
UNC-Charlotte and Western Carolina University’s optics and photonics program.
A distance learning
facility at PARI is being planned that would allow students who are on-site at
PARI to participate in courses at other UNC campuses. It would also allow
classes to be taught at PARI that would be available to students anywhere
within the UNC system.
5. Director, PARSEC Board and the
Scientific Advisory Committee
Director
A national
search for a Director will commence with the approval of the 2005-06 UNC
Expansion budget. The PARSEC Director
will be an individual of significant stature in the research community, who
will have the overall administrative responsibility of PARSEC and will be
expected to further develop PARSEC as a world class research-education
Center. The PARSEC Board will act as the
search committee and will interview on site at least three candidates. The Board will recommend to the UNCA
Chancellor at least two qualified candidates, and the Chancellor will make the
final selection of the Director after consultation with the UNC Office of the
Vice President of Research.
The
Director will have administrative responsibility for PARSEC and will lead its
development as a world-class center for research and science education. A major part of his/her effort will be
directed towards developing future funding sources and the intellectual
integrity of the Center.
PARSEC Board
The PARSEC
Board will consist of nine members.
UNCA will have two permanent members and PARI will have two permanent
members. Of the remaining five members, at least three will be from within the
UNC system, excluding UNCA and PARI. The other two members will come from
within or outside of the UNC System. The PARSEC Team will have responsibility
of establishing the initial PARSEC Board and thereafter it will be the
responsibility of the PARSEC Board to maintain a full membership. The PARSEC Board will meet at least twice
annually. Annually the PARSEC Board will
elect a Chair Person, a Chair Person-Elect, and a Secretary-Treasurer. PARSEC Board will have the responsibility of
ensuring that PARSEC is meeting its commitments to its key stakeholders. These stakeholders include the national
scientific and academic communities, the UNC System, UNCA, PARI, federal and
state government agencies, and commercial and non-profit entities interested in
the activities of PARSEC.
Scientific
Advisory Committee
The
PARSEC Board will be advised on matters relating to research and instructional
programs by a Joint Scientific Advisory Committee (JSAC) that also functions as
the Scientific Advisory Committee for PARI.
Members
of the JSAC will be appointed jointly by the PARSEC and PARI Boards of
Directors according to criteria determined by consultation between both
Boards.
The
JSAC will be charged to report to both Boards as appropriate.
6. Description of PARSEC Responsibility
Structure, Including an Organization Chart
The PARSEC
Board will receive an annual report from the PARSEC Director. The PARSEC Board will transmit this report to
UNCA’s Chancellor, who in turn will provide this report to the UNC Vice
President of Research. The PARSEC Board,
also when appropriate, will coordinate development with the PARI not-for-profit
public foundation.
The
PARSEC relationship with PARI will be governed by a Master Agreement, which
will be legally binding for both parties. The Master Agreement will clearly
articulate all aspects of the relationship between PARSEC and PARI, including:
·
details
of how PARSEC funds will be obtained
·
how
PARSEC funds will be used
·
the
manner and form of issuance of sub-agreements for work tasks under the Master
Agreement
·
the
manner and extent to which work under the Master Agreement may be used for
revenue purposes
·
the
manner in which any resulting revenues will be shared among the several parties
·
the
intellectual property rights for each of UNC, PARI, participating UNC
institutions and individuals doing work on sub-agreements under this Master
Agreement.
The
Master Agreement will be subject to approval by the PARI and PARSEC Boards,
contingent upon final approval by the UNC Office of the President.
The
PARSEC Board will have oversight responsibility for the operation of PARSEC, as
well as responsibility for its long term planning. The Director will communicate with the PARSEC
Board on a regular basis and submit a formal annual report to include the
PARSEC budget, funding initiatives, scientific and educational accomplishments,
and proposed future goals. The PARSEC
Board will report to the UNCA Chancellor and ultimately to the President of the
UNC system. The annual report will be
forwarded by the PARSEC Board Chair to the UNCA Chancellor, who in turn will
provide it to the UNC Vice-President for Research. The Chair of the Board will normally include
an endorsement or other suitable elaboration for the UNCA Chancellor and UNC
Vice-President for Research with the annual report.
Once
established, the PARSEC Board will develop and ratify by-laws for governance,
operations and terms of membership.
The
PARSEC Board will communicate with the PARI Board as major initiatives are
proposed and considered. The details of
PARSEC activities will be handled through interactions between the PARSEC
Director and the PARI President or their respective designees.
The
affiliated faculty membership of PARSEC will consist of faculty drawn from
member universities, who are active
participants in the research and educational programs of PARSEC-PARI. Initially, affiliated faculty will be drawn
from universities in the UNC system
but membership may be extended to faculty outside the system who are active
users of the PARSEC-PARI facilities.
Affiliated faculty will be appointed by the PARSEC Director in
consultation with the JSAC.
In
the course of their regular scholarly activities, the member faculty will
pursue research and instructional projects, particularly at PARI and often in
collaboration with PARI staff. The
PARSEC Board and Director, and the PARI Board and President will work to make
UNC-PARI interactions as seamless and productive as possible.
PARSEC Organizational Structure
7. Budget Estimates and Anticipated Sources of
Funding
PARSEC
income streams will come from grants, contracts, donors, state funding, and
federal support.
PARSEC’s
expenditures will fall into three categories:
resource usage, instruments and facilities. Resource usage includes fees paid to PARI
through PARSEC for usage of the facility, scientific instruments and staff
resources. Facility enhancements and
instrument additions are the capital expenditures outlined in Section 8 of this
proposal. The operations category
includes salaries, benefits, and travel costs for PARSEC’s director and support
staff, and includes the normal operation expenses for the PARSEC offices.
It is
anticipated that one half of the state funds will be designated for resource
usage and one half for PARSEC operations. When federal support is achieved, it
will be used for facility enhancements and instrument additions as outlined in
Section 8. After an initial period of developing the facilities, PARSEC plans
to develop long term federal funding for program operations and facility usage
support. Funds derived from grants,
contracts, and gifts will be used to support PARSEC and PARI as defined in the
Master Agreement and as specified in the terms of the grants, contracts, and
gifts.
Expected
Income by year
Item 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
State
Funding (external) $250,000 $500,000 $500,000 $500,000 $500,000
Federal
Support $2,000,000 $3,500,000 $3,500,000
$2,000,000 $2,000,000
Grants,
Contracts, Gifts $ 0 $
500,000 $1,000,000 $1,500,000
$1,500,000
TOTAL $2,250,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000
$4,000,000 $4,000,000
Expected
Expenditures by year
Item
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
PARSEC
Operations $125,000 $650,000 $1,050,000 $1,950,000 $1,950,000
PARI
resource usage $125,000 $350,000 $450,000 $1,050,000 $1,050,000
Equipment
& Facilities $2,000,000 $3,500,000 $3,500,000 $1,000,000
$1,000,000
TOTAL $2,250,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $4,000,000
$4,000,000
8. Statement of Capital
Needs
The
radio and optical observatories located at PARI provide a uniquely-designed
site for PARSEC programs and activities.
As such, several components of the observatories need additions and
instrument enhancements to fully meet the needs of the astronomical research
and science education mission of PARSEC.
During
its years of government operations, several hundred million dollars was spent
on infrastructure on the site. At the time of its acquisition by PARI, there
was more than $200 million of value in the site. Since then, PARI has invested
more than $10 million to develop the site into an operational facility for
astronomical research and education.
Long
term capital plans include enhancements for the radio telescopes (approximately
$2.5 million), installation of a 1.1 meter optical telescope (approximately $2
million) and development of student/astronomer housing and a public education
facility (approximately $4.5 million).
The residential research and education facility will include an
auditorium, interactive science center and a bookstore. It will also allow the development of public
outreach programs, including guided tours and group astronomy activities.
Capital plans also include campus and infrastructure upgrades ($3.5 million)
and the establishment of a library with distance learning and wideband
Internet2 access ($3.5 million).
9. Space Needs
(immediate and projections)
Immediate
space needs at PARI will include office and work space for the PARSEC director,
PARSEC support staff and the UNCA Glaxo Chair.
Projected needs at PARI include housing for students and visiting
scientists, laboratory space, student work areas, additional office space for
the PARSEC staff as it increases and an education outreach complex. PARSEC will
contract with PARI for this space and resource usage.
The
only on-campus space needed at UNCA will be an administrative office for the
PARSEC Director. Current designated UNCA
academic space will not be used for this purpose. PARI has ample administrative office and
parking space for the activities of PARSEC.
Although rest areas are available at PARI for
short term visits, there is a need for additional housing for students and
visiting scientists for extended stays.
A housing facility for up to 60 people is needed.
An
education outreach complex is critical to the mission of PARSEC. The dissemination of research to the general
public is important for continued support of basic research. A facility for guests and the general public
would emphasize education/public outreach education in the sciences. This would include astronomy programs using
radio and optical telescopes for groups.
10. Additional
Information to Support Establishment of PARSEC
The
economic future of
PARSEC, as a center of the 16-campus
Astronomical
research now under development through PARSEC/PARI encompasses both optical and
radio astronomy. These research programs
are designed to push back the frontiers of knowledge.
For
example, the planned 1.1-meter optical telescope at PARI will complement seven
other telescopes in the
For
radio astronomical research, PARI has two working 26-meter radio telescopes and
a 12-meter radio telescope housed in a radome.
PARI has already invested more than a million dollars to upgrade the
26-meter radio telescopes for astronomical pointing and tracking, and a vigorous
program to add additional capabilities is underway, with the goal of creating a
multi-frequency, two-element interferometer.
The result will be an instrument that can carry out important time
intensive observations that can not be scheduled at national radio
observatories, which are commissioned to serve a broad spectrum of astronomical
users. The two-element interferometer
will facilitate much needed studies of rapid variability in such exotic objects
as quasars, pulsars, and the sources of enigmatic gamma ray bursts. The 12-meter radio telescope, having a
precise surface, can operate at high frequencies and the development of a
22-GHz receiver is planned. This radio
telescope could then be used to conduct the first survey of the entire northern
sky for water maser sources, which are understood to be regions of star
formation in our galaxy. Such a
large-scale project would span about eight years of continuous observing. Like the two-element interferometer, this instrument
could be dedicated to large scale projects beyond the scope of most programs
that can be contemplated within the conventional framework of national radio
observatories, and would also be used for gamma ray burst (GRB) follow up.
Astronomical
research at PARI is inextricably connected to instrumentation development. This will make PARSEC/PARI unique,
particularly in comparison with the
For
undergraduate and graduate students, training in radio astronomical
instrumentation through PARSEC will address a national need while giving these
students an important educational advantage.
Currently, almost no new Ph.D.s in radio astronomy have a strong
background in instrumentation. At the
other end of the pipeline, senior radio astronomers with extensive
instrumentation experience are already retiring and more will follow within the
next decade.
Of
course, the educational mission of PARSEC will extend far beyond training
astronomers. The multidisciplinary
environment of PARSEC will allow students at all levels to explore a range of
disciplines and foster individual development according to personal strengths
and interests. Thus, a student who
recently embarked on graduate study in engineering after working on
instrumentation development on the 26-meter radio telescopes is as much a
success story as one who follows a conventional career path into professional
astronomy. For K-12 students, PARSEC can
give students an enticing first exposure to science, beginning the process of
active engagement.
A
number of ongoing educational programs already connect students with activities
at PARI as active participants. For
example, the students in the Duke Talent Identification Program carry out
observing projects and give presentations on their results. The
The
extensive infrastructure available at PARI offers the UNC system a remarkable
opportunity to engage faculty, students, and the community in a
multidisciplinary environment. The
simultaneous commitments to research, education, and outreach and the focus on
the PARI site will help erase longstanding, but artificial, barriers among
these endeavors and promote technological and scientific developments at many
levels.
11. Recommendation
of the Chancellors of the involved Institutions