Lowell Observatory Advisory Board Meeting of the Executive Committee Tuesday December 16th at 10:30 a.m. I. II. III. Welcome and Introductions The meeting was called to order by the Chairman Michael Beckage. Present were Executive Committee (EC) members Robert Ayers (Secretary), Michael Beckage (Chair), David Connell, Leo Crowley, John Giovale, Michael Kitt, Mary Lockett, Kent Robinson, and Pamela Ross. Also present was Jeffrey Hall (ex officio), Stephen Levine (Deputy Director of technology), Kay McConagha (Deputy Director of Operations), and David Schleicher (Deputy Director of Science). Drew Barringer, James McCarthy, and Lowell Putnam (Trustee) participated by phone. Catie Blazek (Observatory Administrative Assistant) took meeting minutes. Minutes of Meeting on 16 September 2014 The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as written. Millennium Fund Michael Beckage reported the value of the Millennium Fund was $1,976,569 on 30 November compared with $1,977,368 at the end of August 2014. This includes a $20K disbursement in October; $12K to purchase furnishings for the old library in the Hendricks Center for Planetary Studies building thus creating a new meeting/colloquium room, and $8K to purchase “SAP Crystal Reports” business report generation software. Jeffrey Hall made a disbursement request of $15K from the Millennium Fund for professional expenses, including observing and AAS meeting expenses in January. Leo Crowley made a motion to approve. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously. IV. Director’s Report The Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT) will be declared fully operational on December 31st 2014. 300 Science nights are planned for 2015. The partner group will be complete next year, with the addition of Yale and University of Texas. The DeVeny spectrograph is expected to be on the DCT by the end of the first quarter. NIHTS will be available by mid-year. The DCT instruments EXPRES, IGRINS, and RIMAS may arrive late in 2015. The search for a Deputy Director of Development (DDD) continues. We will be interviewing candidates in January and February. Our search for a permanent Deputy Director of Science (DDS) continues, but more slowly. We may be interviewing for the DDS position in Q2 of 2015. Other Updates: * NPOI outrigger scopes may happen in 2015. * In March the CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array) Resource Board plans to choose which northern hemisphere sites to negotiate with. * The refurbished Clark Telescope will be re-installed in June. 2015 Outreach and Communications: For 2015 we will strive to create the best programs we can, reworking onsite tours and K-12 specials. We also expect to invest considerable work toward the completion of the Outreach Master Plan. The proposed Aspen Heights housing development near the USNO (United States Naval Observatory) Flagstaff Station and possible implications for Lowell Observatory and USNO was discussed. For now this proposal has been shelved, but we must keep watch. V. VI. Budget Review 2014 Expenses were on target. 2014 revenue was less than expected, especially grant monies. The 2015 budget is very conservative. There are no new grant proposals in the budget. In 2015 we expect employment expenses to increase due in part to new hires and salary adjustments. Lowell Observatory Foundation The proper documents have been filed with the IRS and we received a letter from the IRS stating the application has been received. We will hear within 90 days if we are approved or if there are more questions. In the mean time we should think about the LOF board and who should be on it. VII. Advisory Board Committee Updates Audit Committee – In 2015 we will keep our current auditor. Starting in mid-2015 we will start to look at bids for a new auditor in 2016. VIII. Other Business a. Future Meetings i. Investment Committee Meeting will be held in Carefree Arizona January 26th-28th 2015 ii. Next EC meeting will be held on Tuesday March 24th 2015. iii. Annual Advisory Board Meeting will take place June 10th-13th 2015 The meeting was adjourned at 12:22 p.m.