2025-12-16 - ACCESS EC Meeting Agenda & Summary

Decisions made during the meeting:

Agenda

Additional Agenda Items

2. Allocations HR Changes - 10 min - Dave H

   1. Email from Stephen - see below: https://access-ci.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ACP/pages/1829273601/2025-12-16+-+ACCESS+EC+Meeting+Agenda+Summary#HR-Changes

   2. Will be at PSC till Jan 9, 2025

   3. Dave last day is Friday - this is his last EC meeting

   4. Laura is leaving Illinois - Jan 2 last day

   5. Bruno Abraeu - will replace Stephen as PI of Award - will need to be approved by NSF -

   6. Nathan Tolbert - will take over for Laura H for the Sub-Award at NCSA - needs to be approved by NSF

   7. NCAR Sub - is TBD on how it will be handled

   8. Ken Hackworth and Rob Light will be made co-PIs on award - have worked with Nathan before

   9. Stephen and Dave going to Internet2

   10. Introduce Bruno A - from PSC - will be spreading Stephen’s tasks around with Ken and Rob

   11. What is likelihood that award will follow Dave? Dave will not know for a while

   12. John - Dave has played a key role in standing committees - how will these committees be covered

       1. Dave - Stephen was in web group and on Eval - Dave will need a new rep from Allocations

       2. Cassian from Support is leaving and Alana is wanting to step back

          1. Jason will be stepping in

       3. This will all be addressed as we go forward

       4. Amit - can help make sure the surveys go out for next year

       5. Hopefully there will not need to be a mad scramble

   13. Shelley - what is going on with NAIRR and allocations

       1. John - Ken H will step in for Dave for NAIRR-OC - this should put us in good shape

   14. Tom - what about XRAS and AMIE

       1. talk to Nathan or Rob Light

       2. Nathan says the only changes should be who is leading what meeting

   15. Sharon - Eric can spread the word to the RPs - make a good bounce-back reply on his email - that will help

3. We need an EC representative for the RAC - 10 min - John Towns

   1. Recognized this when doing review of ACO Goals - looking at communications between standing committees and the EC - found there was no Rep to bring back and provide info to RAC/EC

   2. Overview of EC Sponsors and their support of the working groups for Bruno

      1. Laura will transition that to Bruno - so it would make sense for him to be the sponsor

   3. Can come back and confirm with Bruno - Tom says he will help overview and provide some info for background

   4. Follow up on this in January

4. EAB - Chuck Pavloski

   1. Vivian Heng Fu will be retiring from the EAB at the end of the year

   2. We need to know how to fill her position - it is in the EAB charter

      1. https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1JK7Yc-lK1q0hHiMx4vnVsGIU5hUfg-sE

      2. There is no defined procedure for EAB member replacement mid-term

   3. Still need ACO and RAC appointments with the EAB

5. Dec Quarterly Meeting (20 min)

   1. Background Info:

      1. Notes: https://access-ci.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ACP/pages/1815052432

      2. Morning Note Synthesis: https://access-ci.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ACP/pages/1815052432/EC+Quarterly+Meeting+Notes#Synthesis-of-the-morning-notes%3A

      3. Summary of Planned Goals/Actions - by team: https://access-ci.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ACP/pages/1820852243

      4. Summary of Planned Goals/Actions - by PY5 ACCESS Wide Goals: https://access-ci.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ACP/pages/1819869206

      5. PY5 Summary White Sheet: https://access-ci.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ACP/pages/1820688409

   2. PY5 ACCESS Wide Goals Priorities or Focus Areas

      1. Improve the user experience (e.g., better user guidance, personalization of the user experience, and better insights through usage analysis, …)

      2. Increase the value delivered to the ACCESS-Allocated Resource Providers (e.g., easier integration processes, simpler and more effective tools, …)

      3. Solidify the programmatic foundation for transitioning to successor awards (e.g., modernizing tools, updating documentation and policies, and improving cross-program operational alignment, capturing lessons learned, …)

      4. Better capture and articulate ACCESS scientific impact (e.g., through publications data, new captured metrics, new analysis of existing data captured, …)

   3. These are not ACCESS wide goals - these are PY5 Priorities or Focus Areas

   4. Summary Priorities by Team

   5. Next we should come back together once we have metrics around how to evaluate them

   6. For instance ACO will review our Goals and see how they fit with the Priorities

   7. John - we should have some shared text and slides that we all use in our reviews

   8. Tom - would take improve user experience - not sure if we should have metrics/outcomes for each Goal / Priority

   9. Shelley agrees - these should guide what her team is doing and there would be metrics/outcomes for the Priorities

   10. John - each team will review the priorities and how their awards will support them - but Sharon might ask for metrics

   11. Tom - next step might be generate slides and review together

   12. Shelley - thought Sharon’s interest was in team metrics and goals

   13. Shannon - If we divide the goals and the priorities - I think we can say the Priorities drive the goals and those goals can have metrics and outcomes within the teams

   14. Steps Forward

       1. Tom will make a power point with what his team will do

       2. John - we will need to do this in January

       3. By Feb we will have an EAB meeting where we have to talk about this

Operations PY5 Priorities

Metrics

Support

Allocations

ACO

HR Changes

Over the next 2-3 weeks, Laura, Dave, and I will be leaving our respective organizations. We have been working on the transition processes of our roles and responsibilities related to the ACCESS program and the Allocations project. We’d like to note that this was not a fully coordinated exit, but has quite some coincidence to it.

We have been working closely with the senior personnel on the project, along with NSF, to transition them into co-PI roles, as well as onboard a new PI.

Dr. Bruno Abreu, PSC’s Deputy Scientific Director, will be the PI of the award. Bruno brings deep experience as an ACSS end user, a reviewer for XSEDE, ACCESS, and NAIRR Pilot proposals, and has worked at two ACCESS RP sites (at NCSA prior to PSC).

PSC will also request adding two co-PIs:

• Rob Light, PSC’s Principal Systems Software Engineer Manager, already Senior Personnel and co-lead for software infrastructure.

• Ken Hackworth, PSC’s Senior Allocations Manager, also Senior Personnel and lead for front-line support of community members requesting projects. 

For Laura’s co-PI role at NCSA, Nathan Tolbert, another Senior Personnel member and co-lead for software infrastructure, will step in.

The discussions on the NCAR sub award are still underway with the new leadership team and all relevant parties.

All involved are working toward a smooth transition of operations so as to have as little disruption as possible to our team, the program, and the broader ecosystem. 

Thank you for your previous support and the future support of the new team. 

On behalf of Dave, Laura, and myself it’s been an honor to serve this project and this community.

While I’m out (this was a scheduled message) please follow-up with Dave, Laura, Ken, Rob, Nathan, and/or Bruno for any immediate needs.

Continued best wishes,

Stephen Deems

Dave Hart

Laura Herriott

Next Meeting: January 6, 2026

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