2026-01-26 - NSF ACO Meeting Agenda & Summary

Items highlighted in blue are instructions for each section.

1. Joint Program Updates (10 min) 

   1. ACO Program Updates (5 min) - John Towns
      Section content instructions: High-level summary of what changed since last week. 
      Metrics snapshot (usage, staffing, financials). 

      1. Staffing Report - no change

      2. Financials - no change

      3. Quarterly Report submitted - just a couple days late

      4. Work on Feb Quarterly Meeting progressing well
         
         

   2. NSF Updates (5 min) 
      Section content instructions: NSF perspective: relevant program, agency, or portfolio updates
      Any context that may affect ACCESS or ACO operations.

      1.  none

      2. Did we have any concern about shutdown at the end of the month

         1. there was a Minibus and NSF is funded for the rest of the year

      3. Does NSF want a time slot to give updates at the Feb Quarterly Meeting?

         1. Sharon can do opening remarks - virtual - 10 mins

      4. Does NSF want a slot in the EAB meeting as well?

         1. Sharon - yes - virtual - small Thank you slot
            
            

2. NSF Action Items - (5 min) https://access-ci.atlassian.net/jira/core/projects/ATT/list?sortBy=duedate&direction=ASC&filter=status%20in%20(%22To%20Do%22%2C%20In-Progress)%20AND%20%22Category%5BCategory%5D%22%20in%20(Original-PEP%2C%20PY3-PEP-WBS-5%2C%20PY3-PEP-WBS-4%2C%20PY3-PEP-WBS-3%2C%20PY3-PEP-WBS-2%2C%20PY3-PEP-WBS-1%2C%20%22NSF%20Meeting%20To%20Do%22)

   1. Nothing Outstanding in daily tasks
      
      

      Open

      

   2. Upcoming PEP Tasks
      
      

      Open

      

       

3. Carryover Action Items (5 min) 
   Section content instructions: Review prior week’s decisions & commitments. 
   Confirm closed vs. still open.
   Note blockers. 

   1. none

4. Critical Status & Red Items (10 min) 
   Section content instructions: Current or Overdue Tasks (top 3–5)
   Owner quick updates + path to resolution. 
   NSF input requested if escalation/decision is needed. 

   1. none

5. Program Spotlight (15 min)  - Lisa K
   Section content instructions: Brief look at one priority area each week (e.g., risk, staffing, allocations, milestones). 
   Goal: share context and keep alignment at the program level. 
   Detailed work continues in ACO team meetings — this time is for big-picture feedback.  

   1. Lisa’s involvement at Feb Meeting

   2. Evaluation activity during quarterly meeting - paragraph writeups - Lisa presenting

      1. Plan:  A group based self evaluation of the functioning of the Executive Council over the past 4 years with the purpose of surfacing and capturing successes, challenges and lessons learned. Topics of discussion will  include:  how the EC has evolved over time, what operational structures and behaviors have worked well, which have worked less well, approaches to decision making and delegation,  recommendations for the current or future EC with similar structure. Areas where individual EC members hold divergent perspectives will be noted as well as areas where there is full agreement. All reasonable efforts will be made to maintain the confidentiality of individual EC member comments when it comes to reporting the findings from this meeting.

      2. Outcomes: A list of Lessons Learned that the EC is willing to share with the NSF verbally and in the Evaluator’s Annual Report.  
         Audience for Lessons Learned: NSF personnel. There are currently no plans to share the Lessons Learned more broadly. Any future dissemination of Lessons Learned is at the discretion of the EC and NSF.
         As stated above, all discussion during this meeting will remain confidential. The only items that will be shared outside the meeting are the Lessons Learned that everyone present agrees upon.
         No formal preparation is required prior to the meeting. It would be helpful if each member of the EC thinks a bit about the discussion topic in advance of our gathering.
         Other Information: We will not be conducting any additional interviews outside of this discussion because of the inherent challenge of maintaining individual confidentiality.

   3. Sharon would like a copy of the report as soon as she has it if possible

   4. EC opted not to have Lisa interview previous members - they do want to include Bruno
      
      

6. Wrap-Up: Next Steps & Action Items (2–3 min) 
   Section content instructions: Confirm owners + deadlines. 
   Recap today’s decisions. - Today's Decisions (top of the agenda)
   Identify materials NSF expects before the next meeting. 

Additional Discussion

1. There is a letter NSF has received from the select committee re: access by Chinese nationals to ACCESS - in discussion with congress - we have been asked for information

   1. https://chinaselectcommittee.house.gov/media/letters/letter-to-the-national-science-foundation-on-chinese-access-to-us-supercomputing-infrastructure

   2. In the past - there have been people who went thru specialty approval / appeal processes - (thru DOE/Oak Ridge National Labs) - Sharon would like info on this if John could find it

      1. https://access-ci.atlassian.net/browse/ATT-241

Next Meeting: Feb 2, 2026 next meeting