Discussion Topics

• National ANSS news
• Charter (first draft) review
• Vision statement
• Mission statement and goals
• Values
• Key success factors
• Measures of success
• Next meeting

Attendees

John Aho, CH2M Hill
Niren Biswas, Anchorage Strong Motion Project
Roger Hansen, Alaska Earthquake Information Center
Tom Murray, Alaska Volcano Observatory
Bob Page, USGS
Tom Sokolowski, West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center

National ANSS news

Immediately prior to the Alaska ANSS Regional Working Group Meeting, Tom Murray and Roger Hansen attended a National ANSS teleconference.  Tom Murray related the following National ANSS news:

• Financial news update: FY2001 plans due August 2001.
• Twelve boxes containing twelve strong motion instruments should be arriving from Kaye Shedlock soon.  These will be the instruments deployed in the Anchorage bowl area this summer.
• National committee review: updates of progress of various committees.
• The newest ANSS fact sheet is out for review, courtesy of Harley Benz.  Although they are mentioned in a small text section, Alaska and Hawaii do not appear geographically on the map shown in the document.  There may be ways to resolve this. [It was later found that no map was in this fact sheet]
• The powers-that-be are looking for suggestions as to where to put national instruments in Alaska.

In response to action item #2 from the on-going Regional Working Group Action Items List, Tom Murray drafted a charter for the Alaska ANSS Regional Working Group.  The main goal of this meeting was to have all members review the charter and offer suggestions for modifications.
 

Vision statement

After some discussion of the true meaning of a vision statement, everyone agreed that it looked great and will stand as written.
 

Mission statement and goals

Six goals were defined in this section; five of the six goals were agreed upon and written by the Regional Working Group in the December 6, 2000 meeting, and the sixth goal was introduced by Tom Murray.

Tom Sokolowski proposed that a "lead-in" paragraph be written for the established goals.  It was agreed that this paragraph will be called the "mission statement" and it will incorporate value #4 ("The operational, technical, and organizational requirements of individual networks will differ because of the differing missions and parent organizations.  These differences will be respected.") and goal #2 ("Improve earthquake monitoring and reporting in Alaska through effective cooperation and collaboration among government (local, state, federal) agencies, academic institutions, and public and private institutions (e.g. lifeline and transportation operators) that engage in earthquake monitoring.").  Tom Murray and Niren Biswas will write the mission statement.

Because goal #2 will be incorporated into the mission statement, it will be removed from the list of goals.
 

Values

Eight values were outlined in this section.  A few small grammatical changes were made, and it was agreed that value #4 (see previous section) will be removed and incorporated into the mission statement.  One additional value was added by the group: "Member's opinions will be heard with full respect."
 

Key success factors and Measures of success

Each member volunteered to take one or two goals (agreed upon and written by the Regional Working Group in the December 6, 2000 meeting) and write 1-2 page strawman papers defining key success factors and specific closed-ended goals so that progress can be measured against them.  Once these strawman papers are complete (by May 2001 meeting), this section will be written in full.
 

Next meeting

The next meeting is scheduled to be held May 22, 2001.  Main discussion topic will be charter review.