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30 September 2002 |
To: The UNAVCO Community
From: Jim Davis, Outgoing President, UNAVCO Inc.
As UNAVCO, Inc. takes the important step of establishing a Headquarters with a new President and an Executive Director, I would like to take this opportunity first to thank everyone for their support over the last few years. UNAVCO, Inc. is fundamentally a member-based organization that exists to serve the geodetic community. The participation of a great number of busy colleagues has been required to reach this stage, and I appreciate everyone's efforts. I would also like to express my gratitude explicitly to the Board members with whom I served, and to the employees of the UCAR/UNAVCO Facility, who have contributed a great deal of time and energy to this endeavor.
I would briefly like to highlight some of the organization's milestones and accomplishments. Although things started off, it seems, at a snail's pace, the present day-to-day activities of the organization have exceeded the capability of a single, part-time "employee" (me). This acceleration can be seen in the list below:
| Initiated reorganization effort to place UNAVCO resources more firmly in community control | |
| Developed draft bylaws | |
| Incorporated as Colorado nonprofit organization under the name "UNAVCO, Inc." | |
| Adopted bylaws; Formation of Board of Directors | |
| Opened Membership application process | |
| First annual membership meeting; first general election of Board of Directors; appointed Acting PBO Director | |
| Awarded first NSF grant for PBO workshops | |
| Selected new President; hiring dependent on obtaining funding | |
| Report of the Facilities Committee established goal of incorporating UNAVCO Facility into UNAVCO, Inc. | |
| Received tax-exempt status from IRS | |
| Completed first draft of PBO proposal for community comment | |
| Awarded NSF grant for interim HQ support | |
| Established UNAVCO, Inc. Headquarters in Boulder |
The above list does not include, of course, our raison d'être: ongoing (and highly successful) scientific work by members of the UNAVCO community supported by the UCAR/UNAVCO Facility; nor does it include the bulk of Earth- Scope-related planning, preparation, and proposal-writing work. This list also does not indicate the increasing amount of daily fiscal oversight that is required of UNAVCO, inc. in order to administer multiple grants.
The establishment of the UNAVCO HQ will not only reduce costs in the long run but also significantly enhance the scientific support role of UNAVCO. Both of these results will benefit our community significantly. I am extremely happy to know that we are starting out the HQ with two well known people who are extremely capable and knowledgeable in regard to our scientific and organizational goals: Will Prescott (President) and Wayne Shiver (Executive Director). Please join me in welcoming them to their new positions and wishing them continued success.
Sincerely,
Jim Davis
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