First All-Virtual NOIRLab Time Allocation Committee Meetings in 2020B

The national observatory time allocation committees (TAC) have met face-to-face in Tucson every semester throughout the histories of KPNO, CTIO, NOAO—and now NSF’s NOIRLab—to carry out peer review of observing proposals submitted by the community. Although similar meetings were intended for the 2020B observing semester (1 August 2020 to 31 January 2021), our plans were overturned by the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation.

In response to the developing health crisis, NOIRLab staff began planning, at the beginning of March, for the possibility of remote panel meetings, examining the requirements and needed infrastructure. When the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020, NOIRLab decided on remote participation for all panels—both the NOIRLab Survey and Gemini Large and Long Program (LLP) panels, as well as the 8 regular NOIRLab panels (the 3 Galactic, 3 Extragalactic, 1 Solar System, and 1 NN-EXPLORE Exoplanet panels). Although small, individual panels dealing with special situations had met remotely in previous years, all TAC panels had never met remotely before.

As part of the re-planning process, the NOIRLab proposal deadline was postponed from 31 March to 7 April due to the reality that many universities (and NOIRLab) were closing their offices and arranging for staff to work remotely. Despite the changing and challenging health situation, NOIRLab received 347 proposals for semester 2020B, a typical number compared to recent semesters.

Preparations for the panel meetings, which involved the 55 TAC members and support staff from across the NOIRLab sites, were structured around the use of Bluejeans software. Participants were spread across Chile, the continental US, Canada, Mexico, and Hawaii, spanning 6 time zones.

Shortly after the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day (22 April), the NOIRLab Survey and Gemini LLP panels convened remotely (29-30 April), with the remaining panels and merging TAC meeting virtually the following week (4-8 May). Each set of meetings began with an orientation session attended by all panels, after which individual panels convened in separate Bluejeans “rooms.” Every panel included a NOIR Lab assistant who monitored the discussions, tracked any proposal grade changes, and attended to any technical issues.

Overall the virtual meetings went very smoothly, with only a few minor technical issues and no major problems encountered. NOIRLab TAC staff “moved” from virtual “room” to “room” to monitor the process, as they do physically when meetings are held in Tucson.

The first all-virtual TAC meetings provided both practical and valuable experience as our community moves into the future. It was a chance to explore the advantages of virtual meetings (less travel time and expense, and a lower carbon footprint), the possibly different sociology of virtual meetings, and an opportunity to scope out any disadvantages. NOIRLab staff and TAC members are now discussing and being debriefed on their experiences. Stay tuned for a future report on the findings.