CMC Oct 2018 Meeting

Attendance

Mistia Zuckerman, CMC chair (NSIDC)
Jonathan Kofler, Secretary (GML)
Mimi Hughes, (PSL)
Alessandro Franchin (CSL)
Eric Adamson (SWPC)
Hazel Bain (SWPC)
Nate Campbell (CIRES Admin)
Gaby Petron (GML)
Aaron Sweeney (NCEI)
Joe Katich (CSL)
Adam Woods (NCEI)
Don Heinzeller (GSL)
Amanda Morton (Admin/Outreach)
Chelsea Thompson (CSL)
Eric James (GSL)
Michael Toy (GSL)
Candida F Dewes (PSL)

10/22/2018 - 12:09 pm – The meeting was called to order at GB124 NOAA Building
Pre-Agenda Discussions
The question arose, when does the meeting start?  Previous meetings when there was food, the meeting started after eating.  Do meetings without food start promptly at 12? After a little discussion Mistia decides it should be made clear prior to the meeting.
A question arose about meal compensation and conversation ensued. Mimi says the meal cost is not covered because the CMC meeting is not an “official” event, which leads Gaby Petron ato ask if the CMC is an official body? And expresses that she does not want to be a member if it is not.  This point was left unresolved, and will be revisited at the next meeting. Nate arrives later and clarifies that the compensation is $500/year for officers and $300/year for standard members. As chair Mistia offers to cover to use her compensation as Chair to cover additional visitors lunch costs.
Update on Foreign national spouse work permit issue
Alessandro’s update on J1 housing agenda.  People who are hired by CIRES get a J1 visa if they are non-national.  If their spouse gets a J2 visa and a work permit to work (which is connected to the partners J1 visa), a problem arises when the J1 Visa needs to be renewed because of a lag (~3 months) in the renewal of the J2 person work permit. Proposal: To ask CIRES and ISSS to carry out the paperwork in advance of the J2 work permit by three months.  Alessandro spoke to John Rush who is aware of the issue and interested and willing to help but is too busy to address it right now.
Mimi raises the question of what Other Foreign national issues might there be?  Is the visa issue only one of many issues for foreign nationals on visas?
Someone suggests sending out an email to our groups to identify foreign nationals to see what issues they might be having.
Housing
Nathan Campbell spoke with Alfred Flores (Associate Director - Apartment Life from Housing and Dining Services).  Alfred explained that University housing is currently 40% graduate student populated and the University wants to up that number.   Housing for all campus employees is currently being discussed by University President and directors. Now would be a good time for Waleed to bring CIRES concerns and interests to the President and directors.  The main issue(s) from previous meetings and refreshed in this meeting is that the University housing is only guaranteed for 2 year blocks, which may not align well with say a 3 year contract, or be long enough for a CIRES worker in early career or a postdoc position.  Having flexible lease durations beyond 2 years would be beneficial because of the high cost of living in and close to Boulder. Eric Adamson volunteers to help Alessandro understand the housing issues for CIRES and what to campaign for. Information gathering is needed.   For example, for how many people has the housing been an issue, particularly the early career.
Motion: To bring housing issues up to Waleed
Motion approved by a majority
Meeting Notification
How should we notify CIRES members of the meetings? After discussion of possibly having a google calendar event that goes to every one or sending emails to our clusters, it is concluded that each cluster representative will decide how to disseminate the meeting announcement to their cluster.
CIRES culture survey.
Susan Sullivan is making rounds and presenting the results.  A number of presentations will be given next week.
CMC minutes
Is it in the bylaws whether they should be voted on or approved before releasing them?  If not, should we have a different process. After some discussion it is concluded that if it is not in the bylaws (Jon Kofler and Gaby Petron will check), it might be best to have a google doc, that can be edited, and after a set amount of time that the notes are available for review and editing, the notes can be released (/uploaded to CMC events archives)
CIRES mentoring program update.  
Mimi reports that Waleed has not responded to the proposal (sent to him in an email) yet and Christine Wiedinmyer is tasked with reminding him.  A proposal is written, but the program details and infrastructure will need to be developed yet. The program will borrow from other programs like mentoring365, but will not only be for early career but mid career and cover a variety of subjects.   Mentees and mentors will be paired through matching software. Mentor Training would lie outside the program and be available to people not participating in the program.
Other
Gabrielle Petron asks how are issues and agenda items decided.  Mistia explains CMC and/or CIRES members bring them up at the meetings.
Gabrielle asks if new hires are informed about the CMC?  Do they get a handout about the CMC? Nathan Campbell says it is not part of a handout because new hires are inundated with an excess of information.