FRIB Users Organization

Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

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    FRIBUO Users Organization Charter

    1. Definition and Purpose:

      The FRIB Users Organization (FRIBUO) is a group whose members are interested in the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) for the purpose of conducting scientific research and developing new technology. The purposes of this association are:

      1. To provide an organized channel for the exchange of information between the FRIB administration and the broad range of users of the FRIB facility;
      2. To act as an advocate for the needs of the FRIB user community to FRIB management and to the national funding agencies;
      3. To articulate and promote the scientific case for rare-isotope science and its significance to society;
      4. To act as an advocate broadly for the field of rare-isotope science in the U.S.A. in order to maximize its scientific potential.

    2. Membership:

      The membership of the FRIBUO is open to all practicing and retired scientists, engineers, and students interested in the research and/or technical programs associated with FRIB. New members will be added upon receipt of requests submitted on the FRIB Users website. The membership list is held by the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the FRIBUO and the FRIB Manager for User Relations.

    3. Executive Committee:

      An Executive Committee will conduct most of the day-to-day business of the FRIBUO. This committee will consist of nine voting members selected from the FRIBUO membership. The members of this committee are expected to articulate the needs and priorities of the FRIBUO community to the funding agencies and to the FRIB management. The Executive Committee also provides a direct interface between the funding agencies, FRIB management and the user community.

      No two members of the Executive Committee shall be from the same institution.

      The Executive Committee will have a standing Operations Subcommittee of 3 members who will focus on the details of day-to-day operations at FRIB. Members of this Subcommittee will be active Users of the FRIB facility. Subcommittee members are full members of the FRIBUO Executive Committee and can be chosen to serve as Chair of the Executive Committee.

      Because active involvement of the Theory community is essential for FRIB science, the Executive Committee will also set aside one slot for a Theorist. The Theorist in this slot is a full member of the FRIBUO Executive Committee and can be chosen to serve as Chair of the Executive Committee. In addition, the Director of the FRIB Theory Alliance will be invited to participate in the discussions of the FRIBUO Executive Committee as a non-voting member.

      Elections for membership of the FRIBUO Executive Committee will follow the procedures established in the following.

      1. The elections to the Executive Committee will be organized by the Secretary of the Executive Committee.
      2. The term of office is three years. Three members of the Executive Committee will be elected annually by an electronic election to be conducted no later than December 15 of that year. The electronic ballot for the election will be distributed prior to December 1 of that year to the current membership as of September 1 of that year. The newly elected members of the Executive Committee shall take office on January 1 of the following year.
      3. Each year, one member of the Operations Subcommittee will rotate off of the Executive Committee after their three-year term, to be replaced by a member specifically elected to be on both the Executive Committee and the Operations Subcommittee. Every three years, the Theorist in the Theory slot will rotate off of the Executive Committee, to be replaced by a member specifically elected to serve in this Theory slot on the Executive Committee. The presence of a Theorist in this Theory slot does not preclude additional theorists from being elected to and serving on the FRIBUO Executive Committee.
      4. In years when the Theory slot is occupied, the Nominating Committee will propose a slate of at least two candidates for the open Operations Subcommittee slot, and at least three candidates for the remaining two open slots. In years when the Theory slot is open, the nominating committee will propose a slate of at least two candidates for the open Operations Subcommittee slot, at least two candidates for the Theory slot, and at least two candidates for the remaining slot. The Nominating Committee will be composed of four Executive Committee members selected by the Executive Committee Chair and approved by the whole Executive Committee. One member of the Nominating Committee will be from the Operations Subcommittee, and one will be the Theorist from the Theory slot. Member Nominations that are signed by at least fifteen members of the Users Organization from a minimum of three different institutions shall also be accepted and put on the ballot. Current members of the Executive Committee may be nominated for re-election and can serve for a maximum of two terms.
      5. The Executive Committee will select one of its members to serve as Chair and another to serve as Secretary. Neither the Chair nor the Secretary of the Committee will be from the FRIB laboratory. The terms of the Chair and Secretary are for one year and are renewable.
      6. If a vacancy arises on the Executive Committee, the remaining Committee members will select a member of the FRIBUO to serve out the unexpired term. In the event that the Chair's or the Secretary's position becomes vacant, the members of the Committee shall first select a new member as described above, and then proceed with an election to the vacated position. The newly selected Committee member is not a candidate to the Chair's or Secretary's position.

    4. Procedures:

      1. The Executive Committee will meet in person or by video or phone conference at least once each quarter of any given year. The minimal quorum for all meetings of the Executive Committee is seven members.
      2. The Executive Committee may, on its own initiative, and shall, upon request of a minimum of 30 members of the FRIB Users Organization from a minimum of five different institutions, submit questions for consideration to the full membership. Issues raised by a majority of those present at an official meeting of the FRIB Users Organization must also be presented for consideration to the full membership.
      3. The Users Organization shall meet at least once a year at a time and place designated by the FRIB Executive Committee. This meeting will usually be held in conjunction with a meeting of the Division of Nuclear Physics of the American Physical Society. In addition, the Executive Committee shall organize, and/or assist the FRIB project management in organizing FRIB-related workshops.
      4. The Executive Committee will have regular meetings with the FRIB project management in an effort to provide input into matters related to the facility. Such meetings are also necessary to organize timely distribution of information concerning FRIB to the Users community.
      5. The elections to the Executive Committee will be organized by the Secretary of the Executive Committee.
      6. The Executive Committee of the Users Organization will establish and maintain close collaboration with all other groups interested in activities related to FRIB such as, for example, the RIA Theory Group or groups assembling to design and construct specific instruments for the facility. Such contacts will occur on a quarterly basis at the minimum through exchanges between the representatives of these other groups and the Chair of the FRIB Users Organization. It is the expectation that the members of all other groups concerned with aspects of FRIB will also be members of the FRIB Users Organization so that all individuals involved with all aspects of the FRIB program will remain at all times fully informed of all issues that affect them.

    5. Amendments:

      Amendments to this Charter require a two-thirds majority vote of ballots cast by the membership at large. Proposed changes may be submitted by majority vote at a meeting or workshop, or by petition to the Executive Committee from a minimum of 30 members of the FRIB Users Organization from a minimum of five different institutions.

    Appendix A- Acceptance of the Charter of the RIA Users Organization

    The final draft of the proposed Charter of the RIA Users Organization will be sent electronically to all those registered on the RIA Users web site. Members will be asked to register a yes or no vote for it by September 8, 2004. The ballots will be collected and tabulated by a person designated by the current RIA Users Group Chair. A simple majority of those voting will be taken as acceptance or rejection of this proposed charter by the community.

    Amendment 1. May 2009

    The name of the RIA Users Organization shall be changed to the FRIB Users Organization and the references to the name of the Organization in the Users Organization Charter shall be updated to reflect this change.

    Amendment 2. May 2009

    The purpose of this association shall be updated in the Charter and changed from:

    1. To work towards the realization and timely construction of RIA
    2. To articulate and promote the scientific case for RIA and its significance to society
    3. To promote and enhance the RIA research and development effort and other FRIB related activities to maximize its scientific potential
    4. To act as an advocate for the needs of the RIA users to:
      1. To work towards the realization and timely construction of FRIB and the development of its instrumentation and physics program;
      2. To act as an advocate for the needs of the FRIB user community during project construction;
      3. To articulate and promote the scientific case for rare-isotope science and its significance to society;
      4. To act as an advocate for the field of rare-isotope science in the U.S.A. in order to maximize its scientific potential.

    Amendment 3. May 2009

    Amendments to this Charter may be proposed to the full Organization by the Executive Committee upon approval of the amendment by a three-fourths vote of the full Executive Committee.

    Amendments 4-6. January 2022

    The full text of these amendments can be found here. These amendmends were adopted and are incorporated into the text of this charter.

    Amendment 7. January 2024

    A seat, which shall be filled by a postdoctoral researcher, shall be added to the executive committee. The candidate must be a member of the FRIB user community. Candidates shall be nominated by members of the FRIB user community at their institution, and no institution shall nominate more than one candidate per election. Each institution shall send its nomination to the Chair of the Executive Committee, who will transmit them to the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall select three of the candidates to be placed on the ballot in the annual electronic election. The deadlines for this process shall be determined each year by the Secretary of the Executive Committee.

    The Nominating Committee shall select candidates for the postdoctoral researcher seat to ensure a diversity of representation among universities, national laboratories, and other institutions. The Nominating Committee shall not select a candidate from an institution that was represented in this seat in the previous two years.

    The Postdoctoral Representative shall be a full voting member of the Executive Committee. Their term of office shall be one year, which will continue if the Postdoctoral Representative moves institutions or obtains a permanent or tenure-track position during their term. No person shall serve as the Postdoctoral Representative more than once. A term served as the Postdoctoral Representative shall not be considered for the purposes of determining eligibility for future service on the Executive Committee.

    The Postdoctoral Representative’s affiliation shall not be considered when determining the eligibility of other candidates for election to the Executive Committee.

    Amendment 8. January 2024

    The FRIB Users Organization adopts a Code of Conduct, which will be posted on the Organization’s Website and agreed to by new members as a condition of membership.

    Click here for a PDF version of this charter.

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