The Anglo-Australian
Observatory’s
Statement of Purpose:
The
main purpose
of the Anglo-Australian
Observatory
is to facilitate
the best possible science
through
the provision of
world-class optical and
infrared observing facilities for
British and Australian
astronomers.
It also takes a leading role in
the formulation of long-term
plans and strategies
for astronomy in both countries
and,
through its research and
development of new instrumentation,
to the advancement of astronomy
internationally.
CHARTER
The Anglo-Australian Telescope Board
operates
and maintains world class facilities which enable British and
Australian
astronomers to undertake research in astronomy for the advancement of
scientific
knowledge. The Board’s facilities consist of the 3.9 metre
Anglo-Australian
Telescope (AAT) and the 1.2 metre UK Schmidt Telescope (UKST) on Siding
Spring Mountain, outside Coonabarabran, NSW, and a laboratory in the
Sydney
suburb of Epping. Collectively, these are known as the Anglo-Australian
Observatory (AAO).
The Board is an independent
bi-national
authority funded equally by the Governments of Australia and the United
Kingdom. The Board operates under an Agreement between the two
Governments
which came into operation in February 1971 and stood for an initial
period
of 25 years. If either party wishes to withdraw from the Agreement
after
the initial 25 year period, they must give five years notice of their
intention.
So far, neither party has done so and both parties have signalled their
support for the AAO for the foreseeable future.
KEY RESULT
AREAS
The AAO is committed to achieving
results
in four key areas. In deciding the key result areas the AAO was mindful
that the main objective is to get the best possible science for the
available
resources. The AAO is not, of course, exclusively responsible for the
scientific
results that arise from use of AAO facilities: much research is done by
people who are not part of the AAO. The AAO nevertheless can make a
significant
contribution to the quality of the results.
First, by running the telescopes
efficiently
and providing comprehensive support during observing runs, the
likelihood
of good results is maximised. Secondly, by ensuring that the best mix
of
instrument and software development is undertaken, the Board, the
Advisory
Committee on Instrumentation for the AAT, the Schmidt Telescope Panel
and
AAO staff contribute substantially to the style and substance of
science
possible at AAO facilities. Thirdly, by recruiting first class research
astronomers to support visiting scientists and encouraging and
supporting
the AAO astronomers in their own research, the Observatory creates a
climate
which facilitates the best possible scientific output from all
astronomers
using the AAO’s telescopes. Finally, the Board makes a
contribution when
it takes a policy stance on the kind of projects that will be given
time
on the telescopes. The time assignment panels have an even more direct
effect as it is they who decide what projects win time.
The five key result areas
identified
were:
In the following pages, for each of
the
key result areas, is
- A statement of the key
outcome
or desired result, against which achievement can be measured
- Organisational
statistics
to be
reported in the Annual Report; these show the level of either activity
or output
- Corporate
performance
indicators,
which will be used to measure the AAO’s efficiency and
effectiveness
- Performance
targets for
each of
the performance indicators
- A set of strategies
to
achieve
the key outcome and associated milestones
|
KEY RESULT
AREA: TELESCOPE
OPERATIONS
|
|
KEY OUTCOME:
|
|
Satisfied users and
good data
|
|
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS:
|
ORGANISATION
INDICATORS
|
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS |
PERFORMANCE
TARGETS |
| No of PATT and ATAC
allocations |
Percent of available
AAT observing
time lost through avoidable causes
|
Not more than 3%
|
| Schedule of AAT
observing programs
|
Level of satisfaction
with service
expressed by AAT users
|
95% regard service
levels as at least
level 3
|
| AAT time lost
|
Percent of available
UKST time lost
through avoidable causes
|
Not more than 2%
|
| UKST non-survey
applications
|
|
|
| UKST time lost
|
Time on target as a
percent of available
time
|
|
| STRATEGY |
MILESTONE/S |
| Dome air conditioning
|
Completed by June
2003
|
| New telescope control
system
|
Completed by May 2006
|
| New instrument control
system
|
Completed by January
2006
|
| Optical detector
controllers
|
Completed by April 2004
|
|
KEY RESULT
AREA:RESEARCH
AND TRAINING
|
|
KEY OUTCOME:
|
| |
|
Good science
|
|
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS:
(but note
that performance measured is not only "AAO" research performance)
|
| ORGANISATIONAL
STATISTICS |
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS |
PERFORMANCE
TARGETS |
| No of research astronomers
(and FTE) |
No of publications per AAO
research
astronomer |
an average of 3
publications per research
staff member
|
| No of proposals
allocated time on AAT
(AAO, Australian institutions, UK institutions, other)
|
No of "AAT"
publications with AAO first
author per proposal versus with other first author
|
1 "AAO" publication per
AAO proposal
|
| No of research papers
using AAT data
(AAO, Australian institutions, UK institutions, other)
|
Citation rates for
publications involving
AAT data
|
an average of 3
citations per paper
|
| No of research papers
using UKST data
(AAO, Australian institutions, UK institutions, other.)
|
Number of publications
per telescope
compared with publication rates for similar telescopes
|
|
| Total number of AAO
publications (AAT,
UKST, Other AAO publications) |
Number/percentage of
papers in high
impact journals
|
Increase on previous
year
|
| Number of scientific
talks and presentations
given by AAO staff
|
Number of solicited
papers in eg Nature
|
Increase on previous
year
|
| Number of summer
students
|
Number of adjunct
academics
|
Three
|
| STRATEGY |
MILESTONE/S |
| Be flexible in grasping
scientific
opportunities |
Report to Board each
September on any
such initiatives
|
| Stay firmly in touch
with and part
of the international astronomy community
|
AAO symposium each year
|
| Maintain a strong
program of visiting
scientists
|
Report to Board March
and September
|
| Supervision of summer
students and
PhD students
|
Annual Report
|
| Maximising outside
funding, AAO astronomers
encouraged to travel for observing and conferences
|
Annual Report
|
|
KEY RESULT AREA: AAO
INSTRUMENTATION
|
|
KEY OUTCOME:
|
| An
integrated suite
of instruments and telescope controls that best meet the needs of the
astronomical
community. |
|
CORPORATE
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
|
| ORGANISATIONAL
STATISTICS |
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS |
PERFORMANCE
TARGET |
| Percent of budget on
instrumentation |
Survey of AAT users
shows satisfaction
with the instrumentation and the way it performs
|
A
rating of at least 3 on the parts of the feedback form relating to
instrumentation |
| Suite of instruments |
Performance comparison
with similar
instruments on other telescopes
|
|
| No of papers per instrument
|
|
|
| STRATEGIES |
MILESTONES |
| Stay firmly in touch with
and part
of the astronomy community |
AAO Users' Committee
each year
|
| Participate in the AAO User
Committee
deliberations and develop an instrumentation and telescope
infrastructure
program designed to maximise the scientific results obtained from AAO
facilities |
Provide AAO Users
Committee with relevant
information for its meeting
Program approved by
the
Board each
September
|
| Involving astronomers
and people at
site in conception, design and construction, develop &
commission
the
instruments and telescope infrastructure approved by the Board
|
Commissioning of AAOmega by
February
2006 |
| Maintain a flexible,
professional approach
to project management |
Report to Board in
March each year
of progress against milestones
|
|
KEY RESULT
AREA: EXTERNAL
PROJECTS
|
|
KEY OUTCOME:
|
|
Satisfied customers
and contracts
to keep instrumentation group at full stretch
|
|
CORPORATE
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
|
| ORGANISATIONAL
STATISTICS |
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS |
PERFORMANCE
TARGET |
| Number
of proposals submitted |
Percent of successful
bids
|
|
50% success rate
|
| Number
of contracts signed |
Projects delivered on
time and within
budget
|
All projects found to
meet acceptance
criteria
Oz Poz accepted in Chile
by April 2003
Final design for
FMOS/Echidna by March
2003
FMOS/Echidna ready for
delivery to
Subaru by August 2004
Dazle final design by
July 2003
MOMFOS concept design
delivered October
2003
IRTF concept delivered
April 2004
|
| STRATEGY |
MILESTONE/S |
| Rigorous project and
financial management
of projects |
Reports to clients as
required by contracts
Report to AATB Board
|
|
KEY RESULT
AREA:AAO RESOURCES
|
|
KEY OUTCOME:
|
| AAO people
and funds
deployed optimally and stimulated, productive, creative and focussed
staff
working in a safe environment |
|
CORPORATE
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
|
| ORGANISATIONAL
STATISTICS |
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS |
PERFORMANCE
TARGET |
| Funding by program and by
revenue source |
Australian National
Audit Office report
|
ANAO regards AAO
financial management
as satisfactory
|
| |
AAT Board’s
assessment of AAO’s management
reporting. |
AATB regards AAO
financial management
and management reporting as at least satisfactory
|
| Net cost of services
|
Ratio of actual
expenditure to budget
by line item
|
+/- 3%
|
| Material changes in
budget items with
explanation
|
Average employee cost
(including accrued
entitlements)
|
|
| |
Average liability for
employee benefits
per employee
|
|
| Staff numbers by employment
level by
work unit and by functional area |
EEO performance:
employment level by
gender by employment level and functional area
|
|
| |
Staff turnover |
Not more than 10% among
indefinite
term staff
|
| |
Total employee days lost as
a percentage
of available employee days |
Not more than 2%
|
| Number of Comcare claims
|
Average days per
employee of worker’s
compensation leave
|
Less than 1 day
|
| |
Comcare audit of AAO |
Comcare regards AAO as
an acceptable
workplace from a safety perspective
|
| STRATEGY |
MILESTONE/S |
| Give all staff opportunity
to participate
in corporate and strategic planning and other reviews
|
Corporate plan,
developed with the
involvement of staff, approved by Board in September 2003
Revised in June 2005
|
| Undertake a rolling
program of evaluation
and documentation of all AAO administrative and management policies and
procedures
|
|
| Train staff in EEO concepts
and principles |
|
| Train staff, managers
and in-coming
safety committee members about OH & S responsibilities
|
Incoming safety
committee members trained
within 2 months of joining the committee
New staff trained
within
6 months of
starting
|
| Project scientists
visiting site will
make a presentation on their project to staff members
|
A report to each
Projects Meeting on
the presentations made and how they were received
|
| Work planning and
project management
processes in place to ensure that AAO resources are optimally
deployed
|
Work plans and budgets
developed by
March each year
Project monitoring
and
reporting to
project and Board meetings on a regular basis (internal &
external
projects)
|
| Develop an information
technology strategic
plan
|
By September 2002
|
| Negotiate Awards and
Enterprise Agreement
that on the one hand rewards staff and on the other hand helps improve
the productivity of the AA
|
New Award in place
within the life
of the current Agreement
New Agreement
negotiated
in timely
fashion, subject to the union’s capacity to negotiate given
its
obligations
to CSIRO members
|
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