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ANGLO-AUSTRALIAN
OBSERVATORY
DRAFT
CORPORATE PLAN
2003-2004
to
2005-2006
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
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KEY RESULT
AREA: TELESCOPE OPERATIONS
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KEY OUTCOME:
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Satisfied
users and good data
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PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS:
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| ORGANISATIONAL
STATISTICS |
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS |
PERFORMANCE
TARGETS |
- No of PATT
and
ATAC allocations
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- Percent of
available AAT observing
time lost through avoidable causes
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- Not more than 3%
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- Schedule of AAT
observing programs
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- Level of
satisfaction with service
expressed by AAT users
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- 95% regard
service levels as at least
level 3
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- AAT time
lost
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- Percent of
available UKST time lost
through avoidable causes
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- Not more than 2%
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- UKST non-survey
applications
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- UKST time
lost
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- Time on target
as a percent of available
time
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| STRATEGY |
MILESTONE/S |
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- Dome air
conditioning
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- Completed by
June 2003
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- New telescope
control system
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- Completed by
May 2006
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- New instrument
control system
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- Completed by
January 2006
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- Optical
detector controllers
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- Completed by
April 2004
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KEY RESULT
AREA:RESEARCH AND TRAINING
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KEY OUTCOME:
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Good science
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PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS:
(but note
that performance measured is not only "AAO" research performance)
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| ORGANISATIONAL
STATISTICS |
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS |
PERFORMANCE
TARGETS |
- No of
research
astronomers (and FTE)
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- No of
publications per AAO research
astronomer
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- an average of 3
publications per research
staff member
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- No of proposals
allocated time on AAT
(AAO, Australian institutions, UK institutions, other)
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- No of "AAT"
publications with AAO first
author per proposal versus with other first author
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- 1 "AAO"
publication per AAO proposal
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- No of research
papers using AAT data
(AAO, Australian institutions, UK institutions, other)
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- Citation rates
for publications involving
AAT data
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- an average of 3
citations per paper
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- No of research
papers using UKST data
(AAO, Australian institutions, UK institutions, other.)
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- Number of
publications per telescope
compared with publication rates for similar telescopes
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- Total
number of
AAO publications (AAT,
UKST, Other AAO publications)
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- Number/percentage
of papers in high
impact journals
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- Increase on
previous year
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- Number of
scientific talks and presentations
given by AAO staff
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- Number of
solicited papers in eg Nature
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- Increase on
previous year
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- Number of
summer students
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- Number of
adjunct academics
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- Three
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| STRATEGY |
MILESTONE/S |
- Be flexible
in
grasping scientific
opportunities
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- Report to Board
each September on any
such initiatives
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- Stay firmly in
touch with and part
of the international astronomy community
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- AAO symposium
each year
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- Maintain a
strong program of visiting
scientists
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- Report to Board
March and September
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- Supervision of
summer students and
PhD students
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- Annual Report
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- Maximising
outside funding, AAO astronomers
encouraged to travel for observing and conferences
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- Annual Report
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KEY RESULT
AREA: AAO
INSTRUMENTATION
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KEY OUTCOME:
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| An
integrated suite
of instruments and telescope controls that best meet the needs of the
astronomical
community. |
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CORPORATE
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
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| ORGANISATIONAL
STATISTICS |
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS |
PERFORMANCE
TARGET |
- Percent of
budget on instrumentation
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- Survey of AAT
users shows satisfaction
with the instrumentation and the way it performs
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A
rating of at least 3 on the parts of the feedback form relating to
instrumentation |
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- Performance
comparison with similar
instruments on other telescopes
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- No of
papers
per instrument
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| STRATEGIES |
MILESTONES |
- Stay firmly
in
touch with and part
of the astronomy community
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- AAO Users'
Committee each year
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- 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
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- Provide AAO
Users Committee with relevant
information for its meeting
- Program
approved
by the Board each
September
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- Involving
astronomers and people at
site in conception, design and construction, develop & commission
the
instruments and telescope infrastructure approved by the Board
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- Commissioning
of AAOmega by February
2006
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- Maintain a
flexible, professional approach
to project management
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- Report to Board
in March each year
of progress against milestones
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KEY RESULT
AREA: EXTERNAL PROJECTS
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KEY OUTCOME:
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Satisfied
customers and contracts
to keep instrumentation group at full stretch
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CORPORATE
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
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| ORGANISATIONAL
STATISTICS |
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS |
PERFORMANCE
TARGET |
| Number
of proposals submitted |
- Percent of
successful bids
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- 50% success rate
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| Number
of contracts signed |
- Projects
delivered on time and within
budget
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- 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
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| STRATEGY |
MILESTONE/S |
- Rigorous
project and financial management
of projects
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- Reports to
clients as required by contracts
- Report to
AATB
Board
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KEY RESULT
AREA:AAO RESOURCES
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KEY OUTCOME:
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| AAO
people and funds
deployed optimally and stimulated, productive, creative and focussed
staff
working in a safe environment |
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CORPORATE
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
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| ORGANISATIONAL
STATISTICS |
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS |
PERFORMANCE
TARGET |
- Funding by
program and by revenue source
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- Australian
National Audit Office report
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- ANAO regards
AAO financial management
as satisfactory
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- AAT Board’s
assessment of AAO’s management
reporting.
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- AATB regards
AAO financial management
and management reporting as at least satisfactory
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- Net cost of
services
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- Ratio of actual
expenditure to budget
by line item
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- +/- 3%
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- Material
changes in budget items with
explanation
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- Average
employee cost (including accrued
entitlements)
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- Average
liability for employee benefits
per employee
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- Staff
numbers
by employment level by
work unit and by functional area
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- EEO
performance: employment level by
gender by employment level and functional area
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- Not more than
10% among indefinite
term staff
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- Total
employee
days lost as a percentage
of available employee days
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- Not more than 2%
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- Number of
Comcare claims
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- Average days
per employee of worker’s
compensation leave
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- Less than 1 day
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- Comcare regards
AAO as an acceptable
workplace from a safety perspective
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| STRATEGY |
MILESTONE/S |
- Give all
staff
opportunity to participate
in corporate and strategic planning and other reviews
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- Corporate plan,
developed with the
involvement of staff, approved by Board in September 2003
- Revised in
June
2005
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- Undertake a
rolling program of evaluation
and documentation of all AAO administrative and management policies and
procedures
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- Train staff
in
EEO concepts and principles
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- Train staff,
managers and in-coming
safety committee members about OH & S responsibilities
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- Incoming safety
committee members trained
within 2 months of joining the committee
- New staff
trained
within 6 months of
starting
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- Project
scientists visiting site will
make a presentation on their project to staff members
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- A report to
each Projects Meeting on
the presentations made and how they were received
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- Work planning
and project management
processes in place to ensure that AAO resources are optimally
deployed
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- 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)
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- Develop an
information technology strategic
plan
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- By September
2002
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- Negotiate
Awards and Enterprise Agreement
that on the one hand rewards staff and on the other hand helps improve
the productivity of the AAO
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- 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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Joan Wilcox, Apr 2004
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