1. USAC Meeting July 2009

2. Meeting Goals
Updates on Ocean Leadership, USSSP, USIO, IODP-MI, SPC, NSF, IWG+
Usual business & Sub-committee work:
E&O (Kathy, Stephen, Beth)
Nominations (Liz, Susanne, Brad)
Staffing (Mitch, Jim, Lori)
Workshops, Pre-drilling activities (Dave, Yildrim, Tim)
Schlanger Fellows presentations
CHART & INVEST
Travel support for INVEST
Nominations for Science Plan writing committee

3. USAC ACTION ITEMS –from January ‘09 meeting
Action Item : Develop regional fact sheets (Pacific Northwest, Midwest, Southeast, Northeast) for distribution. (Meth)
Discussed with External Affairs. When presenting information about funding impacts to Congressional members, local information is key. Regional fact sheets would be too broad to be useful. The same is true when discussing funding impacts to deans and department chairs.

4. USAC ACTION ITEMS –from January ‘09 meeting (cont’d)
Action Item : Contact prominent geoscience education researchers to determine their interest in supervising a graduate student who would evaluate the impact and efficacy of School of Rock curriculum and materials. (Peart)
In August, we will begin planning for evaluation and will include the graduate student research approach.

5. USAC ACTION ITEMS –from January ‘09 meeting (cont’d)
Action Item : Contact prominent geoscience education researchers to determine their interest in supervising a graduate student who would evaluate the impact and efficacy of School of Rock curriculum and materials. (Peart)
In August, we will begin planning for evaluation and will include the graduate student research approach.

6. USAC ACTION ITEMS –from January ‘09 meeting (cont’d)
Action Item : Identify potential professional development partners for School of Rock expansion activities. (Ellins) Ellins to update the subcommittee at meeting.
Action Item : Provide budget guidelines for paid School of Rock opportunities. (Ellins) Ellins to update the subcommittee at meeting.

7. USAC ACTION ITEMS –from January ‘09 meeting (cont’d)
Action Item : Develop a letter describing sensitivity training to send out to co-chief scientists. (Peart) Since January, Deep Earth Academy has worked directly with nine co-chief scientists via personal conversations; no letter is necessary at this time.
Action Item : Explore the possibility of a post- cruise award for an HBCU educator-at- sea to conduct research and outreach activities. Also explore additional sources of funding. (Powell) In progress. HBCU Educator-at-Sea has been selected. Discussions are currently underway to determine his interest in post- expedition outreach funding.

8. USAC ACTION ITEMS –from January ‘09 meeting (cont’d)
Action Item : Develop ideas for a new climate change poster that will emphasize the link between discovery and climate. (Pekar)
Action Item : Investigate opportunities to collaborate with University of Texas Jackson School of Geosciences, Rice University and Texas A&M University to establish a presence at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). (Powell)

9. CONSENSUS STATEMENTS
Consensus : Obtaining additional funding to provide partial support for U.S. participants to attend the INVEST meeting is a top priority. We anticipate demand extending beyond current and recent Science Advisory Structure participants to proponents of active proposals and also representatives from new and previously under- represented scientific topics.

10. CONSENSUS STATEMENTS
Consensus : Financial support for fundamental expedition data needs to be increased and provided faster and more efficiently to maximize the impact of upcoming expeditions. Renewal planning should encompass effective financial support of post-cruise research.