Skip to site navigation

Mt. Graham Telescope Project Committee

Report of Activities - April 28, 2006

The charge to the Committee comes indirectly from Provost Gene Block who suggested that it would be timely for the Senate to review the University's participation in the Mt. Graham Telescope Project by revisiting recommendations made in a previous Senate Committee report in 2002 to assess how the University is doing. Specifically, recommendations on how UVA should (1) conduct its interactions with Indian tribes in Arizona in the course of using the telescope and (2) develop relationships with Indian tribes in Arizona and in Virginia, largely through outreach, educational, or recruitment activities are being investigated.

Two members of the 2002 Committee, Ellen Contini-Morava and Steven Majewski, as well as two current members of the Senate, Robert Davis and Janet Herman, constitute the current Committee that was appointed in October 2005. Committee members have met with various UVA administrators and faculty, interviewed University of Arizona faculty by telephone, and collected numerous University of Arizona and U.S. Forest Service documents. The Committee responded to a Freedom of Information Act request for documentation in March 2006. The Committee work is still in progress with the goals of reviewing the appropriate information, assessing UVA's activities, and making recommendations for the future. The full Senate can expect a final report early in Fall 2006.

Submitted by Janet Herman, Committee Chair