7 October 2024 Boulder, CO

Theme: Forward Together: Steering Higher Education in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Through a Period of Rapid Evolution

The next Biennial AMS/AGU Heads & Chairs Meeting is being planned for Monday, October 7, 2024. This meeting is a chance for those in leadership positions within their programs, departments, and institutions to collectively discuss issues facing higher education in the earth and atmospheric sciences. The planning committee is seeking your input regarding the content of this meeting. 

The Heads & Chairs Meeting has typically been held after the UCAR Members Meeting (which will be held October 8-9), but this year it is being planned as a one-day event on Monday, October 7, the day before the UCAR Members Meeting. Registration is not open yet, but should be active by August. 

The theme of this year’s meeting is “Forward Together: Steering Higher Education in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Through a Period of Rapid Evolution." The draft agenda currently includes a morning session with brief keynote speakers and discussions, a working lunch, afternoon “mini-sessions,” and an afternoon/evening town hall style discussion regarding the NOAA GS-1340 requirements.

Who can participate in this Heads & Chairs Meeting? 

This meeting is not restricted to only Heads and Chairs of departments and programs, but is open to any/all that are in leadership roles at their institutions and have an interest in higher education in the earth and atmospheric sciences. The meeting will be run in a hybrid format, so in person attendance is not required.

• If you are a UCAR Member representative planning on attending the UCAR Annual Members Meeting in person, UCAR will still cover your flight and can extend your hotel reservation to include Sunday night at no cost to you.

What can I do to get involved? 

Add your input to this Google Form, where you can:

1) Propose “mini-session” topics. To enhance participation in this meeting and maximize opportunities for discussion and networking, you are invited to propose “mini-session” topics that will be presented as lightning talks (~5 min) followed by discussion for each topic (~10 min).

• Topics that do not fit traditional AMS or AGU oral or poster presentations are encouraged.
• Ideally, you would be the one leading the mini-session, or you could suggest a speaker/moderator who would be a good fit. (This person could join as an online participant.)
• Mini-sessions should fit the overall theme of the meeting, but this is not a requirement. 

Examples for topics to propose: preparing students for AI applications, novel strategies to circumvent curriculum difficulties, how to be an effective advocate for your program to administrators, approaches to integrating professional development and skills into existing courses, advice in mentoring students, safe and inclusive field work, and managing student and faculty mental health.

2) Suggest ideas for keynote speakers and/or topics. The current plan is for each keynote to run as a brief talk (appx. 15 min) followed by discussion (30-45 min). 

3) Provide any comments, ideas, suggestions, or questions you have.

Please submit your input for the 2024 AGU/AMS Heads and Chairs Meeting via this Google Form survey by July 19. The planning committee will use survey responses to construct the meeting schedule, which will be determined by early August. 

The 2024 AMS/AGU Heads and Chairs Meeting Planning Committee

AMS (Board on Higher Education): Wendilyn Flynn, Alan Srock, Robin Tanamachi, Kim Wood

AGU: Pranoti Asher

AMS Sr. Meetings & Exhibits Manager: Jenn Rosen

UCAR Membership & Governance Office: Aneka Finley & Rachel Dammann