Director's Message
Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue8 1–30 September 2020
As we all gradually come to grips with how 'living with COVID-19' works - and what it feels like - we are gaining more confidence in managing the potential issues while at the same time getting on with the everyday business of teaching, research, outreach, and the other activities required to make our School and University function. That's not to say that we can relax our guard: as we have seen over and over again, the virus can produce a new outbreak at any time, and only continual vigilance and rapid, decisive counter-measures can keep it under some degree of control. I therefore urge you, in all seriousness, to follow the guidelines set down by the University and the School (for MSO and SSO) that will help us keep COVID-19 in check.
With COVID now a chronic rather than an acute issue, we can look again to the future and begin planning for the longer term, as emphasized in Brian Schmidt's most recent blog. For the ANU, and the university sector more broadly, that future looks challenging. The financial health of the ANU appears better than feared mid-year, but it is still precarious. Over the next couple of weeks the implications of the situation for the ANU's 2021 budget should become clearer. As foreshadowed when the current Expenditure Control Framework was first imposed, more cuts are likely to be required across the board at ANU in 2021 in order to keep our expenditure matched to our income. I believe RSAA is in a relatively strong position to manage further cuts, but, to quote Brian, "there is no way to put a positive spin on what awaits". However, I will endeavour to be as transparent as possible regarding the actions that might need to be taken and to provide clear rationales for any changes that have to be made at RSAA.
Last week we had another attempt at getting a satellite selfie for the ACT. Thanks to those of you who participated in making the display - shown here in part - that we hope will clearly signpost Mount Stromlo Observatory from orbit! We were fortunate this time with the weather, which was beautifully clear, so we hope for some great images. The second image accompanying this message is my own picture of the satellite taking a picture of me - which looks much as you might expect!
