Ensure the long-term success of UC leadership within the TMT project. UC should continue to play a leadership role in the development of TMT’s telescope design and instrument suite by investing in the technical expertise and UC laboratories. UC should commit to shifting $6.5 M/yr infrom Keck operations to TMT operations when Caltech is contractually obliged to pick up that portion of Keck operations. This represents UC’s contribution to TMT operations for a 15—18% share, leaving UC’s share in Keck unchanged

Keep the Keck Observatory at the cutting-edge of 10-m class telescopes and maintain UC’s current share of the telescopes. UC should continue the contractually obliged funding of Keck operations. It should design and construct new instruments and new adaptive optics systems for the Keck Observatory. This requires UC to keep its instrumentation labs strong (at UCSC and UCLA) and to pursue, with its Keck partners, sources of additional funding

Strengthen support for development and construction of instrumentation and adaptive optics. UC facilities, instruments, and personnel are vital to UC’s leadership in both Keck and TMT and to the success of these observatories. UC should focus system-wide funding on labs capable of building next generation AO and instrumentation. It should also identify ways to mitigate risk for TMT and advance science at Keck

Continue funding Lick Observatory at current levels, while exploring new funding models. In addition to the facilities above, we recommend creating a UC Astronomy and Astrophysics Council. This new body will improve the UC A&A community’s ability to examine, optimize, and advocate for, the system-wide investments that UC makes in this field. ATF Report Executive Summary 1 System-wide Review of the University of California Observatories Executive Summary 1. By all criteria the performance of UCO as an organization that supports and advances observational astronomy within the entire UC system has been excellent. Objective evidence for this excellence includes: UC leadership in astronomy through observations on the Keck and Lick telescopes has produced some of the most important astronomical discoveries of the past 15 years, including ground-breaking work in exoplanets, cosmology and black holes

The assembly of what arguably is the leading ground-based optical astronomical instrumentation group in the world. This group provided much of the intellectual impetus for the Keck telescopes, world leadership in developing and implementing astronomical adaptive optics, and leadership of five instruments for the Keck telescopes, and five instruments for the Lick telescopes. They are now leading the design of two first-light instruments for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT)

Overall productivity in publications and impact of those publications which ranks in the top tier of major astronomical observatories worldwide

The recruitment of outstanding junior and senior faculty to UC, and the expansion of astrophysics on several campuses, making astronomy one of the most visible and highimpact programs in UC

Fabrication of instruments for TMT will require significant upgrades to the Santa Cruz laboratory facilities, including a lab with a large interior volume, upgrades in optical measuring capabilities and possibly in the machine shops. Careful planning will be needed to reach the right mix of using outside vendors and internal expertise to make most effective use of limited funding, especially if TMT funds cannot be used for improvements to the laboratories. Given the expected need for IR technologies for TMT, the UCLA Infrared Laboratory also needs enhanced levels of support to ensure that the group keeps a core staff between large instrument and detector jobs

UCO has made effective use of the facilities on Mt. Hamilton for a variety of purposes including major surveys of exoplanets, supernovae, and active galactic nuclei, instrument engineering, and education and public outreach. However the $1.8M currently spent annually on Lick is a significant sum in the face of other funding pressures. The committee would like to see Lick Observatory continue, but as a largely self-supported enterprise with a strong public function. We encourage the UCO Director, working with interested astronomers from the other campuses, to seek outside funding sources and implement streamlined operations at Lick if this historic observatory is to continue to contribute. The long-term future of Lick Observatory should be critically examined as part of a strategic planning exercise

Given the importance of UCO’s role and the considerable resource it manages it is important to improve and strengthen its system of governance. We recommend the establishment of a board, largely composed of members external to UC, and including a representative of the UC Senate, who would serve as trustees and advocates for the UCO program. The main roles of this UCO Board would be to give support and advice to the UCO Director on important policy and management matters

review and approve annual program plans and longer-range strategic plans

evaluate progress against those plans

periodically review the performance of UCO and its Director, and recommend the appointment of a new Director when a vacancy arises. It should report annually on its activities to the UCOP

We recommend that the UCO Advisory Committee (UCOAC) be retained as the primary conduit for engaging the UC astronomical community in the management of the Observatories. The role of the committee, however, should be expanded to include