The Chair, Seaquist, appointed a planning committee with Carlberg (St. George) as chair and members Dyer (UTAS) and Percy (UTM). Martin joined the planning committee in June as Chair-designate. The DA planning committee met on a regular basis between mid-December and mid-March to prepare the draft plan for the Cluster 8 review. The entire faculty met in planning meetings in December, February, and March. The February and March meetings were open to graduate student representatives appointed by the Graduate Astronomy Student Association (GASA). Undergraduates were invited through their instructors. On receipt of the Cluster 8 review, another full faculty meeting with GASA and undergraduate representatives was held, followed by planning committee meetings to finalize the document.
CITA representatives were continuously involved as cross-appointed faculty. Several meetings were held with the Physics planning committee. Martin (for CITA) was a regular attendee at the Physics planning meetings. Various discussions were held with the chairs of Cluster 8 and Computer Science, and at UTAS with the Principal and the chair of Physical Sciences.
Throughout the process, versions of the plan were posted on our Web site for comment; considerable e-mail feedback was received and incorporated as appropriate. (C8R, p. 3: ``It was apparent to us that the process leading to the plan provided adequate opportunity for all affected groups to contribute, and reflects a consensus view within DA.'')