[Cuga] Update for Users- A message from Haiyan Gao, Chair of Users Group Board of directors

[Lorelei Chopard]

Dear Jefferson Lab users:

Happy New Year!

The Users Group Board of Directors had its meeting at JLab on Jan 14, 
2016. The meeting presentations and the minutes are located at 
https://wiki.jlab.org/cugwiki/index.php/UGBoD_Meetings

There are a number of important aspects discussed at this meeting 
concerning scheduling of experiments, PAC proposal submission, 12 GeV 
upgrade and beam delivery status, funding situation, EIC effort and 
users' involvement, JLab land use situation, future plan to handle 
backlog situation of approved experiments in the 12 GeV era and many 
more. I encourage you to look over the presentations and minutes and 
please do not hesitate to contact me or any of the board members if you 
have any concern or question.

I would also like to inform you that the 2016 annual users group meeting 
will take place at JLab June 20-22, 2016. Please pencil these days on 
your calendar and more info will be provided about in the near future. 
Larry Weinstein together with a number of board members are working on 
the program with a theme of ``Reach for the Horizon'' from the LRP with 
a focus on the upcoming 12 GeV program and a future EIC, and I am sure 
they like to hear your suggestions for speakers and the program.

As in the past, we will host a Users Group Satellite meeting during the 
April APS meeting (April 16-19, 2016 in Salt Lake city), and more info 
will be provided soon.

I would like to remind you of two important upcoming deadlines: the 
competition for the 2015 JSA postdoctoral research prize has a deadline 
of Jan 22, 2016, and the nomination deadline for the 2015 JSA thesis 
prize is Feb 15, 2016.

Finally I would like to wish you all a very productive and fulfilling 
year of 2016.

Best, Haiyan Gao
Chair, JLab UGBOD