PypeIt Advisory Council (PAC) Charter

Date

Status

Authors

Comments

2025-07-29

DRAFT

Westfall

First draft

Definitions

  • PypeIt Coordination Committee (PCC): The top-level governance entity for the PypeIt project, which primarily defines broad development milestones and identifies funding opportunities.

  • PypeIt Advisory Council (PAC): Defined and charged herein.

Logistics

  • NOIRLab has agreed to help form and support the PAC.

  • With the exception of the PAC Representative (see below), the members of the PAC should not include members that also hold any named position(s) in the PypeIt team (i.e., PCC member, Maintainer, Voting Member, Ombudsperson).

  • The PAC should address the agreed upon charge. It is otherwise self-governed, except for the appointment of a representative that will also be a member of the PCC. See below.

Charge

  • Collect feedback from the broader community of astronomical spectroscopists on their data-reduction needs and struggles. The PAC should seek any help they need for this (e.g., via NOIRLab connections).

  • Organize and communicate this feedback to the PCC in a way that influences the definition of PypeIt’s short- and long-term development milestones.

  • Nominate one member to join the PCC to advocate for and vote on behalf of the full PAC’s recommendations. See below.

  • Help raise awareness of PypeIt and suggest ways the community (both users and developers) can engage with the project.

  • Help the PypeIt project engage with other community software efforts (both with and without functional overlap).

  • Receive and review reports and/or presentations from the PCC to the PAC regarding their current activities and near-term and long-term development goals.

Charge Adoption and Modifications

  • The original charge must be agreed upon by both the PCC and PAC.

  • Modifications to the charge can be proposed by either the PCC or PAC, but must be agreed upon by both. If the PCC cannot reach consensus (or if deemed appropriate), proposed modifications will be brought to a vote following PypeIt’s normal voting procedures.

PypeIt Advisory Council Representative

  • The PAC Representative must be a full member of the PAC and is a member of the PCC with equal standing. However, as a member of the PCC, the PAC Representative is expected to advocate on behalf of the consensus position of the full PAC.

  • Election and removal of the PAC Representative follows a procedure similar to other members of the PCC (see here). The differences are (1) nominations for the PAC Representative must come from the PAC and (2) the PAC can choose to remove the PAC Representative according to their own procedures at any time. If the PypeIt Voting Members vote to remove the PAC Representative from the PCC, the PAC must accept this result and provide nominations for a replacement. However, this does not prohibit that person from continuing to be a part of the PAC.

  • The term of the PAC Representative should be no less than two years, and elections should be staggered with the PypeIt Project Scientist for leadership continuity.