In v0.3, TTA tools is developing the Allocate and Approve packages, which supports the Allocation Disposition and Allocation Approval phases of the Proposal Process. Both the PPR and OSR proposal processes are in scope for this version.

Project Goals

Proposed Release Goals

Outstanding Requirements

TTA-L1-105 Super TAC Meeting Comments

TTA-L1-100 Special Solicitation Allocate Process

Storyboard for PPR Proposal Process

PPR Proposal Process High Level Epics to support Project Goals

To determine what time is available for the new proposals, I first have to build an Available Time Model (ATM) for my facility. The ATM needs to know about pre-committed time from previous approved proposals (e.g., multi-semester, monitoring), sponsored time, maintenance periods, tests, and then also carry-over from the previous semester. I want to be able to import files to specify this information, inspect the imported information, and modify it on the fly as I need. The ATM also depends on the weather and the hardware sometimes (e.g., VLA configuration).

To inspect the ATM, it is most useful to use a pressure plot, which is essentially a histogram of number of the hours requested by the OSDs per time. This tells me how many hours in a certain time bin is being requested or is available. The amount available is many inputs, including weather, frequency, and pre-committed time. The amount requested depends on the OSDs of the new proposals. I need to balance the new request against what is available. To do so, I need to really understand the details of both the available time and the requested time. It would also be nice to have a calendar-like view of the ATM, as some of the pre committed time is fixed date.

Small adjustments in the ATM or and OSD can have big consequences for the available time. As a scheduler, I explore how these changes can make an efficient schedule. As there are a lot of working parts though (many proposals, many inputs to the ATM), I like to return to previous states to assess the impact of a small adjustment. I would like to be able to save a version the schedule so I can return to it later if needed. I would like a detailed version history so I can inspect many different versions if I need to.

Now that I have the ATM, I can start to assess how the new requests will fit into it. I will need to modify the requests but I want to preserve the original request too. I likely will need to do detailed modifications, like to the sources, resources, or requested time, but sometimes I only want to do broad changes, such as total time. Sometimes these changes will have profound impacts on the intent of the request so I want to make sure I can let the PI and the TAC know about these proposed changes. My main intent is to determine preliminary scheduling priorities and to make sure the information needed for the TAC is accurate.

Once I am satisfied assigning scheduling priorities and providing comments for the TAC, I want to export a Preliminary Facility Report based on a specified version of the ATM+OSDs. A Preliminary Facility Report includes the pressure plots for my facility and a csv with the data (TBD). I will take this data and the pressure plots and externally generate a pdf that is the Facility Report. Eventually, I will want to upload materials for the TAC to use during their discussions. For my facility, I want to upload the Facility Report (pdf) and a presentation (pdf). These documents should accessible through the TAC interface and their access is restricted to the TAC and TTA members. I may need to upload a different copy later, so I will want to replace (without versioning) the uploaded files.

For my proposals requesting my facility, I want to generate a Facility Proposal Summary, where the facility is VLA, VLBA, and GBT. This information should be generated into the TAC page so the TAC members can view it for their meeting. I may want to update the data in the Proposal Summary later for example, after the Large Proposal Meeting is finished.

As a TAC member, I am representing my panel while the TAC comes to consensus about scheduling priorities, proprietary periods, scheduling constraints, recommended times, and TAC Comments to the PI. The goal as a TAC member is to make recommendations for the Director's Review, not approve the requests; the Director's Review relies heavily on our recommendations. To do this, I need visibility to the entirety of a proposal, even the author list (as long as the Dual Anonymous Review Policies allows it). I also need visibility to all of the SRP Comments, Feasibility Comments, and the TTA member's Comments to the TAC. I need to know what the TTA member (scheduler) recommends (e.g., facility reports, proposal summaries) and how it compares to what the PI requested. There is a lot of information to keep track of here so I need slim, efficient views as well as detailed view. Usually in the TAC meeting, we talk through proposals first by the Large Proposal type, then Regular Proposals. We then order by Facility -  Triggered - Score, so it would be nice if these were easy "preset" filters (or tabs) for me to jump between. Oh, and I'd like to print out the proposals and the reports in case I won't have access to my computer during the meeting. Finally, I really do need full visibility into the proposals. Even if I was marked as conflicted on a proposal in my panel, that shouldn't mean anything now.

At the Directors' Review, the directors need to see the Proposals/ADs/ODS information but I as the TTA member will be making the final edits to the information and then generating the reports after the review is over.

Story board for OSR

As a TTA member for the OSR process, one or more of us will collaborate on reviewing a proposal.  Typically for proposals in the OSR process, we don't modify the requests to the extent as in the PPR process: we either accept what they have proposed or decline it. It would be good to have the same tools to edit OSDs as the PPR process, but I won't define ATMs and build reports because this is just one proposal. I will have external information to understand the available time and if this proposal can be accommodated. After modifying OSDs, as a TTA member I perform the Science and Feasibility reviews as well as form the recommendations for Proprietary Time, Approved Time, Scheduling Constraints, and Scheduling Priorities. I need to modify these attributes and provide OSC Comments to the PI and Internal Comments for the OSC in case I want to capture any specific comments for the PI. Once I have made my recommendations, I want to finalize the review.