Sharpening Our Focus
Mercury Magazine, May/June 2004

by Katy Garmany

For more than a century the Astronomical Society of the Pacific has worked to spread the understanding of astronomy, in particular, and science, in general.

Every organization, especially one that is 115 years old, needs to stand back now and then and look in the mirror—to make sure we understand what we are doing, why we are doing it, and, if necessary, to think about making some changes.

Over the past 18 months, the Board and staff of the ASP, with lots of help from our members, have been conducting a very interesting strategic analysis and planning process. I won't keep you in suspense. We made no stunning discoveries and no radical decisions. But like any good astronomer, we did decide to tweak the focus a bit to get it just right.

Over all those years since 1889, the purpose of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific hasn't really changed much. Our current mission statement says it pretty well—"to increase the understanding and appreciation of astronomy." That's what we have been doing for well over a century, and that's what we are going to keep on doing. The question is this: how can the ASP contribute most effectively to increasing the understanding and appreciation of astronomy?

Every scientist knows that periodically you have to confirm your basic assumptions. To us, that meant asking questions of many of our most loyal members, partners, and friends. To those of you who participated in this process, thank you. It confirmed what many of us had suspected: there isn't one ASP, but many. A great number of our members and friends see us as an educational organization. To others, we exist primarily to serve researchers. For some, our main purpose is seen as bringing amateurs and professionals together, while still others believe our main mission is to popularize astronomy among the general public. And to many people we were primarily a catalog that sells astronomical products. The problem is, all these perceptions are accurate!

It has become increasingly apparent over the years that, by trying to be "all things to all people" in astronomy, we have developed not one reputation, but many. Even among the ASP staff and Board of Directors there are multiple, overlapping ideas about what the Society's priorities should be. Ultimately, such fuzziness is not a good thing for any organization; it can lead to vague and unclear decision-making, and, as one Board member put it, to "cavitation—activity and motion without progress or direction." None of us want that.

At the same time, we reaffirmed during the strategic analysis that the ASP is doing a lot of things right—and we shouldn't mess with success too much. We thought long and hard about what the main role of the ASP should be. How can the ASP really make a difference? What unique and special role can we—should we—play in order to fulfill in the best manner our mission to increase the understanding and appreciation of astronomy? The member's survey we conducted a couple of years ago pointed us in the right direction. Although our membership is roughly equally divided among research astronomers, educators, and amateur astronomers, the majority joined—and remain with us today—because they support our educational efforts and programs.

In retrospect, the conclusion seems obvious. Over the past several years, almost without really trying to do so, we have become a leader in the field of astronomy education and outreach. This is clearly our special and unique niche.

Of course, education doesn't happen only in classrooms, and there is much more to it than learning new facts. True education is about uncovering and stimulating the innate curiosity, wonder, and excitement in all of us. It's about passion as much as facts. If the ASP can help more people get excited about the Universe, if we can help more people want to learn more about the Universe, we will be accomplishing our mission.

Our mission hasn't changed, but it has become more sharply focused. The ASP is about astronomy education, and our constituents are all the people who do astronomy education or who support astronomy education—not just teachers and college faculty, but researchers who get involved in education and outreach; informal educators such as museum and planetarium staff; education and outreach practioners—the growing number of people at NASA, at observatories, and at universities who are charged with developing and distributing educational materials, products, and services to all sorts of audiences; and the many thousands of amateur astronomers who express their love of the hobby by sharing it with others. They are all astronomy educators, and they are the audiences we serve.

Don't worry—our technical publications, PASP and the Conference Series, are definitely not going away. They serve an important role, and they will continue to grow and change to meet the needs of the astronomy research community.

Over the next few years, other facets of the ASP may evolve as we continue to strengthen our commitment to education and outreach. The programs and projects we embark on, our membership strategy, Mercury, our Annual Meeting, all will become more focused on education and on supporting and celebrating the dedicated people who help others widen their horizons.

We welcome your participation, your support, and even your criticism as we continue to fulfill the mission of the founders of the ASP—to increase the diffusion of knowledge of the Universe.

CATHARINE GARMANY is President of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. She can be reached at garmany@noao.edu.