Responsibilities of Site Visit Group Members

APS welcomes participation from those in academia, industry, and/or government laboratories to serve as Site Visit Group (SVG) members. As an SVG member, you are helping to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment within the physics community. To prepare for your SVG role, please review the responsibilities and expectations before, during, and after the site visit.

SVG members need to allocate two nights of time for the site visit itself. If a member is unable to attend the entire site visit, including the meetings the night before, they cannot serve as  a member of the group.

Members of a site visit team serve as representatives for the APS during the visit and should conduct themselves in a professional manner congruent to this role. No other business with the department should be conducted in association with the visit (e.g., SVG members should not give a presentation or meet with colleagues on this trip).

A typical schedule for a site visit includes:

• Day 0: Travel to site and have an evening meeting with the site's department team (DT) and SVG.
• Day 1: Conduct the site visit.
• Day 2: In the morning, draft the site visit report, make a presentation to the DT at noon, and then travel home later in the afternoon.

Before the visit:

• Complete site visit training.
• Make travel arrangements.
• Participate in videoconference with DT.
• Read Self Study and Climate Survey results.
• Advise the Site Visit Group Leadership (SVG-L) if you cannot accept an honorarium (if applicable).
• In the evening before the visit, attend a briefing meeting, in which the SVG verifies that training is completed, reviews training guidelines, discusses survey results, reviews the agenda, and plans for interviews.
• Have an initial meeting with the DT before the visit.

During the visit:

• Interview department members and administration.
• Help write draft of SVG report.
• Discuss if members of the team want to make their time available following the visit to hold a videoconference with the DT to review their action steps. If so, the SVG-L should inform the DT that they would be open to this.

After the visit:

• Finalize SVG report, which must be within four weeks but preferably within two.
• Request travel reimbursement.
• Complete follow-up survey for evaluation of site visit for APS within two days of the visit.
• Conduct an optional review of the departmental action plan and provide brief feedback within eight or more weeks.

Additional Duties of a Site Visit Group Leader (SVG-L)

Along with the responsibilities of an SVG member, Site Visit Group Leaders have the following added duties:

• Serve as point of contact for both the APS Site Visit Subcommittee (SVSC) and the DT.
• Work with DT to set date for visit.
• Work with SVSC to select SVG members.
• Works with the DT to put together a site visit agenda.
• Approve the final site visit agenda.
• Ensure procedures and timelines are followed.
• Share information from DT and SVSC with other site visit group members.
• Organize writing and editing of site visit report.
• Send report to SVSC Chair and DT.
• Send thank you notes to SVG members.
• Provide optional comments on departmental action plan.

APS appreciates your efforts as an SVG member to improve the climate in physics and contribute to APS's mission of increasing diversity, fostering inclusion, and engaging the next generation of physicists.