Dear Fluid Community,
Many of you have heard the news regarding the restructuring within
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Mellon is merging the RIT program
with the Scholarly Communications program and, sadly, Ira Fuchs and
Chris Mackie will be leaving the foundation. A recent article in the
Chronicle covered this transition:
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/In-Potential-Blow-to/19519/ .
As you know Fluid Engage and Decapod are currently funded through
this program. We were officially informed of the change on December
18, 2009 (see message copied below). We were informed that our
projects have been transferred to the Scholarly Communications
program, under Don Waters. Don Waters and Helen Cullyer have begun
the process of getting to know the projects. We have also discussed
the next round of funding for Fluid Engage. We do not anticipate that
the restructuring will affect Fluid, Fluid Engage or Decapod as they
address the core objectives that The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is
reaffirming through this restructuring. Don has assured us that our
current support from the foundation will not be affected.
As is the case with other RIT projects, the Fluid Project has been
working on strategies for long term sustainability that do not depend
on funding from Mellon. One step we have taken is to form a
not-for-profit, charitable organization called the Fluid Foundation.
We will be exploring a number of ways to raise ongoing support for
the work of Fluid not covered by funded projects such as Fluid
Engage. We have also been successful in receiving grants from both
the provincial and federal government in Canada to cover some of the
central costs of Fluid over the next five years.
Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or concerns.
all the best,
Jutta
Dear Jutta,
I am writing to you with news relevant to your Mellon Foundation
grant of March 23, 2007 and March 20, 2009 to support Project FLUID
and December 22, 2008 to support Decapod.
The Foundation is making a number of organizational changes designed
to consolidate resources and concentrate them more effectively on
the Foundation's central objectives in support of its five core
program areas: the liberal arts and humanistic scholarship in higher
education, scholarly communications, museums and art conservation,
performing arts, and conservation and the environment. As part of
these changes, the Research in Information Technology Program (RIT)
will be merged into the Scholarly Communications program and cease
to exist as a standalone grantmaking program of the Mellon
Foundation, effective January 4, 2010. The Scholarly Communications
program, which will be renamed so as to indicate, explicitly, that
technology-based grantmaking is part of its mandate, will assume
responsibility for managing existing RIT grants and the planning of
future grant initiatives that emphasize the development of
information technologies in support of the Foundation's core focu!
s.
As this merger occurs, my colleagues, Ira Fuchs, who founded the RIT
program at the Foundation in 2000, and Christopher Mackie, will both
be leaving the Foundation. You may have questions and I am happy to
discuss them with you at any time. You should feel free to send me
email or call me (212-500-2470). You can also reach my colleague,
Helen Cullyer ([email protected]). In the meantime, let me reassure you
that our objective is to facilitate in every way possible the
progress of your current grant activities.
In the coming months, we will be evaluating all of the RIT grants
and developing a plan for supporting those activities that will best
meet the ongoing priorities of the Foundation. We will, of course,
be contacting you to discuss your grant as part of that evaluation,
and I look forward to speaking with you.
Again, if you have any comments or questions, please let me know.
Best regards,
Donald J. Waters
Program Officer
Scholarly Communications
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
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