1998 ACT-R Summer School and Workshop

[Christian J Lebiere]

After yesterday's provocative discussion (finally, the mailing list
working both ways!!), I have a more pedestrian topic.  The leaves are
starting to turn colors here in Pa, which means that our thoughts are
starting to turn to next year's summer school and workshop.

The summer shool format is by now pretty well oiled, with two five-day
weeks separated by a free weekend.  Even though it has occasionally been
suggested to decouple the summer school from the workshop, summer school
students greatly benefit from the research exposure.  The length of the
workshop has evolved somewhat, but it is generally agreed that a
workshop shorter than 3 days would either be too hurried or too
restrictive, and a workshop longer than 4 days would be too demanding. 
And of course the last half day should be subtracted to allow for
travel, leaving us with either 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 days.  Evidence from this
year suggests that we can generate enough material to fill 3.5 days, but
increased selectivity may allow to cut it to 2.5 if desired.  As
practiced this year, mornings would be devoted to about 6 half-hour
research presentations, and afternoons would feature special-interest
panel discussions and tutorial sessions.  As suggested, a relatively
informal schedule of demos would be included on the evening of the
second and perhaps the third day.

Currently, the main question concerns the date.  The summer school must
start after June 15 to accomodate European students.  August is
generally considered a poor month, with many people on vacation. 
Moreover, we have always been intent on avoiding conflict with the 4th
of July weekend and the CogSci conference, scheduled this year for
(correct me if I am wrong) July 31 to August 4.  This essentially leaves
us with 4 possibilities:

   Summer School          Workshop

1) June 15 to 26          June 27 to 30
2) June 29 to July 10     July 11 to 14
3) July 6 to 17           July 18 to 21
4) July 13 to 24          July 25 to 28

1) is the earliest possible date.  2) schedules the free summer school
weekend on the 4th of July.  4), like this year, leaves two free days
between the workshop and cogsci.  This schedule was designed to ease the
travel burden on our foreign contingent, but many people complained
about being away from their families for too long and not having time to
prepare for cogsci.  3) would be a compromise, leaving 9 days between
the workshop and cogsci.

Let us know how you feel about the schedule and other issues.  If you
would simply like to register your opinion, you should send email
directly to me (cl at cmu.edu).  If you would like to raise an issue that
warrants discussion, feel free to reply to the group
(act-r-users at andrew.cmu.edu).

Thank you for your feedback,

Christian