The future of Allstat
There have been some recent contributions to the list which have
raised issues about the operation of Allstat. Over the years the
list has grown substantially both in number of members (now over 3000)
and in message traffic and it may well be an appropriate time to review
its role and mode of operation. However, for reasons which we
will explain below, we would like to suggest that this is postponed
for just a little longer in view of other changes which are taking
place.
Allstat is supported by the CTI Centre for Statistics in the sense
that the Centre pays Matt Whiley an honorarium to look after
the list. This involves a substantial amount of administrative
work (and, on occasion, some firm diplomacy). The whole CTI programme
is now reaching the end of its funding after 10 years of operation.
A new programme of subject centres, called the Teaching and Learning
Support Network, is currently being set up. It is expected that
announcements on the location and structure of these centres will be
made soon. This changeover seemed to us a natural point at which a
review of Allstat could take place. We would therefore like to suggest
that discussion of the issues is postponed until early in the year 2000,
when possible forms of support should be clearer.
Of course, that needn't prevent the immediate exploration of other
types of list which people may be interested in setting up. However,
it does mean that we would prefer to maintain the current Allstat
practices for just a little longer.
Best wishes,
Matt Whiley & Adrian Bowman
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Matt Whiley
Department of Statistics Phone : +44 (0)141 330 6118
University of Glasgow Fax : +44 (0)141 330 4814
[log in to unmask] http://www.stats.gla.ac.uk/postgrad
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[log in to unmask] http://www.stats.gla.ac.uk/allstat
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