IARC staff is continuing to make progress towards an independent administrative and management structure, as is stipulated in the NSF Cooperative Agreement. IARC will continue to hone the staff organization and to fill the most urgent support needs with a view towards increasingly independent operations. There will be certain specialized support activities, such as Human Resources management and the Public Relations office, which will continue to be provided by other campus departments until IARC has sufficient staffing levels to warrant its own staff positions.

There are three groups that provide guidance and advice to the IARC Director, based on their specific perspectives. They are the IARC Management Team, the IARC Science Advisory Board, and the Modeling Advisory Committee.

IARC has established its chief scientist position to oversee its scientific activities, in particular the integration of arctic climate change research results. The chief scientist is appointed by the IARC director. Dr. John Walsh was hired as the first chief scientist and was selected as one of the UA President's Professors.

The IARC Director attends all their meetings, in order to establish a closer interaction among the groups. He is ultimately responsible for the final decisions and the consequent performance of IARC, which is subject to review by the OC. Key linkage is also provided by the attendance of at least one member from each group at meetings of another group; for instance, one member serves on both the IARC Science Advisory Board and the Modeling Advisory Committee. The Provost attends meetings of both the UAF IARC Management Team and the OC meetings. Further, the members of both the UAF IARC Management Team and the Project Leaders' Council attend the Oversight Council (OC) meetings.