Minutes

of the Physics Department meeting held Monday March 18, 2002 in UH134.

Present:  Constantinescu, Menningen, Ramalingam, Rybski, Sahyun, Watchorn,

Absent:  none

 

I.        Meeting called to order at 2:27 p.m.

II.      Sahyun/Ramalingam moved to approve minutes of the 3/04/02 meeting.  Motion passed.

III.    Announcements

A.     Update on the tenure-track searches.

B.      Update on the UW System budget and its implications.

C.      The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology announces its 2002 Summer Research Program.  The deadline is March 30, 2002.

D.     Student Retention Services seeks faculty involvement in “Letters and Sciences Day” for a small group of incoming freshmen on June 18, 2002.  If you are interested in participating please contact LaMont Weaver at x1209.

E.      Faculty active in implementing technology into their teaching are encouraged to attend the Office of Professional and Instructional Development (OPID) spring conference entitled, “Multiple Choices: Teaching for Understanding with Technology”, on April 5-6, 2002, in the Pyle Center on the Madison campus.

F.      The Learning Technology Development Council at the University of Wisconsin System is seeking faculty who are in the process of planning and designing courses to be taught during Summer or Fall of 2002 to participate in a grant program on incorporating learning objects (often web applets) into their courses.  The deadline for 2-page proposals is April 15, 2002.  Contact Glenda Morgan at gmorgan@uwsa.edu with questions.

G.     The University of Maine will be hosting a summer conference on “Integrating Science and Mathematics Educational Research into Teaching” from June 23 to 25, 2002.  The deadline is May 23, 2002.

H.     Volunteers are needed for the National Conference on Undergraduate Research coming to UW-Whitewater, April 25-27. Contact Linda Long (1938 or longl@uww.edu) with specific questions or to volunteer.

I.        You are invited to participate in a one-day state-wide meeting on "Science and Civic Engagement" to be held at UW-Marathon on Saturday, April 27, 2002. The meeting will start at 10am and end at about 3:30pm. All expenses will be covered.  The contact person is Theo Koupelis at tkoupeli@uwc.edu.

J.       Report on Administrative Council meeting 3/13/02

i.         The current state budget deficit was discussed in light of the newly announced hiring freeze in the UW System.  The status of pending searches was discussed at length and Dean Ross said he would try to get some answers the next day to questions about which searches should stop and which will be allowed to continue.

ii.       Mary Pinkerton reminded faculty about the funds remaining in the lab modernization account and outlined some of the top proposals currently being considered.

iii.      Debra Heiber announced that advisement reports are now available online via WINS.  The reports are updated in batches and are therefore not real-time. Real-time advisement reports are still available through the PeopleSoft panels accessible by department secretaries.

IV.    Old Business

A.     Discussion of curricular matters:

i.         Dr. Menningen will prepare a curricular action to require the General Science ñ Broadfield Physics Emphasis majors to take Senior Seminar.

ii.       The COMPSCI 302 Digital Logic and Microprocessors course is currently a prerequisite for computer science students to take PHYSCS 303 Microprocessor Lab.  Since the COMPSCI 302 course is currently being revised, no action on pre-requisites for PHYSCS 303 can be taken until the revisions are final.  Sahyun will co-draft with Rybski a curriculum proposal to drop COMPSCI 171 Introduction to Programming as a pre-requisite for PHYSCS 221 Intermediate Lab.

iii.      Rybski will investigate the implications of the new Economics 211 and 212 series and draft a proposal to adjust requirements in the Industry.

iv.      Menningen and Sahyun will begin work on a revision of the PHYSCS 221 Intermediate Lab course to include computer data acquisition, graphing, and modeling skills.

v.       Discussion of modifications to the 170 course sequence was postponed.

B.      Discussion of a new approach to the merit procedure was postponed.

C.      Sahyun continued to work on cleaning up the machine shop. He continues to work on a plan to use a $1000 alumni donation to buy needed improvements.

D.     Approval of a modified student course evaluation instrument was postponed.

E.      Plans to convene the department advisory committee are on hold until the members can each be contacted to verify their willingness to serve.

F.      The Whitewater High School physics class has been invited for workshops and seminars on May 21 but they have not responded.

G.     Constantinescu will make posters for the Wonders of Physics Traveling show that is coming for the National Physics Day Celebration on Thursday April 25, 2002 and she will report on progress toward inviting Sally Ride for April 15, 2003 at a subsequent meeting.

V.      New Business

A.     The search for a tenure-track physics/math assistant professor was discussed in further detail.

VI.    Watchorn/Constantinescu moved to adjourn 3:31 p.m.  Motion passed.

Respectfully Submitted,                                                       cc:   Chancellor Miller

                                                                                                     Provost Prior

                                                                                                     Dean Lee

                                                                                                     Dean Ross

Kenneth L Menningen                                                                 Susan Matulis, L&S Development

Department chair                                                                         University archivist

Attachments:       none