Minutes

of the Physics Department meeting held Monday October 7, 2002 in GO313.

Present: Arriola, Constantinescu, Frandy, Menningen, Rybski, Sahyun, Stepanov

Absent: none

I. Meeting called to order at 2:26 pm

II. Stepanov/Sahyun moved to approve the minutes of the 9/30/02 meeting. Motion passed.

III. Announcements

A. The University of Toronto announces two tenured or tenure-track searches in experimental and theoretical condensed matter physics for fall 2003.

B. The library urges faculty to familiarize themselves with interlibrary loan, universal borrowing, the new enhancements to the library catalog, and the new electronic resources available. You can now print free of charge from library workstations.

C. Applications are available for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program for 2003-2004. The deadline is November 7, 2002. Other programs are available through the NSF Division Of Graduate Education.

D. The National Academies offers pre- and post-doctoral fellowships. The predoctoral applications are due November 20, 2002.

E. A number of vacancies exist in faculty committees and the faculty senate. Nominations are due to Susan Johnson by October 4.

F. The 2002 Benefits Fair is a one day only event to learn about the benefits offered to you and meet with vendors. Tuesday October 15, 2002, 10:00am-2:00pm, Hamilton Center.

G. Dr. Thomas George, Chancellor of UW-Stevens Point, will present a talk entitled, ìMolecular Clusters: Fullerenes and Photoexcitationî on Thursday at 4:00pm in Heidi 101.

H. Jeff Polak, a freshman physics education major, begins work today as the physics department laboratory assistant. He will be assisting with the setup and teardown of laboratory equipment for the introductory labs.

I. We have acquired a Bill Nye video with a nice introductory sequence on relativity.

J. Disability concerns committee report: A Board of Regents presentation will appeal for continued support of the disability services program at UW-Whitewater.

K. L&S Promotions committee report: The committee will evaluate individual portfolios before taking up the matter of college promotion standards late in the semester.

IV. Old Business

A. Curricular matters

i. Discussion of how to alter the intermediate lab course to include computer data acquisition skills was postponed.

B. The proposed first advisory committee should be postponed to November 16, 2002 to allow enough time for invitees to respond to letters that will be sent this week. A luncheon will be served by Chartwellís catering and paid for with departmental funds, as the advisory committee is an important part of our assessment plan. The list of proposed names was reviewed and expanded.

C. The missing red folder for the tenure-track, general physics (Hill-Malvick) position has been located and approval will be sought for advertising soon. Although the physics/math search was not approved during phase 1, we can solicit approval to change the title of that position from ìInstructorî to ìVisiting Assistant Professor.î

D. Review plans regarding an equipment auction when the future status of the surplus department is known.

V. New Business

A. Dr. Stepanov offered to teach either the PHYSCS 100 Energy course or the PHYSCS 160 General Physics I course in summer 2003. Prof. Constantinescu offered to teach the ASTRONMY 114 Descriptive Astronomy course as well. Dr. Sahyun offered to teach PHYSCS 210 Descriptive Physics.

B. Faculty to march in winter commencement: Constantinescu, Rybski, Sahyun and spring commencement: Frandy, Menningen, Stepanov

C. Discussion of the departmental promotion standards for possible revision was postponed. Discussion may also include possible revision of the merit procedures as well.

D. We considered a $2150 digital oscilloscope with 200 MHz bandwidth, 2 GS/s sampling, 2 channels, and RS-232 interfacing. USB and/or Ethernet outputs are at least $1k more. It was decided to buy the less expensive model with service & supply funds and defer other such purchases to the capital exercise competition next spring.

E. Discussed the purchase of a digital camera for recording lab setups and enhancing web pages. Sahyun will recommend a model at the next meeting.

F. Discussion the creation of a formal physics department professional activities fund was postponed.

VI. Constantinescu/Frandy moved to adjourn 3:26 pm.

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