Minutes

of the Physics Department meeting held Monday October 21, 2002 in GO313.

Present: Frandy, Menningen, Rybski, Sahyun, Stepanov

Absent: Arriola , Constantinescu

I. Meeting called to order at 2:26 pm.

II. Sahyun/Frandy moved to approve the minutes of the 10/14/02 meeting. Motion passed.

III. Announcements

A. The report of the NSF workshop entitled "Computation as a Tool for Discovery in Physics" is now available on the web.

B. As of 10/14/02 the physics department has 43 majors: 6 graduate track, 3 industry track, 24 engineering track, 8 physics education BSE, and 2 general science education.

C. The department has $1,946.80 in library allocation for this academic year. Please forward requests for library books or videos to Paul Rybski.

D. A recent CNN article points out that there is a very large number of science building renovations and new construction projects in progress, especially at smaller universities.

E. Forward speaker suggestions for the College of Letters & Sciences Lecture series to Susan Johnson by November 1.

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 department advisory committee will meet for the first time on November 16, 2002, 10:00am in UH134. All faculty are encouraged to attend. At this time chicken Kiev will be served to all guests.

C. The department search has been advertised on the AIP website and our local website. An ad will appear in the Physics Today December issue. Letters will be sent this week to people on the Minority & Women Doctoral directory list.

D. After a schedule review it was requested that Dr. Bob Benjamin from UW-Madison should be invited to make a presentation at UWW on REU opportunities in Madison on November 1, 2002.

E. An update the status of National Physics Day celebration plans April 17 or 24, 2003 was postponed in Constantinescuís absence.

F. Review the requirement of 2 hours minimum notice for photocopying jobs processed by Lynn Miller.

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

V. New Business

A. Discussion of the departmental promotion standards for possible revision is delayed until approval. Discussion may also include possible revision of the merit procedures as well.

B. Approval of the purchase of a digital oscilloscope using department service & supply funds is delayed until Menningen prepares a report on the department financial status.

C. Faculty reviewed the AIP Enrollments and Degrees report and commented that UW-Whitewater produces a comparable number of bachelorís degrees in physics as its peers in the UW System. The enrollments in introductory courses are lower at UW-W than some of our peers because our core requirements demand only 7 science credits and because the lack of a seventh faculty member prevented us from offering extra sections of popular introductory courses last year.

D. The majors fair will occur on Thursday October 24. Departments are asked to have a representative from 10:30 - 11:30 am, and Paul Rybski has volunteered to attend.

VI. Rybski/Sahyun moved to adjourn 3:35 pm.

Respectfully Submitted, cc: Chancellor Miller

Provost Prior

Dean Lee

Dean Ross

Kenneth L Menningen Susan Matulis, L&S Development

Department chair University archivist

VII. Attachments: none