Minutes

of the Physics Department meeting held Monday December 9, 2002 in GO313.

Present:  Frandy, Menningen, Rybski, Sahyun, Stepanov

Absent:  Arriola, Constantinescu

I.        Meeting called to order at 2:23 pm.

II.      Stepanov/Frandy moved to approve the minutes of the 12/02/02 meeting.  Motion passed.

III.    Announcements

A.      A call for participants is given for the 7th Annual Science, Gender, and Community Curriculum Reform Institute to be held June 14-18, 2003 at UW-Oshkosh.  The deadline is January 10, 2003.

B.      Provost Telfer reminds everyone of the contractual obligations of all faculty and academic staff to conform to the final examination policy as printed in the fall 2002 timetable p. 93.  Any exceptions require written approval from the Dean.

C.      Faculty and academic staff are reminded to turn in their December sick leave reports (white forms substituting for the yellow forms) prior to leaving for the holiday break.  Lynn will make these reports available to everyone.

D.      Vay Rodman seeks a physics representative to attend two days of workshops in laboratory safety in Milwaukee.  The workshops will be held Wednesday-Thursday, February 5-6, 2003, and feature nationally known lab safety advocate and chemistry teacher James Kaufman.  Risk management will pay all costs and provide transportation.

E.       Vay Rodman requests that the physics faculty identify as many unwanted chemicals as possible to begin boxing up and shipping them out over winter break.

F.       Requests for proposals for a number of Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium opportunities have been published.  The postmark deadline for all of them is March 1, 2003.  Posters have been placed in GO323 on top of the filing cabinets.

G.      The American Physical Society and will again co-sponsor a research internship program for undergraduate women in physics and related fields in the summer of 2003.  The deadline is January 31, 2003.

H.      Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory seeks undergraduate students interested in summer research in their High-Energy-Density Physics Program 2003.  The deadline is January 31, 2003.

I.        Junior and senior undergraduate students are encouraged to apply for the NASA Undergraduate Student Research Program and the NASA Academy.  Deadlines are January 27 and 31, 2003, respectively.

J.        The Institute for Nuclear Theory at the University of Washington announces its 2003 Research Experiences for Undergraduates program.  The deadline is March 3, 2003.

K.      The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center announces its 2003 Summer Undergraduate Research Program.  The deadline is March 1, 2003.

L.       The Magnetic Torque experiment and the digital oscilloscope were purchased 12/5/02.

M.     A department Holiday Party is planned for Wednesday December 18, 2002 at 7:00pm at the Menningen family home.

N.      Disability Concerns Committee report of 12/6/02 (Steve Sahyun)

i.         Results of a campus opinion survey were discussed.  Installation of wider doors and the return of paid note-takers were recommended.

O.      Library Services Committee report of 12/9/02 (Ken Menningen)

i.         Physical space improvements (mold abatement, asbestos abatement, new carpeting) that are planned were reviewed.

ii.       There was discussion about how to reduce the number of unnecessary pages printed by students in the library and general access laboratories.

P.       The College of Letters & Sciences Curriculum Committee of 12/5/02 (Paul Rybski)

i.         A representative from the College of Arts & Communication presented information concerning the proposed multimedia minor.  The committee agreed to approve the minor for L&S students.

Q.      The L&S Liaison Committee meeting of 12/3/02 (P. Rybski and S. Sahyun)

i.         Federal & State academic standards for 4th, 8th, and 12th grade students were discussed.

ii.       UWW must generate a ìcurriculum mapî for BSE students to adequately prepare them with both content and methods coursework, and to comply with DPI standards.  The curriculum maps are due February 1, 2003.

iii.      We must prepare portfolios to represent work done by students that indicates compliance with specific DPI content or methods goals.

R.      Paul Rybski will present a talk entitled, “Stars that go “bang!” in the Night,” at 4:00pm on Friday December 13, 2002 in UH134.

IV.    Old Business

A.      Curricular matters

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

ii.       Discussion of the proposed modifications to the PHYSCS 170 series of courses was postponed.

B.      There are 82 applications for the tenure-track position next fall.  A substantial fraction of them are incomplete or apparently inappropriate.  EO cards and letters of acknowledgement are being sent this week.

C.      Circulars with recommended books to purchase for the library will be distributed this week and returned to Paul Rybski, who will place the orders with the library.

D.      Plans continue for an astronaut visit for National Physics Day celebration plans April 17, 2003.  No word from NASA as of yet.

V.      New Business

A.      Paul Rybskiís astronomy 112 lab conflicts with the L&S Curriculum committee meeting.  It is suggested that Shirley Stekel attend the committee meeting in his absence.  Steve Sahyunís physics 130 labs conflict with the Education Liaison committee, the graduate council, and the first year faculty programs.  A lab swap with Juliana Constantinescu or colleague coverage by other members of the department are suggested remedies.

B.      Because Ken Menningen is leaving for Denver, an accelerated schedule for the performance reviews of Frandy, Sahyun, and Stepanov is established as follows:  Steven Sahyun on January 8, John Frandy on January 9, and Eugene Stepanov on January 10.  The times for each review will be 1:00pm.  A binder with relevant evidence of teaching performance should be prepared one week in advance and made available to Paul Rybski and Ken Menningen.

C.      Review of the current department HP LaserJet printer inventory was postponed.

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

E.       The next meeting will be Monday December 16, 2002 at 1:00pm instead of the usual 2:15pm to accommodate final exams.

VI.    Rybski/Sahun moved adjourn 3:26pm.  Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,                                                      cc:    Chancellor Miller

                                                                                              Provost Telfer

                                                                                              Dean Lee

                                                                                              Dean Ross

Kenneth L Menningen                                                                University archivist

Department Chair