Minutes

of the Physics Department meeting held Monday September 29, 2003 in GO313.

Present: Benjamin, Menningen, Rybski, Sahyun

Absent: Constantinescu, Dasgupta

I. Call to order at 2:17 pm.

II. Rybski/Sahyun moved to approve minutes of 9/22/03 meeting as amended. Motion passed.

III. Announcements

A. UW-Whitewater announces its 2004-2005 Faculty Sabbatical Program. Applications are due Friday, October 17, 2003. An informational session will be held Monday, September 29, 2003, at noon in the UC Minnieska Room.

B. Ken Menningen will give a talk entitled, “Converting to a Hydrogen Economy,” at 4:00pm Friday, October 3, 2003, in UH136.

C. Faculty and academic staff are encouraged to nominate a senior student who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and academic achievement for the Rueben Klumb Award for Outstanding Seniors. Nominations should be sent to Eric Ebbe. An informational meeting will be held on Thursday, October 2 at 4:00pm in UC-213.

D. Steve Barnes (x5725) is the person responsible for responding to any building maintenance issues for Upham Hall. Please contact him for repair or cleanup requests. Vay Rodman x5723 is the contact person for safety emergencies

E. We have received PASCO Teacher’s Guides for physics laboratories, with suggested lab exercises including setup files for the equipment. PASCO interfaces are now stored in the steel cabinet in UH108. These can be attached to the PCs on carts in 108, the Macs on tables in 104, or the Macs on carts in 138A.

F. The UWW Annual Benefits Fair is Tuesday, October 7, 2003, from 10:00am to 2:00 pm in the Hamilton Center.

G. Steve Sahyun was recognized as the 2003 Apparatus Competition winner in the Fall 2003 AAPT publication, “Announcer”. This will be submitted for recognition at next year’s Scholarship and Creative Achievement reception.

H. A paper co-authored by Bob Benjamin was recognized in the “News and Views” column of the August 21 issue of Nature for its groundbreaking identification of a pulsar as the core of a very nearby supernova remnant.

I. There are several old computers ready for surplussing in UH116. Faculty should review the items before they are removed.

J. The public viewing sessions of Mars have now concluded. In excess of 1000 visitors passed through the observatory during the 10 sessions.

K. The Observatory Lecture Series will begin November 7, 2003, with other events planned this fall on November 21 and December 12.

L. Administrative Council report of the 9/24/03 meeting (summary provided by David Travis): All 15 "replacement" positions in the College of L&S have been approved, and Dean Ross continues to request approval for 3-4 "bonus" positions in various departments. The search and screen procedures were reviewed and discussed. This year only one candidate name will be forwarded as the first choice for the position, after consultation between the Dean and the faculty.

M. Paul Rybski has received an offer to obtain spectacular, large photographs of deep space objects. Ken Menningen will contact Nicole Thompson to determine if these can be purchased as art as a part of the renovation project.

N. Library committee report: No requests from faculty have been received to date. The remaining balance is approximately $800.

IV. Old Business

A. The following curricular matters are postponed:

i. Discuss proposals to delete the PHYSCS 173 and 175 courses

ii. Discuss any information regarding how to offer online versions of ASTRONMY 114 Descriptive Astronomy and PHYSCS 150 From Einstein to Star Trek according to campus standards.

iii. Discuss the new materials science course proposal.

iv. Discuss the new “Introduction to Engineering” course proposal.

v. Discuss the new four credit expansion of the PHYSCS 210 Descriptive Physics course proposal.

B. Steve Sahyun will construct a proposed matrix indicating the courses required by each of our major emphases in order to streamline and improve our curriculum.

C. Benjamin/Rybski moved to approve the edits represented in the proofs for the physics portion of the 2004-2006 UWW Catalog. Motion passed.

D. Paul Rybski will begin installing the encoders and the new controller in an attempt to avoid shipping the telescope drive system to an outside vendor for retrofitting.

E. Invitations for the Advisory Council Meeting on November 15, 2003 will be sent out this week to the names on last year’s list. Faculty are encouraged to forward any new names to Ken Menningen.

F. The list of physics alumni has not yet been updated.

G. Ken Menningen has not yet inquired about how to get help enhancing our department’s web site.

V. New Business

A. Ken Menningen will visit Steve Sahyun’s 130 class on Wednesday at 12:05 and Paul Rybski will visit his 210 class on Thursday 9:45am. Menningen and Rybski will visit Sudip Dasgupta’s class Monday at 1:10pm.

B. Discussion of improvements to our merit and performance review procedures is postponed.

C. The equipment list for the Upham renovation project was reviewed and intial suggestions were made. Faculty will examine the list further. Equipment needs will be discussed at the Advisory Council Meeting.

D. Consideration of the creation of an astronomy minor is tabled until discussions about improving the physics major are in progress.

The following items have been postponed:

E. Plan a meeting(s) for informal discussions about the emphasis of the physics program.

F. Discuss the physics component of the Integrated Science and Business program.

G. Consider the purchase of a Classroom Performance System, which may only cost $275 per 75-student receiver, for UH141E.

VI. Rybski/Benjamin moved to adjourn 3:41pm. Motion passed.

Respectfully Submitted, cc: Chancellor Miller

Provost Telfer

Interim Dean Stone

Dean Ross

Kenneth L Menningen University archivist

Department chair