Department of Physics

University of WI-Whitewater

Minutes of Faculty Meeting on January 14th meeting

I. Attending: R. Benjamin, G. Chulick, J. Constantinescu, S. DasGupta (teleconference), P. Rybski, S. Sahyun

Meeting called to order at 10:07 a.m.

II. Benjamin/Sahyun move to approve meeting Minutes of November 19th, December 3rd and 15th meetings.Motion passed.

III. Announcements

A. Chairπs Announcements

1. Department Self-study document is being written by Rybski for submission

on February 1.

2. Fort Atkinson Science Fair scheduled for Saturday February 19^th; Steve and Juliana will be doing a Powerpoint presentation with technical assistance from Bob.

3. Major/minor study results -- Rybski sent emails to Wozniak and Chen regarding discrepancy in major count; Benjamin will follow up.

4. Upham Hall building cart is stored in Upham 136; please use sign-out sheet when using the cart.

5. Professional software (IDL, Origin) -- Rybski has purchased a copy of IDL for research work; he will work with Mary Pinkerton to obtain Origin license.

6. Liquid nitrogen dewar room light is now working. We need a proper base for the dewar for safety reasons.

7. Living and Learning Communities -- Rybski attended a presentation Tuesday, January 11^th and noted there was a lack of Science interest by other faculty/staff. We will revisit this closer to the time we move back to Upham. Juliana appointed coordinator.

8. Planning for Fall 2005 schedule -- This schedule will include changes from 4 day class periods to 3 day class periods to help accommodate for research time for faculty. This would give one day away from teaching to do research.

9. Agendas that include items requiring a vote need to be posted on Web page 24 hours prior to meetings. Consequently, agenda items need to be turned into Lynn by 4:30 on Wednesday prior to the Friday meeting during which they will be voted on.

10. Status of departmental webpage -- Benjamin is working on this with physics major Joseph Grams.

11. SPS planning for trip to Yerkes Observatory -- Rybski has contacted them and the Observatory has agreed to let him give this tour on a Sunday this Spring of SPSπs choosing.

12. FACT sheet update -- Rybski is working with News and Public Affairs to get an updated fact sheet on-line.

13. New oscilloscope in Electronics Laboratory ≠ A new Tektronix TDS2012 has been acquired to replace the nonfunctioning Tektronix 2236A oscilloscope purchased in 1989. This was purchased using Laboratory Upgrade Maintenance funds from the college. When the renovation of Upham is finished, we need to order new oscilloscopes for all the labs.

14. SMARTboard electronic whiteboard ≠ This is a whiteboard that is coupled to a computer so that notes you write are automatically transferred to the computer. Those of us who make extensive board notes can use this facility to record class notes for web presentation. Rybski will arrange for a demonstration of such a unit during a later faculty meeting

15. Deanπs Advisory Council representative to be sought from SPS

16. Universityπs stated expectations of studentsπ levels of effort outside of class

were sent to each faculty and staff member to aid them in addressing student

complaints of having to ≥work too hard≤ in their classes.

17. Submission of course syllabi to the Physics webpage must be completed

before the end of the first week of classes.

18. Class Schedules and Office Hours must be posted on the door of each

faculty and staff member by the beginning of classes in this semester. In

addition, please provide Lynn Miller with a separate paper copy for her

telephone reference.

19. The first Whitewater Observatory lecture will be given Friday, January 21^st at 8:00 p.m. in Upham 141E on ≥comets≤. Rybski solicits speakers and titles for additional lectures in the series.

B. Committee Reports

1. Curriculum-none

2. Graduate Council-none

3. Library -- give library requests to Benjamin by the end of January.

4. Promotions-no report

5. SPS-none

C. Announcements from the Floor

1. Bob Benjamin presented a research poster on Infrared bowshocks in the plane of the Milky Way at the American Astronomical Society Meeting January 9^th-13^th in San Diego. Heidi Gneiser also presented two posters.

2. Sahyun visited the Whitewater High School physics class on December 20, 2004. He sat in two classes and videotaped them. These sessions can be found on falcon.physics.uww.edu. Sahyun gave a talk about Physics at UW-Whitewater on the same day to the Advanced Placement Physics class.

IV. Old Business

A. Course Revisions:

1. Discussion on having 2 one-credit courses for Introduction to Engineering, one in the sophomore fall semester and one in the sophomore spring semester.

2. Discussion on revision of Physics 170 sequence from ≥3-4-4≤ credit sequence to a ≥5-5≤ credit sequence.

C. Physics Curriculum Revisions, to be discussed January 6^th, were delayed until today owing to bad weather. Discussions today were delayed until January 21^st. Suggested curriculum outlines need to be submitted to Lynn Miller by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 19^th. Be sure to use Sahyunπs course rotation format in presenting your curriculum.

D. Change of Major Survey form -- Benjamin/Sahyun move for approval of Change of Major Survey form. Motion passed on a voice vote.

V. New Business

A. Sign boards outside classrooms in the Upham Extension will be added and are now

restricted to academic postings only. Faculty and staff are encouraged to remove

any postings not related directly to academic activities.

B. Duplicates of Teacher Course Evaluations summaries and duplicates of original

comment forms are now being archived in restricted-access storage for

use in promotion/tenure considerations and for post-tenure review.

Motion to adjourn Constantinescu/Sahyun at 12:18. Motion passed.

Respectfully submitted,

Lynn Miller, Program Assistant

Xc: Chancellor Miller

Provost Telfer

Dean Ross

Dean Lee

University Archivist