Department of Physics

University of WI-Whitewater

Draft Minutes for the Faculty Meeting for May 6th meeting

 

Meeting convened at 2:46 pm.

 

I.          Attending:        R. Benjamin, J. Constantinescu;  G. Chulick;  P. Rybski;  S. Sahyun; 

                                    Jeffrey Polak (SPS representative)

 

            Absent:  S. DasGupta (excused ­ consulting)

           

II.        Sahyun/Benjamin move approval of Meeting Minutes of April 29th meeting.  Passed on voice vote.

 

III.       Announcements

 

            A.        Chairıs Announcements

 

                        1.         Course revisions --  a reminder that course revisions must be completed and

                                    submitted for curricular approval a minimum of nine months prior to their

                                    being offered

 

                        2.         Major/minor revisions ­ A subcommittee of the department will be

                                    appointed next fall to complete major/minor revisions to forward to

                                    curricular bodies.

 

                        3.         Inventory ­ Capital and noncapital inventory used to be maintained by the

                                    university.  Officially, capital inventory is now maintained in Financial

                                    Services by Joe Kolosso, and noncapital inventory is to be maintained by

                                    each department.  Upon completion of the Upham renovation and Physicsı

                                    move into its final quarters, a complete capital and noncapital inventory will

                                    have to be completed.

 

                        4.         Retention of electronic documents ­ The university does not maintain an

                                    Email archive, much less an electronic file archive for all documents

                                    originated at the university.  Current university policy requires EACH

                                    AUTHOR maintain her own archive for possible access by legal authorities. 

                                    The departmental file server may be the best location of such archives. 

                                    CD/DVDıs may not be of archival quality.

 

                        5.         Journal holdings ­ As faculty leave from ­ and others arrive at ­ UWW,

                                    departmental research interests change.  Beginning next fall, the department

                                    will review the libraryıs current journal holdings for Physics and

                                    recommend both additions to and deletions from this list.

 

                        6.         Sahyun has received college support for the purchase of eight iMacs for use

                                    in UH 141 (nee UH 141E) beginning next fall.  Congratulations, Dr.

                                    Sahyun!

 

                        7.         Electronic major field tests ­ The Physics Major Field Tests are currently

                                    administered on paper but are moving to electronic form in the near future. 

                                    Dr. Benjamin will be responsible for managing this transition

 

                        8.         U of I-Urbana College of Engineering is offering a no-obligation all-expense-paid trip for engineering and physics undergraduate students who are interested in attending U of I.  Faculty and students are encouraged to contact merge@cen.uiuc.edu or to visit

 

                                    <http://www.engr.uiuc.edu/mep/merge.html>

 

                                    for further information on this program

 

 

            B.        Committee Reports

 

                        1.         Curriculum ­ no meeting

 

                        2.         Graduate Council ­ no business related to physics

 

                        3.         Library ­ no report

 

                        4.         SPS ­ Yerkes trip delayed to Fall 2005 to avoid Motherıs Day;  students are

                                    interested in WSGC rocket competition;  two teams may be formed, and

                                    SPS members will be given preference to team membership;  students who

                                    want to use the SPS room and its resources in future will have to be paid-up

                                    members.

 

                        5.         Upham renovation ­ Renovation packing and moving will begin the week

                                    of June 1.

 

                        6.         Webpage ­ no report

 

                        7.         Chancellorıs Committee on Disability Concerns ­ non-emergency building

                                    egress for wheel-chair users was discussed

 

            C.        Announcements from the Floor

 

                        1.         Benjamin had a Spitzer Space Telescope proposal approved to observe

                                    NGC 891, a small galaxy outside the Local Group, beginning Summer

                                    2005 and ending Summer 2007.  Congratulations, Dr. Benjamin!

 

 

IV.       Old Business

 

            A.        Equipment purchases

 

                        1.         LN2 dewar scale:                     $500

                        2.         Coronado Solar Telescope:     $1,680

                        3.         Two OS X Tiger licenses        $69/each

                        4.         LN2 handling fixture:              ($1,950, to be purchased out of next yearıs

                                                                                    budget)

 

V.        New Business

 

            A.        Department representative to Graduate Council ­ Benjamin will be the appointed

                        representative, and Rybski will be the designated substitute.

 

            B.        Spring 2006 courses ­ Special course proposals must be submitted to the

                        department by August 15th, 2005, for review and approval by September 1, 2005,

                        and forwarding to the dean of the College and to the provost.

 

            C.        Sahyun/Benjamin move a motion of thanks to Dr. Gary Chulick for his hard work

                        this year in supporting the Physics 160 sequence and the Physics 172, 174 and 411

                        laboratories. The department extends our best wishes for his continuing academic

                        career.    Approved by acclamation.

 

 

Sahyun/Chulick move to adjourn.  Meeting adjourned at 3:26 pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Paul M. Rybski, Secretary of the Day

 

 

Xc:       Chancellor Jack Miller

            Provost Richard Telfer

            Dean Howard Ross

            Dean Lee Jones

            Archivist Karen Weston