Minutes of Physical Sciences Task Force

March 7, 2003

Meeting Place: RGC 328

Meeting Time: 9:30 pm

Participants: Dean Becker, Jeff Bechtold, Dale Biggs, Bob Blodgett, Chris Cavalli, Saad Eways, James Friedrichsen, Jim Heath, Ron Johns, Helen Nelson, Mostafa Pirnia, Martin Prahovic, Elliot Richmond, George Staff, Laura Tacheny, Allen Underwood, Sal Valastro

1.) Approval of Agenda

2.) Approval of Minutes for 2/07/03

3.) Information items presented:

a.) Astronomy at Bowie — Jim Heath, Luanne Preston, and Ron Johns met with Pat Mendoza and some other folks from Bowie to discuss the possibility of offering astronomy there. It was agreed that an ACC instructor would teach PHYS 1311 there in the fall, and PHYS 1312 in the spring.

b.) Budget Cuts — Since the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house all support cutting the funding to colleges, it’s almost certainly going to happen. The 7% cut they want would be retroactive to the beginning of the fiscal year, resulting in a 47% cut in the existing budget. It is not yet clear whether hourly monies would be affected.

c.) ESTE Laptops — Two have arrived and the third has been shipped.

d.) Recycled Laptops — We and Biology are in line to receive used, late model laptops. We might be able to get these to work to use in multimedia set-ups for our classrooms.

e.) Syllabi — Almost everyone has given copies of their syllabi to the admin assistants on their campus. With one or two exceptions, they seem to be in accordance with the Master Syllabus guidelines.

f.) Student Evaluations — Request spring evaluations if you haven’t already.

g.) Pre-Engineering Scholarships — The Peggy Hale Croshaw Scholarship is available for students in pre-engineering programs. Ron Johns will send copies of the applications to the engineering faculty.

h.) Lab Coordinator’s Meeting — There is a lab coordinator’s meeting at 12 on March 21.

i.) Hiring Committee — Saad Eways brought us up to date on the status of the Physics Hiring Committee. They will be conducting interviews and wrapping it up as quickly as possible.

j.) Program Reviews — Jim Heath and Jeff Bechtold have finished the Astronomy and Physics program reviews, respectively. Kudos!

k.) NASA Trip — Allen Underwood will lead a group of 10 students down to Houston on March 23-25 to participate in the Community College Aerospace Scholars Program. They will learn about NASA and see demonstrations of robotics, among other things

4.) Items presented for discussion:

a.) University of Phoenix Degree Mart — An article in the Chronicle oh Higher Education confirmed our suspicions about the quality of distance-learning programs. The curriculum is very canned and instructors are told what words they can use.

b.) Faculty Evaluations — These are due to the Dean by April 1.

c.) ePortfolios — Emails regarding what faculty evaluation materials department chairs should keep have been flying about the college. It would be useful for the department chairs to keep evaluation materials on hand, but office space is limited. George Staff had suggested that faculty turn in a digital copy of their portfolio. The department chair could keep the digital version, and return the much bulkier paper version after evaluations were done. Those present agreed that, henceforth, faculty will be required to turn in a CD with their portfolio that contains digitized versions of the materials within.

5.) Items presented for action:

a.) Astronomy Common Course Numbers — We have PHYS 1311 = Stellar Astronomy and PHYS 1312 = Solar System Astronomy, whereas several other two institutions have PHYS 1311= Solar System Astronomy and PHYS 1312 = Stellar Astronomy. The confusion arises because the ACGM lists PHYS 1311 and 1312 as Introductory Astronomy I and II. In addition, many colleges were using those same numbers for a one-semester survey course that covered topics in both Stellar and Solar System Astronomy. Although it would require a change in our own course numbers, there was universal agreement that we should draft a proposal to the Coordinating Board recommending that:

1.) PHYS 1311 = Solar System Astronomy

2.) PHYS 1312 = Stellar Astronomy

3.) A new number be created for the one-semester survey course.

b.) PHYS 1653 — No action on changing this course number was taken on this at this time.

6.) New Business:

a.) Department Chair Elections — Ron Johns mentioned that department chair elections were coming soon, and that he would be willing to serve as department chair for another year. A spontaneous motion made from the floor to elect him “Department Chair for Life” won widespread support; Ron was heard to mumble something about the “sweet release of death”.

Minutes of ESTE/GEOL Subcommittee

March 7, 2002

Participants: Bob Blodgett, Ron Johns, George Staff, Sal Valastro

Those present reviewed the list of course topics and, with minor revisions, approved them. Discussion of the curriculum for Geo 1653 was postponed until Leslie Davis was present.

Minutes of PHYS/AST/ENG Subcommittee

March 7, 2003

Participants: Dean Becker, Jeff Bechtold, Dale Biggs, Chris Cavalli, Saad Eways, James Friedrichsen, Jim Heath, Helen Nelson, Mostafa Pirnia, Martin Prahovic, Elliot Richmond, Laura Tacheny, Allen Underwood

Faculty offered opinions on the Physics tutoring offered at our learning centers. Dean Becker requested that some feedback on the number of students receiving tutoring be supplied to them. This information, even if general, could give us some idea about how to better utilize the tutoring service. Our tutoring center representative indicated that he would attempt to supply us with some of this data.

The PHYS 1401/1402 textbook was discussed. Jeff Bechtold nominated "College Physics" by Giambattista, Richardson & Richardson. Copies of this text were distributed to faculty members who requested a copy. Other texts will be considered as well, especially if a faculty member nominates a text at the April meeting. Faculty decided to vote on the College Physics textbook at the May meeting.