December 7, 2007

Meeting Place: CYP 2222

Meeting Time: 10:00 am

Participants: Paul Williams, Lala Guerra, James Friedrichsen, Ron Johns, George Staff, Karl Trappe, Saad Eways, Paul Nacozy, Chris Cavalli, Bob Blodgett, Jim Heath, Dean Becker, Michael McGraw, Jeff Bechtold, Amy Cunningham

1.) Approval of Agenda

2.) Approval of Minutes from 11/2/07: The minutes from the November 2, 2007 meeting were approved

3.) Announcements

a.) Catalog Changes due February 19^th - Paul announced that Catalog Changes are due February 19, 2008.

b.) Need to Plan for New Capital Requests – It was announced that the long range planning committee should be scheduled to meet and plan for the new capital requests. It was decided that the meeting would be scheduled for January 18, 2008

c.) Focus the Nation Event – Amy Cunningham announced that there would be an Event called Focus the Nation on January 31^st. Everyone was invited to go.

d.) Fundraiser – Amy Cunningham also announced that there would be a 24 hour to Empower bike ride fundraiser that would benefit the Grameen Trust. It would be taking place on March 27^th and 28 of 2008. She also mentioned that she was looking for fellow faculty that would want to ride, raise awareness and serve as the advisor for their 4 hour shift.

4.) Discussion & Action Items:

a.) Procedures for Dealing with Students with Disabilities – There was a lengthy discussion on procedures

dealing with students with disabilities. One example, was making sure that students with disabilities have a letter of accommodation from the OSD office before coming to class. There also further suggestions and concerns shared about the item.

b.) Changes in Classroom Observation Procedures – There were suggestions made for classroom observation procedures. Mentoring and scheduled weekly or monthly observation were two of the main discussions.

c.) Revising Portfolio Requirements – There was a discussion on revising Portfolio requirements. It was agreed that the decision for the revision on the portfolio requirements would be made in the February meeting.

Minutes of GEOL/ESTE Subcommittee

December 7, 2007

1.) Identifying learning objectives for courses - It was decided to not pursue this endeavor at this time.

2.) Meteorology class -- the initial write-up looks good, but additional material will be needed before it can go before the General Education/Core Curriculum Committee and the Curriculum and Programs Committee. In particular, it will need to have EEO matrices, a textbook, syllabus, topics, etc.

3.) The grade issue with Sal's class has been resolved and Ian Jones and Dennis Dunn have the information they need.

4.) The Tech Committee gave us money for replacement petrographic microscopes. Cindy will work on this, now that the staffing crisis has subsided somewhat.

5.) We need to find more tutors for geology. Faculty will ask their "A" students who have completed GEOL 1404 about this, if they can. We will also need flyers with the tutors' hours posted.

Minutes of PHYS/AST/ENG Subcommittee

December 7, 2007

Participants Paul Williams, Lala Guerra, James Friedrichsen, Karl Trappe, Saad Eways, Paul Nacozy, Chris Cavalli, Jim Heath, Dean Becker, Michael McGraw, Jeff Bechtold

Review Master Syllabi – There was a brief discussion on reviewing the Master Syllabi. It was decided that the discussion would continue in our February meeting.

Updated Required Topics List for PHYS 2425 and PHYS 2426 – Some required topics listed for PHYS 2425 and PHYS 2426 were updated, changed and left as is. All the changes were approved.

Assessment – A link to a summary of the Assessment was added to the department website. There was discussion, concerns and suggestions shared about the item.

Discussion of Wilson Buffa Lou Textbook – Concerns were raised about the Wilson Buffa Lou text, particularly regarding 2^nd semester topics. It was decided that further discussion would continue in our February meeting.

Hiring for Summer – Paul Williams told everyone that we would definitely need new faculty for the summer. He also suggested that the Hiring Committee should start hiring faculty for the summer starting in mid-March. Concerns and suggestions were shared.

Astronomy Classes - There was a concern that wrong information was being given to students concerning ASTR 1303 and ASTR 1304 classes by advisors and counselors because of the new course number. There was a brief discussion about the issue and James Heath decided he would create a flyer with information showing that ASTR 1303 use to be PHYS 1311 and ASTR 1304 use to be PHYS 1312 and post them in every campus.