Minutes of Physical Sciences Task Force

September 5, 2008

 

 

 

Meeting Place:            NRG 2119     

Meeting Time:             10:00 am

Participants:                Paul Williams, Lala Guerra, George Staff, Karl Trappe, Saad Eways, Paul Nacozy, Chris Cavalli, Bob Blodgett, Jim Heath,  Jeff Bechtold,  Ron Johns, James Firedrichsen,  Hadi Parhikhteh, Allen Underwood, Sal Valastro, Mike McGraw, John Cise, CD Rao, Mostafa Pirnia, Amy Cunningham, Carl Feierabend, Luis Cuellar

 

1.) Approval of Agenda

2.) Approval of Minutes from:  There were corrections made in the May 9, 2008 minutes.

3.) Information items presented:

a.)  Budget Update – It was announced that the budget for the Tech Plan had not been announced yet but          two of our Operating request were funded including $15,000 for hourly salary in Geology and $5,000 for Engineering supplies. 

      b.)  Timeline for hiring Fulltime Positions - The Fulltime Geology and Physics positions should be posted

             after September 12, 2008, per HR.   Interviews will take place January and February.  Both positions   

             will be stationed at the NRG campus.

      c.)  EEO Assessment – A general discussion about assessment was held.

      d.)  Membership on IPR Committee – The Instructional Program Review Committee seeks a Math and Science member.  Saad Eways volunteered to be on the committee.

      e.)  Prerequisite Rosters - It was brought up that the online prerequisite rosters were incomplete.  There was a discussion on the item and suggestions were shared.

      f.)  Review of Degree Plans and Curriculum Maps – Information on the Degree Plans and Curriculum Maps was passed out to everyone.

      g.)  Planetarium Updates and Volunteers – Torvald Hessel, Executive President of Friends of the Austin             Planetarium updated everyone on the Planetarium and also asked everyone to spread the word that             volunteers were needed for the Old Pecan Street Festival on September 20-21 and also future functions and festivals

      h.)  Scheduling the Scheduling Committee – The Scheduling Committee will meet October 10, 2008 at             10:00am. 

      i.)   Austin Partners in Education – It was announced that Austin Partners in Education is looking for             volunteers.

      j.)   Reminder about Safety Training – Physics faculty was reminded that their Safety Training was                scheduled for that afternoon.  Geology faculty was also reminded that their training would be in January.

     k.)   Community College Aerospace Scholars –Saad inquired if anyone wished to take over as contact person for the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars.  No one expressed an interest, so Saad Eways will continue as the contact person for this year

      l.)   Meetings at RGC - Everyone was informed that the parking wasn’t as bad at RGC as thought to be.       

            There was some consideration of holding the November department meeting at RGC.   

    m.)   Field Safety Training – The Field Safety Training is scheduled for September 13, 2008 from 8:30am to             12:30am at Austin EMS.  If anyone is interested in participating, please contact Bob Blodgett.

     n.)   Geology Orientation - It was reported that the Geology Orientation went well.  There was consideration             of Physics holding an Orientation next year.

    o.)    Donald Witt - Everyone was updated on Donald Witt’s health.  He is doing better but still working on    his speech. 

     p.)   Official Year of Astronomy - It was announced that 2009 was the official year of Astronomy.  It was             suggested that the 400th anniversary of Galileo be celebrated.  Galileo was the first person to use the             telescope to view the moon, plants and stars.  Suggestions were shared.

 

4.)  Committee Membership

     a.)   Evaluation Committees - Members of the Evaluation Committee for APE are as followed:  James             Friedrichsen, John Cise, Allen Underwood, James Heath and Hadi Parkikhteh, Members for GE are as             followed:  Ron Johns, Bob Blodgett, George Staff, Sal Valastro, Leslie Davis and Amy Cunningham.

     b.)   Planning Committee – Members of the Planning Committee are as followed:  Paul Williams, Ron Johns, Jeff Bechtold, James Heath, George Staff, Lab Techs and Lab Coordinators.

     c.)   Scheduling Committee – Members of the Scheduling Committee are as followed:  Paul Williams, Ron             Johns, James Friedrichsen, Jeff Bechtold, George Staff, James Heath, Chris Cavalli and Paul Nacozy

     d.)   Adjunct Hiring Committee – Members of the Adjunct Hiring Committee for APE are as followed:  Saad             Eways, Dean Becker and Chris Cavalli.   Members for GE are as followed:  Ron Johns, Bob Blodgett,             George Staff, Sal Valastro, Leslie Davis and Amy Cunningham.

     e.)   Program Review for Engineering – Members are as followed:  Saad Eways, Chair, Allen Underwood,     Paul Williams, James Friedrichsen, CD Rao, Ron Johns, and a student.

      f.)  Physics Standards Committee – Members of the Physics Standards Committee are as followed:  Jeff             Bechtold, James Friedrichsen, Karl Trappe, Chris Cavalli, Hadi Parkikhteh, James Heath

 

 

 

Minutes of GEOL/ESTE Subcommittee

Sept. 5, 2008

 

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

                                               

GSA & Interviews

Bob will be going to the convention in Houston.  It was decided that the best course of action to get the word out about the geology position was for him to post a notice on the message board at the meeting.  George and I can be contact people for anyone wanting to know more.

Course Topics

The course topics have not been reviewed in a long time.  Those present looked over the topics for each course and some changes were made.  Ron will wrote these up, distribute them for comment, and then they will be posted on the department website.

Lab Manual Update

No one had heard of any further progress on the lab manual for GEOL 1403. 
Core Curriculum

It was decided that GEOL 1345 should not be added to the Core Curriculum.

Minutes of PHYS/AST/ENG Subcommittee

September 5, 2008

 

Participants                 Paul Williams, Lala Guerra,  Karl Trappe, Saad Eways, Paul Nacozy, Chris Cavalli, Jim Heath,  Jeff Bechtold,  James Firedrichsen,  Hadi Parhikhteh, Allen Underwood, Mike McGraw, John Cise, CD Rao, Mostafa Pirnia, Carl Feierabend, Luis Cuellar

 

 

                                    Announcement of Upcoming Physics Meetings/Workshops 

                                                TSAAPT, October 17 & 18, 2008 in El Paso, Texas

                                    Vernier Software and Tech, September 17, 2008 in Austin, Texas

                                    Virtual Instrument, September 25-27, 2008 in Lincoln, Nebraska

                                    Advance Technology Education, Tools for Intro Physics, November 13-15, 2008 in             Baytown, Texas.

                                    AAPT Winter Meeting, February 12-16, 2009 in Chicago Illinois

 

                                    Textbooks Going into New Edition

                                    Conceptual Physics by Hewitt and College Physics by Wilson, Buffa, and Lou are going into new edition this year.  Some discussion was had about simplifying the process of searching.  The issue will be taken up again at the January meeting.

 

                                    Discussion of EEO Assessment/Revision to PHYS 1402 Assessment

                                    It was announced that the Reporting spreadsheets  had been added to the department website.  It was suggested that the PHYS 1402 Assessment be changed.  There was a discussion and suggestions were made about the change.  It was decided that the information would be discussed in the October department meeting.

 

                                    C or Better Rule

                                    Everyone was asked if they were using the C or Better Rule and how it was going.  Everyone responded that the Rule was being used and was working well.   

 

                                    Institutional Membership       

                                    It was agreed that we should acquire an Institutional Membership in the Texas Space Grant Consortium.  Allen Underwood agreed to be the contact person.