Meeting Place: RGC 326

Meeting Time: 10:00 am

Participants: Paul Williams, Lala Guerra, Saad Eways, Paul Nacozy, Chris Cavalli, Jim Heath , James Friedrichsen, Elliot Richmond, Jeff Bechtold, George Staff, Hadi Parhikhteh, Luis Cuellar, Karl Trappe, Ron Johns, Allen Underwood, Anne Turner, John Cise, Cindy Carr

Bob Blodgett, Amy Cunningham, Leslie Davis, Gary Crane, John Blum, Peter Wehner, Dale Biggs, CD Rao

1.) Call to Order

2.) Approval of Agenda: Approved

3) Approval of Minutes from: May

4.) Information items presented:

a.) Student Learning Outcome – Ron Johns briefly update everyone on The Quality Enhancement Plan.

b.) Assessment - There was a short discussion regarding the Assessment. It was agreed that it would be addressed in breakout sessions in the October or November meeting.

c.) New Fulltime Position at Round Rock – It was announced that there would be a Fulltime Physics position at the Round Rock campus.

d.) Update of Computer Tech. Position - Still in Process

e.) Spring 2010 eStaffing – It was announced that round one of eStaffing had begun for Spring 2010. Paul Williams then showed everyone where to go online to view the eStaffing schedule.

f.) Adds and Drops – There was a lengthy discussion on what to do and not to do during adds and

drops. Everyone shared their concerns and suggestions.

g.) Safety Coordinator Update/Discussion of Department Specific Training- Paul Nacozy announced that

the online HazCom training would be in a different format this year. Instead of blackboard, an email

will be sent out to everyone with a Power Point presentation and quiz. Quiz completion should

be email back to Paul Nacozy by October 4, 2009. Updating the in class HazCom training so that it is more department specific is in process. Last but not least, faculty will be responsible to attend yearly

department safety training in a timely manner

h.) Committee Membership – This year’s committees were formed. The committee membership is in an attachment.

i) Rollover Schedule – The Schedule committee will meet September 18, 2009 at NRG in room 2222 at 10:00am to work on the rollover schedules for 2010U, 2010F, 2011S and Round Rock Scheduling.

j.) Students for Environmental Outreach Updates – Amy Cunningham informed everyone that SEO will

have meetings every Thursday at RGC. If any students are interested in the program, they are welcome

to come. An information booth is also located in the student lounge. Also mentioned was SEO will be doing a water awareness week this year. An email with dates of the awareness week and other events will be sent to everyone.

k.) Physical Sciences Handbook – It was announced that the Physical Sciences handbook was being

updated and will be added online on the department website.

l.) NASA Project – It was announced that the first NASA participant meeting will be Friday, September 11, 2009 at 1:00pm in room 326 at RGC. Any students interested are welcomed to come.

m.) PHYS 1653 – There was a short discussion of PHYS 1653. Everyone shared their concerns and suggestions.

5.) New Business:

Minutes of GEOL/ESTE Subcommittee

Sept. 4, 2009

Participants geology folks at meeting

Teaching Students with Disabilities

Several faulty have students with a variety of disabilities in their sections this semester. Cindy had heard from the folks in OSD that the reason so many of these students end up in geology is that the prerequisites for our geology classes are much easier to meet than in other sciences.

It was decided that hourlies should be assigned to construct tactile models for instructing visually-impaired students (e.g., models of topography, radioactive decay curves, etc.)

The Safety Coordinator should talk to OSD to better ensure that when students with disabilities register for a science lab course, that spaces in that section are then reserved for interpreters or helpers if they are necessary.

Lab Manual

There has been precious little progress on a new and improved lab manual. Pete was volunteered as the point person to collect data from faculty regarding which particular photos and maps they use in their instruction. Since these are available to the public, then, if nothing else, we can compile a customized collection of these images for our students to buy. This would be substantially cheaper and, while lacking instructive text, would at least be free of the persistent errors that Hamblin and Howard continues to have.

Minutes of PHYS/AST/ENG Subcommittee

September 4, 2009

Participants Paul Williams, Lala Guerra, Saad Eways, Paul Nacozy, Chris Cavalli, Jim Heath , James Friedrichsen, Elliot Richmond, Jeff Bechtold, Hadi Parhikhteh, Luis Cuellar, Karl Trappe, Allen Underwood, John Cise, Gary Crane, John Blum, Dale Biggs, CD Rao

Required topics list for PHYS 1401 and PHYS 1402

There was a discussion of required topics for PHYS 1401 and PHYS 1402. It was agreed that James Friedrichsen would bring a draft of topics for PHYS 1401 and Paul Williams would bring a draft of topics for PHYS 1402 to our October Department Meeting.

Rant About the Textbook Order Situation

There was a discussion about problems with the ordering of the Giambattista textbook. Everyone shared their suggestions and concerns.

Presentation on Prerequisites and Student success in Physics

John Cise presented everyone with information on prerequisites and student success in Physics. He showed everyone how students succeed in their Physics class by taking their math prerequisites.

AAPT Workshops

Paul Williams announced that the AAPT Workshop for Fall 2010 would be at Texas State in San Marcos on the October 22^nd – 24th. He also mentioned that the AAPT Workshop for Spring 2010 would in Austin at UT/ACC on March 18^th – 20^th.