Minutes for Physics, Astronomy, and Engineering Department
November 4, 2016
Meeting Place: RGC, 328
Meeting Time: 10:00 am
Participants: Jim Heath, Lala Guerra, Chris Cavalli, June Mullin, John Cise, Gabe Arellano, Jeff Bechtold, James Friedrichsen, John Underwood, Joe Brinkley, Paul Williams, Qurrat Thakur, Karl Trappe, Mohammad Eshkalak, David Wolf, Mostafa Pirnia, Josh Hebert
1.) Approval of Agenda: Agenda approved
2.) Approval of Minutes: October minutes were approved.
3.) Information item:
a.) New Lab Tech – Josh Hebert, new lab tech for RGC was introduced to everyone in the meeting.
b.) Major and Career Exploration day at HLC 11/5 – Everyone was reminded about the Major and Career Exploration day that ACC will be having at HLC on November 5, 2016. Jim Heath informed everyone that ACCHaoS will be participating and would be located in the project room. Dr John Cise and Mohammad Eshkalak will be manning our Physics table located in front of room 2116. If the day is clear, Eric Ebner will be setting up binoculars with telescopes for solar viewing.
c.) Star Party – Our next Star Party will be December 2, 2016 at HLC. ACCHaoS will start at 5:30pm. Michael Endl will have his talk about a new exoplanet at 7:00pm and telescopes will be set up for the public at 8:00pm
d.) C2STEM – John Underwood informed everyone that the C2STEM was extended for the Fall 2016 semester. John asked faculty to share information with their students. He went over the requirements and reminded everyone that December 4, 2016 was the deadline to apply for the C2STEM.
e.) Move, Storage for Equipment - John Underwood informed everyone that now was the time to start thinking of planning the money for the move, just in case ACC does not pay storage for our equipment. Jim Heath stated that the dean reassured him that ACC would pay for our storage. John Underwood still recommended that money be put aside just in case things don’t work out.
4.) Safety Officer Report– Everyone was asked to continue sending in their student safety contracts. Chris Cavalli informed everyone that the updated version of the safety EHS PowerPoint presentation with the new safety label changes is on our Blackboard site. The new labels will be phased in as we get any new chemicals. Chris recommended that the Lab Techs and anyone else who is interested look over the new labels shown in the EHS PowerPoint. She plans to show the new labels in one of next year’s meetings. She also reminded everyone that a yearly safety training will not be required unless something changes. An optional short quiz for Hazcom will be developed by spring 2017 for anyone who would like to update their Hazcom safety knowledge and get some Professional Development.
5.) Website and Technology Update – If anyone wants a refresher on how to upload to Google Drive, let June Mullin know. There have been problems with JAVA at RGC. June will go around to the RGC lecture rooms and update Java.
6.) Committee Chair Reports
a.) Assessment– For Fall 2016 - every class that is in the core curriculum in our department will have to do our Gen. Ed. assessment on interpersonal skills. PHYS 2425, PHYS 2426 and Engineering will need to do their respective program assessments. PHYS 2425 and 2426 will do the improved assessment on problem solving and Engineering will do their standard assessment.
b.) Budget– James Friedrichsen showed everyone a spreadsheet he developed to help track all money spent in our department. The spreadsheet will be uploaded and shared in Google Drive. Staff and faculty who are responsible for spending money, will have access to the spreadsheet to enter any money that is spent. James also shared with everyone the budget allotments for each campus. He reminded faculty that Eric Ebner would be in charge of the Astronomy spending as arranged at the last department meeting by Jim Heath, but is still waiting for Saad Eways to let him know who will be in charge of the Engineering spending.
c.) Curriculum – Joe Brinkley informed everyone that the labs for PHYS 1401 and 2425 at NRG have been posted with the new number system on our website. Joe encourages everyone to have a look at the labs posted and if anyone has better labs then the labs from NRG, to let him know. Joe also reminded everyone about the Curriculum meeting (Labpalooza) that will be held on November 18, 2016 at the HLC from 1:00pm to 4:00 to discuss and choose labs to be used on every campus. Anyone can attend the meeting.
d.) Evaluations – Everyone was reminded that Portfolios are dueDecember 2, 2016. If anyone needs an extension, they should contact Chrisbut all portfolios must be in by the end of semester. A reminder email will be sent soon. Questions about documents that faculty need for their portfolio can be directed to Chris Cavalli. Any questions about how to upload documents to Google Drive can be directed to June Mullin.
e.) Engineering Steering – Tabled
f.) Long Range Planning Program Review – There is still no word on the budget items for the capital expenditures that were requested as part of the long range planning committee functions. Jim Heath said that he would look into requesting items that have been priced out of being non-capital items from the College. Paul Williams announced that ACCHaoS has been funded and that an IA part time positon to run the ACCHaoS program will be posted shortly. Paul went over the requirements of the job position. He also mentioned that there also would be hourly money for ACCHaoS.
g.) Program Review – Chris Cavalli informed everyone that the program review is now done every 3 years instead of 5 years.That means our department has a program review each year for one of our three programs. The program review has been streamlined, more links have been added for questions that need to be answered, and the SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats)meetinghas been made optional. It was decided that a SWOT for the Astronomy program review will be done sometime in the beginning of spring 2017 at HLC. The purpose of the program review is for the department to have continuous improvement, set goals, and prepare for budget requests.One thing that needs to be reviewed is the Astronomy mission statement. Chris was asked to bring the mission statement to the next department meeting to discuss. Gabe Arellano also shared information the Physics program review that he did last year.
h.) Professional Development – Faculty were informed that an application called Degree Map was available for faculty to use. The Degree Map application is useful to assist students and submit advising plans. It would also help faculty to know what advisors are telling students and for faculty to have notes on their advising to students. Training is available for faculty that are interested in using the application. Professional Developmental hours will be awarded for attending training. Everyone was reminded that registration for the AAPT meeting was now open. AAPT will be held in Atlanta February 18-21, 2016. The TCCTA Meeting will also be held in Austin February 23-25, 2017. If you are a member, ACC will pay for the TCCTA registration. Faculty and staff were reminded of the mandatory trainings of sexual harassment and ADA awareness. Adjunct faculty are required to log 4 professional developmental hours yearly. Fulltime faculty and staff are required to log 12 professional developmental hours.
i.) Scheduling– Everyone was asked to keep a watchful eye on all of the posted schedules. If any errors are found, let Jim Heath or James Friedrichsen know ASAP. Jim has been working on the Fall 2017 schedule in the advent of the closure of RGC. Full-time faculty was asked to submit their Summer 2017 request for classes. Concerns were shared about the reduced and/or absence of time between classes in the Summer 2017 schedule. Everyone was informed that only summer schedules would have those kinds of time issues between classes. Classes in the fall and spring will always have 10 minutes in between classes. Suggestions and concerns were shared.
7.) Discussion Items
a.) Move all Department Meetings to HLC – It was agreed that all department meetings will take place at HLC starting in the Fall 2017 semester.
8.) Action Items
a.) RGC Equipment – Richard Mauldin brought in equipment for everyone to take to their campuses.
9.) New Business