October 17, 2000

CEFO Minutes

(B. Sherlock, Secretary)

M I N U T E S

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING FACULTY ORGANIZATION Tuesday, October 17, 2000 @ 12:30 PM Burson Building, Room 121

CEFO President Carter opened the meeting at 12:35. The following individuals signed the attendance sheet:

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING: R. Johnson, C. Blat, S.Myers.
CAMERON A.R.C.: H. Leamy.
COMPUTING & ENGINEERING LABS: None.
CIVIL ENGINEERING: J. Graham, H. Hilger, M. Kane, A. Stadler, J. Wu, D. Young.
ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING: D. Binkley, R. Coleman, Y. Kakad, H. Philips, C. Stroud, F. Tranjan.
ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY: F. Ahmad, A. Barry, E. Braun, J. Carter, J. Kimble, D. Liou, C. Liu, R. Priebe, W. Shelnutt, B. Sherlock, S. Wang.
MECHANICAL ENGR & ENGR SCIENCE: Y. Hari, J. Miller, E. Munday, S.G. Teng.
GUESTS: None.

Total documented attendance: 31 (28 voting members.) Quorum=34.

I. Previous Meeting Minutes The minutes of the February 13, 2000 and August 16, 2000 meetings were approved as distributed.
Note that, in addition to distribution, the archive of CEFO minutes is maintained on the world wide web at http://www.coe.uncc.edu/~jcarter/cefo. Additions and corrections may be submitted via that medium.

II. Committee Reports
FALC: The Library Committee met to discuss the budget for the next few years. The current year will be a good one for acquiring new books for the Library. Faculty should submit their requests to Barry Sherlock, COE Library Representative.
Engineering Librarian Search Comittee: The Committee has narrowed the field to three candidates. Faculty can meet with the candidates – dates will be provided.
Graduate Council: Graduate Council approved two proposals for PhD programs in Education.

III. Cameron Center Space Organization, presentation by Harry Leamy.
The 28,000 square foot extension to CARC is now in the process of being completed. Dr. Leamy listed the proposals that were received for the use of CARC space, and presented designs of the future layout of the CARC building.
Dr Leamy stated that if, as we expect, we have a new building on campus in two years’ time, then CARC will be vacated by Biotechnology and IT, opening up much new space. We should have groups of faculty lined up and ready to develop “centers” for research on various topics when the space opens up.

IV. Dean’s Report, Dean Robert Johnson
Strategic Plan: This is still under way. The final touches will be added from the departmental plans, to produce Version 3.
SACS Accreditation: Chairs are compiling information in preparation for SACS accreditation in one year’s time.
Undergraduate Equipment Funds Allocation Method: After consulting with the Chairs, the Dean is considering revising the procedure for outfitting and maintaining the instructional laboratories. Currently, undergraduate equipment funds are divided each year equally across the four areas with $20K to $30K per area. The disadvantages of this are (1) no great impact in any one area, (2) much faculty time is involved, and (3) Chairs are not involved in the process and consequently lack confidence in a positive outcome from ABET. The Dean’s proposal is to rotate the pool of funds in one lump sum among the three major instructional program areas within the college: Civil & Environmental, Electrical & Electronics, and Mechanical & Manufacturing. The advantages of this are (1) Economy of faculty time, (2) greater impact in one area, and (3) Chairs oversee this and are more in control of the accreditation process. Dr. Johnson asked for Faculty to provide their comments and feedback on this proposal – email him at robejohn@uncc.edu. A discussion followed on whether or not the area of Fire Safety should also be included in addition to the three areas mentioned above.
Maintenance and Supply Money: Funding for maintenance and repair of undergraduate instructional equipment will, under the Dean’s proposal, be consolidated and centralized with Dan Rowe, in one central maintenance area.

V. Announcement by CEFO President.
In future CEFO meetings, there will be a new agenda item, namely, Department Chairpersons’ Reports. Each Chair will be allocated five minutes for the report.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:52 P.M.

Submit corrections/additions here: (sherlock@uncc.edu)