December 3, 1996

CEFO Minutes

(J. Carter, Secretary)

M I N U T E S

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING FACULTY ORGANIZATION Tuesday, December 3, 1996 @ 12:30 PM McEniry, Room 142
CEFO President Art Edwards opened the meeting at 12:37 PM. The following individuals signed the attendance sheet:

COLLEGE OF ENGR: R. Snyder, P. Tolley
COMPUTER SCIENCE: M. Allen, R. Lejk, J. Long, T. Mostafavi, J. Quinn, J. Robinson, K. Subramanian, W. Tolone.
CIVIL ENGINEERING: D. Bayer, J. Evett, J. Graham, M. Kane, E. King.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING: R. Coleman, T. Dahlberg, A. Edwards, R. Greene, Y. Kakad, R. Makki.
ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY: J. Bowen, E. Braun, N. Byars, J. Carter, J. Chaffin, C. Liu, C. Mobley, J. Patten, R. Priebe, W. Shelnutt, D. Smith, P. Wang.
MECHANICAL ENGR & ENGR SCIENCE: R. Coger, R. Dubler, H. Estrada, J. Hill, R. Hocken, R. Johnson, R. Kim, G. Mohanty, E. Munday S. Patterson, J. Raja.
E.R.I.D: J. Roblin
GUESTS: None. Total documented attendance: 45 (40 voting members.) Quorum = 39.

I. Announcements, Art Edwards.

Representatives are needed to take part in recruitment meetings in order to send faculty to our area high schools for the purpose of student recruiting.
Phi Kappa Phi recognizes the top Junior student for 1996 – 1997: David W. Johnston of Computer Science

II. SPART Report, Bill Shelnutt. All departments have met for the purposes of updating their strategic plans, the documentation of those meeings has been completed (except ET’s report is in progress,) and the SPART report will be back to the chairs shortly. The next stage will be one pass through the chairs. The plans will then be fixed and returned to the departments in hard copy and diskette form. SPART representatives will provide input for the college plan for placement on the web for input from the constituents. This should take place during the Spring semester, 1997. If there are any questions, please contact Bill Shelnutt or Pat Tolley.

III. Distance Learning, Joe Quinn. The College of Engineering is making headway in distance learning efforts on several fronts. Howard Phillips is looking into presenting a version of ENGR1201 to be sent out over cable television next year. Another technology may be involved in this effort. Engineering Technology may be participating in a 2+2 program with some of the area community colleges, and is the only department looking at distance learning efforts which go beyond these boundaries. Currently ten community colleges are in the draft plan. ET has also submitted a proposal for the procurement of equipment for use with distance learning activities with Bethune, France. This will be a PC-based multimedia communications system operating over ISDN lines. Also, Silvia Middleton is investigating opportunities for distance learning efforts with NC State, Wilmington.

IV. Dean’s report, Dean Snyder.

Distance learning. There are at least five techologies that the campus has available as resources for distance learning activities: Video-tape in specific classrooms, NCREN (the NC information superhighway which is available at multiple sites including several community colleges and industry,) regional cable television, internet, and ISDN. These are all available for consideration when trying to present a course. It (distance learning technology) is a dynamic, moving target. The College made a proposal to Academic Affairs to install ISDN because it can go anywhere telephone lines can to. We can also control both ends of the system with ISDN. Hopefully a demonstration will be set up in the not too distant future. We need to start thinking seriously about using this technology as we teach on campus and package our programs for off-campus use at the same time.
High School Visitation. It is suggested that a formal presentation be provided at the next faculty meeting which will serve to facilitate the coordination of department activities in order to reduce duplication of effort.
Workload Policy. Hard copies of the workload policy and teaching enhancement guidelines have been distributed. Departments should now be in the process of implementing these guidelines.
Budget. The budget figures are now in. Final figures will be presented to the departments shortly.
Space Utilization. Steve Patterson is chairing a committee which has been formed for the purpose of studying space use. The chancellor has requested planning money for a new engineering science complex. We could be in the business of planning within the next year. Current thinking puts the size of the complex at around 180,000 sq ft.
Strategic Planning. The dean expressed that he is pleased with the department planning sessions. This can be an important exercise. Hopefully it is time well-spent in the effort to move ahead in the process.
Duke Endowed Professorship. We are currently involved in the search for a candidate for the Duke Endowed Professorship position. We have had an attendance of ten to twelve people at the presentations made by candidates. This number should be higher. We are interested in getting a feel for these people so a more broad-based response is needed. We have interviewed six candidates, and will be interviewing a seventh next week.

It has been a busy, interesting, and productive semester. It should be the same next Spring.

Secretary’s addendum. Following the November 12th meeting of CEFO, a vote, by ballot, was taken in order to respond to a motion to approve curriculum changes for the Computer Science department. The motion passed.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:19 PM.

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