February 20, 2001

CEFO Minutes

(B. Sherlock, Secretary)

M I N U T E S

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING FACULTY ORGANIZATION Tuesday, February 20, 2001 @ 12:30 PM Cameron Applied Research Center, Room 101

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

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING: R. Johnson, C. Blat, E. Kreusch, S.Myers, P. Tolley.
CAMERON A.R.C.: H. Leamy, T. Rufty.
COMPUTING & ENGINEERING LABS: C. Price.
CIVIL ENGINEERING: D. Bayer, I. Gergely, J. Graham, A. Stadler, D. Young.
ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING: K. Daneshvar, M. Hasan, J. Hudak, Y. Kakad, V. Lukic, M. Miri.
ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY: F. Ahmad, E.Braun, N. Byars, J. Carter, M. Janssens, I. Jones, D. Liou, C. Liu, J. Patten, R. Priebe, B. Sherlock, S. Wang.
MECHANICAL ENGR & ENGR SCIENCE: H. Cherukuri, R. Coger, Y. Hari, J. Hill, E. Morse, E. Munday, J. Raja, R.Wilhelm.
GUESTS: Joanne Klein, Deborah Bosley.

Total documented attendance: 40 (31 voting members.) Quorum=34.

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.

I. Approval of minutes
The minutes of the January 23, 2001 CEFO meeting were approved as distributed.

I. Reference Librarian for Engineering and Information Technology, Joanne Klein
Ms Klein said that her functions include overhauling the reference collection for Engineering, purchasing of reference books, and providing help for literature searching and the use of new data bases such as Web of Science. She welcomes ideas for book purchases. The is located in office 110B behind the reference desk, phone 3232, email jsklein@uncc.edu.

III. Faculty Associate for Experiential Learning, Beth Kreusch
Ms Kreusch outlined her four areas of responsibility: (1) Career and Job Preparation (career choices, experiential learning, post-undergraduate preparation), (2) International Exchange Programs(IUT Bethune – France, U of Cantabria – Spain, IUT Limoges – France), (3) FE (EIT) Exam (improving pass rates and participation, educating students about exam specifics and preparation, compiling results), and (4) Alumni (a potentially huge resource, with 2500 alumni in the local 5-county area, however donation levels are low).

IV. Evaluation of writing in the Engineering curriculum
Deborah Bosley, director of University Writing Programs, gave a presentation on writing assessment. ABET and SACS both have requirements for competence in written communications. She described the methodology that is currently being used for assessing writing. A sample of about 25% of the papers in one senior level course are collected, and she meets with a committee of 3 to 5 department faculty for about one hour on three occasions. Only about 10 minutes per paper is involved, as the assessment is a simple “Pass” / “No Pass”. She described some report writing guidelines and criteria. The writing programs office is available to help with any writing assessment related matters, and can help produce an intervention plan that uses methods that are quick and efficient. Wildacre: This is an annual retreat in the NC mountains. This year it will be held from May 14 to 17 and the topic will be “Assessing Writing”. Faculty are invited to attend for free.

V. Research issues and accounting
Toby Rufty gave a presentation outlining the division in responsibilities amongst the College’s administrative support group. Toby Rufty (pre-award), Donna Furr (pre-award), and Wendy Meier (post-award) are responsible for matters relating to research contract/grant dollars. Renda Gwaltney and Jane Stewart are responsible for matters relating to State funding, including funding from the Dean’s office.

VI. Committee Reports
General Education: Concerns about the changes in General Education should be brought to Dr. Ed St. Clair, chairman of the General Education Review Taskforce. Faculty are strongly encouraged to attend the open meetings on the subject because the impact of their decisions on our curricula will be significant.

VII. Department Chair Reports
Engineering Technology, Cheng Liu:
(1) The ET Department started Distance Learning in 1997, and at the end of Summer will be completing its first cohort. The retention rate is about 50%, compared with a national average of 20%.
(2) The Fire Safety Engineering Technology Distance Learning program started in Fall 2000.
Electrical Engineering Technology started Internet-based Distance Learning in Fall 2000.
(3) Dr. Janssens was recently awarded a cash grant exceeding $300,000 as well as a private equipment donation of about $100,000.
(4) The North Carolina Firefighters Association is providing three scholarships per year ($1500 per student per year). This amounts to a $90,000 equivalent lump sum.
(5) Jack Carter is traveling to Limoges during the Spring Break on a faculty exchange.

VIII. SPART Surveys
The SPART surveys are valuable in helping to close the assessment loop in order to satisfy ABET/SACS, and faculty are encouraged to do the surveys.

IX. Security Incident on MOSAIC
Dr Chuck Price stated that a security breach had led to the exposure of faculty names and social security numbers, but that the problem is now completely closed.

X. Dean’s Report
“Operation ABET”: Dean Johnson will in the months ahead be bombarding faculty with information about the ABET/SACS continuous improvement process, in order that faculty become familiar with the process and aware of the buzzwords. The principal elements of the process are the following:

Student, faculty, alumni surveys

ICAP (Individual Course Assessment Process)

FAIT (Focus Area Improvement Teams)

CAC (College Administrative Committee)

AIM (Assessment and Improvement Meeting)

Assessment Matrix

SPART ( Strategic Planning and Assessment Resource Team)

The meeting was adjourned at 1:32 p.m.

Submit corrections/changes to Dr Barry Sherlock, CEFO Secretary: sherlock@uncc.edu