October 3, 2017 Minutes

Council of Department Chairs

Attendees: C. Bennett, K. Slowinski, B. Taylor, B. Benken, H. Wu, M. Karteron, B. Livingston, C. Brazier, R. Behl, T. Gao, A. Bill, L. Martin-Hansen, and L. Olsen-Cooper.

Minutes: Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 12, 2017 were approved.

  1. Updates from Chairs:
    • Dr. Tangan Gao
      • The department curriculum committee passed the redesigned GE math course suite.
    • Dr. Richard Behl
      • The Geology department has new summer field locations in Yellowstone, Wyoming and Big Horn, Montana
      • The department is partnering with Cerritos Community College on URM success in the Geo-sciences.
    • Dr. Lisa Martin-Hansen
      • California Science Teachers Association (CSTA) Conference will be held in Sacramento (CA) from October 13-15, 2017 and many faculty will attend.
    • Dr. Chris Brazier
      • The department is working on the Biochemistry Bachelor's process (Chancellor's Office)
    • Dr. Brian Livingston
      • The Biology department hired a new SSP, Christina Schneider.
      • The department hired Cindy Santiago (from the dean's office) for the ACA position.
    • Dr. Andreas Bill
      • The department will be down to administrative assistant for the next 3 weeks. Please have patience with the department on response to issues.
      • Drs. Jaikumar and Klahn are working on gravitational waves, the topic that the Nobel Prize in Physics was given for this year.
      • The PhysTech Open House was held on Saturday, September 23, 2017. The largest so far, with 60 attendees, including 12 high school teachers and their students
      • John Milligan, an alumnus of the department (1982), will be the speaker of the Physics Colloquium on Monday, October 9th (10:45am coffee HSCI-224, 11:15am talk in PH1-223)
      • The new statistics of the American Institute of Physics are out. The department does very well at the national level.
      • Every Monday (weather permitting) telescopes are available for observation on the roof from 7:30pm to 9:00pm. Check twitter @CSULBPhysics for schedule.
  2. Associate Dean Reports:
    1. Dr. Barbara Taylor (Research)
      1. Internal Funding
        1. ORSP is seeking input on possible changes to internal funding allocations. A recent analysis suggests that internal funding through RSCA and similar awards is not effective in leading to submission of proposals for external funding. The College of Engineering has proposed to pilot a program whereby $250,000 (= RSCA allocation for reassigned time and small faculty grants + average annual mini-grant, summer salary and disciplinary awards) would be transferred to a COE account and administered by the college through a competition for $7500 - $10,000 awards that could be used for reassigned time, summer salary, and/or research cost. COE would work with each recipient to develop and submit external funding proposals as a product of these awards. Dr. Taylor raised the questions: what are the pros and cons of such an approach? What pilot program might CNSM propose?
          1. Pros:
            • internal awards can be tailored to PI needs and, therefore, are likely to be more effective
            • the College can make eligibility for future funding contingent upon submission of reports and, thus, ensure collection of important data
          2. Cons:
            • a single College is too small to have effective internal peer review while at the same time avoiding conflict of interest
            • such a competition format could exclude non-research-active faculty and have a negative impact on their morale and teaching
      2. In response to Facilities Management request for proposals, Dr. Taylor asked for discussion of possible 2018 Summer Renovation/Improvement Projects. Removal of obsolete equipment and non-functional cold rooms in the Microbiology Building, with subsequent repurposing of the space as research benches or work stations has been brought up previously to Dr. Taylor. Removal of a non-functioning industrial dishwasher from a Science Education laboratory was suggested. Other suggestions are welcome. Proposals are due to Facilities Management on October 11, 2017.
    2. Dr. Kris Slowinski (Instruction)
      • ANNUAL CSULB COUNSELORS’ CONFERENCE: HIGH SCHOOL & COMMUNITY COLLEGE COUNSELORS
        • Friday, October 27, 2017, 7:15 a.m. – 12:45 p.m., University Student Union
      • The GE B2 Committee update was presented
      • Advising: Dr. Slowinski distributed handout to Chairs (Mandatory Freshman Advising, Transfer Advising, Major Advising (for students declaring CNSM major))
      • Beach Pledge Program – handout was distributed, discussion regarding eligibility and progress monitoring
    3. Dr. Babette Benken (Graduate Program)
      • Degree Planner information is going to Enrollment Services
      • Dr. Benken will continue to work with grad advisor in Spring 2018 to improve and better align catalog language to current practice
  3. Important Dates – Margaret Karteron
    • Awards timeline
      • RSCA Reassigned Time and Small Faculty Grants deadline to turn in proposals via InfoReady is Monday, 11/6/2017. Decisions will be available 2/2/2018.
      • Proposals for Mini Grants and Summer Stipends are due via InfoReady on Monday, 2/26/2018.
    • The application period for most scholarships is 11/1/2017 – 2/15/2018. Most scholarships will be on-line this year in Beach Scholarships.
    • We are tentatively planning the holiday party for December 8, 2017. (The last day of classes is December 12 and finals start December 13. It was felt that the 12th would not be a good date for the party).
  4. Financial Notes – Henry Wu
    • Faculty members, search committees, and department chairs are asked not to discuss retirement benefits with prospective candidates, but to please advise all candidates/employees with retirement questions to contact the Benefits Office located in Brotman Hall, Room 358, (ph: 562-985-2381)
    • For Computer Refresh, we will use the same criteria as last year, faculty and staff with equipment over four (4) years old or broken may ask for their computers to be replaced. The college will match department costs up to $600. Please advise Henry Wu by Friday, October 13, 2017 of computers that will need to be replaced this year.
  5. Development – Maryanne Horton
    Maryanne Horton introduced the new Development Coordinator, Sarah Len, to the Committee at the beginning of the meeting.
  6. Dean's Notes – Curtis Bennett
    • There is no new news on the new budget model. For this year we will assume the budget will be the same as the old budget model, except that we can carry forward any left-over operating funds that are under 3% of our budget.
    • Research Fund Task Force:
      • The dean suggested that the college should appoint an RS Funds Task to determine how to deal with the RS funds under the new budget model should the decision to include RS funds in the 3% allowable carry forward.
        • Several present argued strongly that we should advocate primarily for continuing the current model.
      • The CDC decided to create a RS Funds Task Force to help the dean advocate for appropriate use of RS funds, with one of its jobs to be to help the dean advocate for the current model.
  7. Mandatory vs. Limited Reporters for Child Abuse – L. Martin-Hansen
    1. It was stated that if faculty and staff are interacting with students under 18 off campus then they should be listed as "mandatory" reporters rather than "limited" reporters. Faculty teaching on campus should primarily be listed as limited reporters.
  8. Faculty Senate Update – Chris Brazier – postponed.
  9. New Business – postponed.

Meeting was adjourned at 12:02pm.

Respectfully submitted by Lane Olsen-Cooper, Assistant to the Richard D. Green Dean

Meeting Minutes were APPROVED on Tuesday, October 10, 2017