Tuesday, April 18, 2000, 7:30pm, 129 EE East
MINUTES
Members Present: Harry Bell, Ken Jenkins, Liz Kisenwether, Ray Lunnen, Jack Mitchell, Fred Thompson, Tom Walsh, and Mark Wharton
Mark opened the meeting at 7:30pm. He had an agenda with 8 topics.
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Topic 1. Introduction and Purpose
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To plan the Spring General Membership Meeting for May 19, 2000.
We will try to have it at 1pm in 225 EE West. A SPSEE post card will
be sent to all members as soon as possible, with the official time and
place along with the agenda. Tom Walsh will work with Francine Cauffman
to do this.
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Topic 2. Permanent Committee Assignments
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Mark has spoken with the following and they accepted:
5. Selection procedure:
Recipients of this fellowship shall be selected by a committee appointed
by the Head, Department of Electrical Engineering or, in his/her absence,
the Dean, College of Engineering. The Selection Committee shall have a
representative(s) from SPSEE. The Office of Student Aid, which is
responsible for ensuring compliance with regulations concerning federal,
state, and other aid in accordance with University policy regarding academic
scholarships under University control, shall be informed of all awards.
6. Amount of Award:
The number of fellowships awarded and the amount of each shall be determined
by the Selection Committee. Fellowships shall be awarded annually
in accordance with the University policy. Any available monies not
awarded in a particular year shall either be added to the principal or
retained for award together with the monies available for expenditure in
the following year, as determined by the Selection Committee.
The next step in making this official is to get the required signatures, and then have it passed by the Board of Trustees.
This year's recipient was Tony Skraba. He will receive $2500 for Fall and Spring, and then $1250 for the summer for a total award of $6500. He is in his second year as a graduate student and an excellent student.
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Topic 4. Nominating Committee for Fall Elections - Harry Bell
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Harry (the nominating committee) has nominated Mark and Hank to run
for a second term. Tom will not be able to run as he has completed
his degree and is finishing his second term as a fixed-term assistant professor.
Tom is heading for the Baltimore/D.C. region and will not be able to attend
the planning committee meetings and take the minutes. Thus, we are currently
looking for someone to run as secretary.
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Topic 5. Proposed Amendments to Constitution - Fred Thompson
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Fred said that he got the 'OK' from Cindy Jones to make changes to
the SPSEE Constitution. Mark distributed copies of the current constitution.
The constitution was reviewed and there are several suggested changes to
reflect the actual workings of our membership. Specifically, certain
changes in the:
Fred, Harry, and Mark will get together over lunch to finalize the suggested changes that will be brought up at the next General Membership Meeting.
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Topic 6. Review of Projects
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EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service)
Ken Jenkins discussed this with the Leonhard Center Board of Directors.
They asked when we hope to have this under way. Ken suggested Spring
2001. To do so, we would need to have partners lined up by Fall 2000.
We would also need to advertise this to students by early Fall 2000 so
they have time to register for the credits in Spring 2001. Ken would
like to see us begin with 2 teams of about 10 each. He would like
to offer other departments the opportunity to work with us on this (e.g.,
CSE, ME, and IE). No projects have been identified yet. SPSEE
CAN HELP IDENTIFY WORTHY PROJECTS! Also, Ken would like to see one faculty
member AND one industry/alumni (e.g. SPSEE member) work on a given team.
Possible topics would be a historical information kiosk in Puerto Rico
at the Aericebo site to help recruit students, the "Service Learning" ideas
from Brighton, Vertically Integrated learning, AE does habitat for humanity,
Civil does water commission advising. Students can get up to 4 credits
(1 freshman year==1st year seminar, 3 senior year==EE403 senior design
project) whereas Purdue gives up to 11 credits over many consecutive semesters,
the CDT lists organizations. Concerns were brought up as to whether
students should have the P.E. to make a 'product' to be used by a 'consumer',
even if it is donated.
EPICS information can be found on the web by going to Purdue's homepage. http://epics.ecn.purdue.edu/root.asp
Fred suggested an idea to help disabled (Lou G. disease) work a TV volume/channel control and answer the phone using only one foot...Since there are not enough disabled to support a mass market, companies are not able to do these things for a profit since the disabled many times are strapped for cash to begin with due to the expense of the disability...GREAT IDEAS!
Other areas include rehab centers where many skills are incorporated. Jack suggested checking service organizations on campus, and Liz said there is an autistic organization on campus. Jack also suggested this may be great for fulfilling the new "Ethics and Societal" requirement for ABET 2000.
Undergraduate Recruiting
Harry said 12 SPSEE members called 89 students. He will have
results for the General Membership Meeting.
Jack suggested that mothers are very influential with students from choosing a college to how hard they study once they get to campus. So, if the student is not home at the time an SPSEE member calls, and the mother answers, the member should definitely take the time to talk with her and see if the member can answer any questions she may have.
SPSEE Graduate Fellowship Fund
Mark said that Dick Swails can produce a report on the fund at a moments
notice now that things are in a database that is more accessible.
As of now, the book value is $216k, whereas the market value is $259k.
Glenna should also be able to retrieve these numbers.
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Topic 7. Guest Speaker Suggestions
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Ray was able to line up a presentation about "PSU Engineering Outreach"
by:
Terry Reed - Director of Continuing Education, and
Debbie Zimmerman - Program Coordinator for Continuing and Distance
Education in the College of Engineering.
One interesting topic they will speak on is "PSU World Campus and You".
On another note, Ray suggested that it may be nice to arrange tours of the new engineering buildings that just came online.
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Topic 8. Other Items
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Jack suggested that we may want to invite local industry and service
organizations to the Fall General Membership meeting to get support for
the EPICS topics.
Mark would like to invite Dr. Benjamin Pontano - the Outstanding Engineering Alumnus - to join SPSEE and try to come to the General Membership Meetings.
Agenda:
1. Welcome - Mark Wharton
2. EE Department News - Ken Jenkins
3. Permanent Committee Assignments - Mark Wharton
4. Review of Active Projects - Liz Kisenwether, Harry Bell, and
Mark Wharton
5. Guest Speakers* - Terry Reed, and Debbie Zimmerman
6. Proposed Amendments to the Constitution - Fred Thompson
7. Nominating Committee - Harry Bell
8. Closing Remarks - Mark Wharton
* Come and hear about the recent developments in the PSU Engineering Outreach with topics such as "PSU World Campus and You!" by: Terry Reed - Director of Continuing Education, and Debbie Zimmerman - Program Coordinator for Continuing and Distance Education in the College of Engineering.