Illinois
Section
American Association of Physics Teachers
Minutes of the Fall Council
Meeting
Illinois State University, Stevenson Hall, Room 140
October 11, 2003
The meeting was called to order at 7:38 a.m. with
Gary Wolber presiding. Also in attendance were Ann Brandon, Debby
Lojkutz, Cliff Parker, Roger Reeves, Curtis Shoaf, Kenneth Mellendorf,
Curtis Hieggelke, Kimberly Shaw, Mark Boley, Dave Renneke, Bruce McCart,
Ray Bugayong, Charles Schulz, William Hogan, and Carl Wenning.
Secretary-Treasurer Report: The minutes of
the prior meeting were reviewed and approved without correction. The
fiscal report was also reviewed and approved without correction. Carl
Wenning reported a balance of $3,236.50 immediately prior to the current
meeting.
Section Representative Report: Curt
Hieggelke distributed his report. He noted among other things that
grants are still available to sections to help them hold meetings on
teacher education and preparation. Up to $500 for each section can be
requested. At present only four sections have applied. Other sections
were encouraged to plan such programs and have their Section
Representatives submit the proposal directly by email. This meeting can
be separate from the section meeting. An announcement describing the
grant was in the Announcer. Ann Brandon noted that the AAPT national
office is considering no longer publishing the Announcer as a
cost-cutting measure, indicating that, "90% who get it don't read it."
It hopes to use the publication for annual fiscal reports and policy
statement; notes about national meetings will be online. Currently
12,000 copies are printed and distributed quarterly at a total cost of
more $50,000 annually, including postage. Future editions might be
limited to 1,200 copies distributed at national conferences. If anyone
has a strong opinion about these proposed actions, contact Ann. The
report was received without correction. Curt's written report is available
online.
Representative to the AAPT High School
Committee Report: Ann Brandon noted that the Rural PTRA had been
refunded for 3 years. There are also grants of between $400 and $1,000
for high school physics teachers. Grant information is available on the
AAPT web site. New editions of the "red, green, and blue" teacher
education publication are now available. Again, see the national website.
Publicity Chair, Section Editor, and Webmaster
Report: Dave Renneke noted that the ISAAPT web page had been
updated; it no longer contains the AAPT logo; rather, it now sports a
logo for the "World Year of
Physics 2005". It is hyperlinked to the national site.
Newsletter Report: Roger Reeves reported
that all is going well, and thanked several present for the many
contributions to the fall edition. He did note, however, that the school
district will no longer be picking up printing costs, and that the
ISAAPT will now have to bear this expense which amounted to $122 for the
most recent issue.
Outstanding High School Physics Teacher Award:
Diana Roth wasn't able to be present for the meeting, but Carl Wenning
reported for her that the process this past year worked very well, and
at a cost savings. More nominations than ever were received. Nominations
for the Spring 2004 award are due December 1, 2003.
Committee for the Distinguished Service
Citation Report: Robert Frank from Augustana College is this year's
recipient. Carl Wenning noted that the announcement was made publicly in
advance of the meeting and that Robert was thereby able to have his wife
Rhoda in attendance for the award. Carl reported that both he and Roger
Reeves, as prior recipients, continue on the committee. Neither of the
two other most recent past recipients are active ISAAPT members. Dave
Renneke motioned, and it was seconded, and carried that the high school
teacher award be similarly publicly announced prior to the meeting.
Discussion on Supplementary Meeting:
Following a brief discussion on the subject matter of this meeting, Gary
Wolber appointed an ad hoc committee to address the possibility of the
ISAAPT hosting a statewide teacher meeting following the "Texas Model"
to address science teacher needs in Illinois, and what the ISAAPT might
do to improve the current situation. The ad hoc committee is composed of
Kimberly Shaw (chair), Ann Brandon, and Curt Hieggelke. They were
charged with preparing a project proposal and submitting it to the AAPT
national office before the end of the year when funds are expected to
dry up for such activities. It was decided that a follow-up discussion
after the close of the section meeting need not take place later in the
day as a result of this decision.
Nominations: Carl Wenning reported the
following nominations made on behalf of Kelly Roos who was unable to
attend the meeting. The list also includes names for High School and
Section Representative worked out later that morning; all were
subsequently elected unanimously by voice vote at the noon general
membership meeting. The year in parentheses is when the term
expires.
-
Kimberly Shaw, President Elect
-
Carl Wenning, Secretary/Treasurer (2006)
-
Steve Weber, High School Representative (2007)
-
Eric Peterson, 2-year College Representative (2007)
-
Douglas Franklin, 4-year College Representative (2007)
-
Lee Carkner, 4-year College Representative (2004). Lee will fill
the one-year College Rep vacancy resulting from the election of Kimberly
Shaw.
-
Dave Sykes, Section Representative (2004). Dave will complete
the third year of the 3-year term of Curtis Hieggelke.
Fall Meeting: Carl Wenning reported that
there were 62 paid registrants at the current meeting, including 7
students. The smaller number than expected registrants will result is
less revenue than expected but assured the Council that the meeting
would not end in the red. An anonymous donor has pledged cover any
uncovered expenses. The ISAAPT will receive full amounts for new and
renewed memberships ($220) and for the SRS ($3 per registered faculty
member for a total of $165). Carl noted, too, that he had not sent a
physical mailing, and wasn't certain whether or not this had any effect
on the registration number as the size of the meeting was relatively
typical. He further noted the high cost of sending physical mailings to
over 450 individuals when the vast majority does not attend section
meetings results in non-recoverable expenses to the conference host.
There was general agreement that conference announcement continue to be
distributed in the Illinois Physics Teacher.
Future Meetings: There was no report about
the spring meeting as no representative from UIUC was at the meeting.
Future meetings are scheduled as follows - UIUC, April 23-24, 2004;
Bradley University, Fall 2004; SIUE, Spring 2005; and
Riverside-Brookfield High School in Riverside, IL, Fall 2005. There were
two tentative offers for additional future meeting sites: Spring 2006 at
Illinois Central College in East Peoria (host Kenneth Mellendorf), and
Fall 2006 at Rock Island High School (host Gary Wolber).
New Business:
1. Gary Wolber will not be able to attend the ISTA
state meeting as a representative of the ISAAPT. Substitutes were
requested, but there were no volunteers.
2. Curt Hieggelke spoke briefly about 2005 as the
World Year of Physics. He noted that perhaps there should be a section
meeting to focus on this event so that it doesn't go the way of the
"year of math" that no one seemed to notice. He suggested that Chuck
Stone be asked to present at the meeting.
3. It was noted by Dave Renneke that the NOVA
program "The Elegant
Universe" will be shown on PBS on Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 and that the
membership will be notified via e-mail.
4. There was a brief discussion about CPDU's.
5. Bill Hogan reported that the Chicago section
meeting will be on Nov. 8, and that Paul Dolan will be resurrecting the
Chicago section Web page. It was noted how the deaths of Larry Martin
and Bill Conway had negatively affected the Chicago section.
6. Ann Brandon noted that the Betty Windham fund
was still collecting donations; Carl Wenning asked her to forward the
contact information in relation to the fund so that he might send the
$100 donation that had been approved at the last Council meeting.
The Council, having no further business, adjourned
at 8:49 a.m.
Carl J. Wenning
Secretary-Treasurer
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