Illinois Section
American Association of Physics Teachers

Minutes of the Spring Council Meeting
Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington
April 4, 2009

President Tom Foster called the meeting to order at 7:05 am. Council Members present: President Elect Carl Wenning, Secretary/Treasurer Dave Sykes, Webmaster Dave Renneke, Newsletter Editor Brian Davies, Past President Deb Lojkutz, Doug Brandt, Rob Mason, Zak Knott, Ann Brandon, Tom Snyder, Tom Carter, Don Reid, Bill Hogan, Shane Hanson, Elisabeth Langford, and Andrew Morrison.

E-Action Item: A motion to approve the Council Minutes of the Fall Meeting at Illinois Sate University was made on 11/5/08 by Doug Brandt and seconded by Rob Mason on 11/05/08. After some time for e-discussion Tom Foster called for a vote on 11/7/08 and indicated on 11/17/08 that the motion had passed.

Secretary-Treasurer Report: Dave distributed the treasurer's report. He noted that the balance has increased about $1000 during the last year due mainly to the extra money generated at the Fall, 2008 meeting at Illinois State University. He added that the current balance in the Rossing Fund is $30,079.15.

Section Representative Report: Zak reported that the AAPT is pushing hard to increase membership. He added that they have created an Associate Membership at a reduced cost and there are available "kickbacks" to sections for getting new members to the AAPT.

High School Representative Report: Ann reported the following:

   1. The High School Physics Teacher workshops are oversubscribed.
   2. The New High School Teacher Handbook is now out (AAPT press).
   3. The committee is now working on the lab manual.

Publicity Chair, Section Editor, and Webmaster Report: Dave reported that he had sent out three e-mails concerning the current meeting. He added that he is now using statcounter.com to keep track of quantitative information concerning the ISAAPT website.

Newsletter Report: Brian reported that the Spring, 2009 IPT was 6 pages and that he had 110 copies made. He added that he was able to take care of the cost of duplication and mailing.

Outstanding High School Physics Teacher Award: Tom Foster reported that Diane Riendeau was this year's recipient of the High School Physics Teacher Award and was recognized at Friday's banquet.

Committee for the Distinguished Service Citation Report: Dave reported that he and Bill Hogan comprised the Distinguished Service Citation Committee but that they had not yet met to discuss possible recipients. Dave added that they would have a nomination(s) for the council to consider prior to the Fall meeting.

Nominating Committee Report: Deb reported that she will be prepared to present a slate of nominations for council positions at the Fall meeting.

Current Meeting Update: Narendra Jaggi was not available to make a report on the current meeting.

Fall Meeting Update: In the absence of Ken Mellendorf, Carl reported that the Fall, 2009 meeting at Illinois Central College would be a joint meeting with the Illinois Association of Chemistry Teachers.

Future Meetings:

Fall, 2009 (Oct. 16-17): Illinois Central College, East Peoria
Spring, 2010 (Mar. 26-27): Blackburn College, Carlinville
Fall, 2010: Sherrard High School, Sherrard
Spring, 2011: Eastern Illinois University, Charleston
Fall, 2011: Joliet Junior College, Joliet

New Business

1. St. Louis Section. Tom Foster reported that the St. Louis Association of Physics Teachers was now an official AAPT Section.

2. AAPT Grant. Carl reported on the status of a $2000 AAPT grant he is applying for that would initiate the creation of semi-annual workshops for new physics teachers (less than 5 years experience) and cross-over teachers. Carl added that he felt that the criterion for using the grant money was a little much for the ISAAPT so he solicited the CSAAPT to join us to organize and conduct the workshops. He stated that some of the grant money would be used to bring in PTRA's to help conduct the workshops and that the ISAAPT's Standing Committee on Physics Teacher Recruitment, Retention, and Development would help organize the workshops. It was the whole-hearted consensus of the council to support Carl in his quest to obtain said grant.

3. Student Research Symposium. During past council meetings discussion has arisen as to the appropriateness of conducting the Student Research Symposium (SRS) at ISAAPT meetings. After an initial suggestion by Dave Renneke to continue the SRS like in the past and after no objection to keeping with the SRS tradition was stated, the consensus of the council was to continue the SRS without change. As a side note, Dave Renneke thanked Doug and Rob for their significant service as SRS judges.

4. ISAAPT Dues. A motion to have the secretary/treasurer maintain the membership list for the purpose of keeping track of membership dues was made by Brian and seconded by Tom Carter. After some discussion a motion to table the motion until Dave Renneke could provide some needed information was made by Tom Carter and seconded by Bill Hogan. The motion passed.

5. Newsletter Distribution. A motion was made to rescind the motion concerning the methods of ITP distribution (that was passed at the Fall, 2008 Council Meeting) by Brian Davies and seconded by Tom Carter. Brian stated that 10 people responded to a survey he distributed with the IPT to determine preferences of ITP delivery. Nine (9) indicated that they wanted a copy by e-mail only and one indicated that they wanted it by both methods. The motion passed.

6. Use of copyrighted information from ISAAPT Booklet. Carl Wenning stated that he would like to use some copyrighted information from the ISAAPT Booklet "Recruiting the Next Generation of Middle and High School Science Teachers" in a book that he is writing entitled Teaching High School Physics. A motion to allow Carl to use information from said Booklet was made by Bill Hogan and seconded by Ann Brandon. The motion passed without discussion.

7. ISTA electronic membership. Tom Foster reported that the Illinois Science Teachers Association (ISTA) is now offering to display membership information of other Science Teacher Organizations (like the ISAAPT) on their website. A motion to allow the ISTA to display ISAAPT membership information on their website was made by Tom Carter and seconded by Bill Hogan. The motion passed without discussion.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:23 am.

Faithfully submitted,

Dave Sykes