September 29, 2000

The Advisory Board meeting took place at the Ullsvik Center. Jeff Mazanec, Chair, welcomed everyone to UW-Platteville.

Inactive members and resignations from the board were accepted as presented. Inactive members include Tony Bichler, Stacey Bucheger, Mac Klingler, Amy Misener and resignations include James Barry and Chuck Happel. New members were introduced-Susan Babb from Brady USA and Kevin Eulgen from Snap-On Diagnostics. Chuck Crawford motioned and Forest Kenworthy seconded to accept these individuals onto the Advisory Board. Motion carried.

Rich Shultz shared copies of the ABET Self Study Reports. He indicated that the ABET team will be on campus October 22-24. There will be one team chair, a state representative, and each department will have their own discipline specific inspector.

An update was given regarding the Fox Valley project. Dean Shultz was pleased to report that students are currently enrolled in physics and engineering economy courses at Fox Valley this semester. He indicated that industry is supportive and funding the first year of the program. The UW budget has been approved by system and is currently being forwarded to the governor and legislative personnel.

UW-Stout has approached UW-Platteville and indicated that they would like to offer an electrical engineering degree at their campus. UW-Stout currently has three electrical engineering faculty on staff. Dean Shultz informed members that UW-Platteville is currently looking at doing something similar to the Fox Valley project and he will keep them updated as the program develops.

Our master of engineering program has moved forward with on-line programming. The first semester there were five students accepted into the program with four special students. A total of 92 students are enrolled in our on-line courses at this time.

Dean Shultz presented an update on the international exchanges. A delegation from Darmstadt Germany visited UW-Platteville and were very impressed with our programs and facilities. Currently, UW-P has a civil engineering student from Darmstadt and two UW-P students will be traveling there next semester (1 electrical and 1 mechanical). Faculty exchanges are also being reviewed. In addition, two students (1 electrical and 1 industrial) are anticipating studying in Galway, Ireland next semester. We are also hoping to have two students from Galway at UW-Platteville. Dave Wang, a Civil Engineering professor, is also working on a pilot project in China. Universities in Japan and Sweden are also interested in an exchange program.

Lisa Riedle gave an update on a senior design project at Taliesin. Both faculty and students are very involved with this project. This has been a nice relationship for both UW-Platteville and Taliesin.

Rich Shultz gave a report on the enrollment. The total university enrollment is around 5,400 students. The College of EMS enrollment is down about 75 students from last year. Dean Shultz indicated that radio spots, billboards, and faculty working directly with the Admissions Office are some of the efforts taking place.

Jeff Mazanec asked for an update on the construction project that he noticed on his way in to the building today and Rich Shultz indicated that was the new Student and Technology Center. The current Ullsvik Center will become the central greeting place for campus.

The meeting moved on to the operation of the Advisory Board and the need for modifying the existing committee structure. The Steering Committee would stay the way it has been structured in the past. The Nominating Committee would remain the same with the immediate past chair in charge.

The Concept Development Committee would develop potential solutions/opportunities to meet the needs of the College and the Board; evaluate and screen solutions; then recommend a "best fit" solution/opportunity to UW-Platteville. The Special Project Committee would provide support of selected initiatives, promote lobbying needs and provide a network for information. The On-Going Operations Support Committee would develop recruitment efforts and assists to increase the number of accepted students to UW-Platteville. (One way of doing this would be to hold receptions at companies for accepted students in the area.)

Discussion followed regarding this new concept/structure of committees. Each committee would have a chair and vice chair with general membership floating from committee to committee. Rich Shultz also shared some of his ideas related to forming these three new committees and what impact they would have on the College.

It was suggested that three working groups be formed. The Concept Development Committee would work on the International Initiative. The goal being to provide a perspective from industry to students regarding the advantage of participating in an international experience. This committee would develop an outline, strategies and promotional ideas. The Special Project Committee would develop a definitive action for lobbying efforts and strategies to promote the UW Fox Valley Initiative. The On-Going Operations Support Committee would focus on developing structure that would provide a connection between faculty and industry.

During the afternoon session, Dave Ellestad spoke about the International Initiative. He focused on promotional strategies in publicizing this opportunity and the significance of funding to defray costs prior to and during the exchange. Student participation should be encouraged for the value of this experience is unsurmountable and company's put a premium on these types of experiences. Parental concerns regarding the value of the experience, the expense involved as well as safety and security for their son/daughter were also discussed.

Joe Coenen spoke about the UW-Fox Valley Initiative. It is hoped that the State will begin providing funding in Fall 2001. Various industries in the area are funding this project during the interim. Joe suggested generating a bullet list of points, a list of people to lobby including the Joint Finance Committee and Governor Thompson, a list of Engineering Society's that can assist with lobbying efforts, and a letter from the Advisory Board to be sent to legislators and the governor stating why this project is important. Joe Coenen motioned to draft a letter to legislators and the governor with appropriate signatures from the Advisory Board. Forest Kenworthy seconded motion. Discussion followed regarding using company names. Motion carried.

Phil Young spoke about faculty support issue. It was suggested that a list of faculty and their speciality areas be available on the web. It was also decided to develop a list of contacts within companies for faculty to access with possible research/project ideas. Discussion continued with establishing procedures for reimbursement/compensation for consulting arrangements. There was also a suggestion to put student project information and presentation dates on the web with an invitation for people to attend or ask questions. Another suggestion was made that industry should be considering if there is a way to compensate faculty more adequately so that quality faculty can be retained at UW-Platteville.

John Voelker motioned to approve the minutes from last meeting. Thomas Muller seconded. Motion carried and minutes approved.

Arnold Mohlman motioned to approve the changes in committee structure and authorized the preparation of revisions to the bylaws for the Spring 2001 meeting. Charles Crawford seconded. Motion carried.

Max Anderson requested that GE 1020 students be linked up with some of the Advisory Board members and interview them as a class project. It was also suggested that students could e-mail advisory board members and have communication regarding engineering as a career.

The next Advisory Board meeting will be March 30. The Engineering/Science EXPO is also scheduled for that day and you may be asked to be a judge for this event during the morning. Please feel free to arrive early and peruse the projects throughout Ottensman Hall. Rich Shultz gave a few closing comments. He thanked everyone for attending and reminded them that the Nominating Committee might be in contact to get suggestions for possible members. Everyone was reminded that business casual is the dress of the day for these meetings.

Meeting adjourned.