SFB Minutes 2/8/10

By zlym | February 8, 2010

Agenda

In Attendance

Non-voting Faculty & Staff Avisors

Absent:

Minutes

1:30-1:50 A cancellation allowed time to go over decision criteria.  The following criteria were decided upon,

  1. How many students benefit?
  2. Student to cost ratio?
  3. What is the benefit to students (vs benefit to faculty or party presenting)?
  4. Appropriate to be funded by students or should the money come from other sources?
  5. How does old equipment affect efficiency?  How will new equipment enhance it?
  6. Security?
  7. How many classes and programs use the equipment over a given year?
  8. A followup question, were proper measures taken to ensure successful installation?

1:50-2:00 Zachary Lym brought up the time sensitivity of Jessica Pelkey’s UTF request she had presented for the previous Wednesday meeting.  Sabina Tomkins clarified that it could be moved to the top of the agenda on Wednesday.  Rosemary Jones said that reimbursement of funds was difficult, but Tompkins had her confirm that the beginning of the following week would be a reasonable timeline.

2:00-2:20 Elaine Rolf presented her request for a new timing machine used to test watches in the watch technology department.  The main reason was due to overlapping classes that presently have to change classrooms and otherwise disrupt instruction time.  The equipment is currently used very frequently in all classrooms as Erik Gresseth noted,”From 8 in the morning until 4:30 at night.”  Secondarily, the additional equipment allows students to be familiar with a wider range of equipment that is used on the market.

Alternative funding sources from the technical department was denied, however, watch technology often applies for Perkins grants.

2:20-3:50 Matt Rice gave his case for buying a new round of Cisco routers for the Cisco certification program.  Rice reported that the current equipment is not only outdated but inadequate for the certification program, only 1 router in the department is fully compliant with the Cisco Certified Network Associate training courses.  The South, Central, and Bellevue Community Colleges all have routers that are much younger than North’s current equipment.

The requested number of routers matched up to Rice’s current “pod” set-up so that all racks would have the same configuration.  The advantage of 12 would be a 1:1 student/router ratio and would allow for later expansion into the Cisco security training program, which requires 2 routers per pod.

Rice had requested funding/donations from other sources, but neither the division nor Cisco awarded funding.

3:05-3:20 Elizabeth Goulet illustrated a distressing incident in which a laptop took a tumble into a pond because it was connected to data gathering equipment.  Goulet’s UTF request proposed hand-held, portable devices to prevent both future laptop loss and to increase the amount of field time, more field time, and more streamlined reporting.  Goulet summed her request that the equipment would be “infinity easier, and saner” than the current, computer dependent equipment.

The equipment was applicable to a wide range of science courses that could use it, she estimated 5-7 classes per year.  Goulet and others have plans for more courses that would take advantage of the equipment.

The new devices are compatible with the old probes, as is the software both of which reduce costs.

The biology department has a system storage and scheduling that ensures both security and use.  Not having to lug around laptops to these remote sites also lowers risk.

3:20-3:30 Recess.

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