WHITAKER CENTER Leadership Meeting : September 30, 2015 PRESENT: Presiding Laura Frost Zanna Beharry, Derek Buzasi, Kendra Carboneau, Susan Cooper, Chris DiMattina, Brian Johnson, Linda Serro, Jackie Greene, Heather Walsh-Haney ABSENT: Susie Cull, Tanya Kunberger RECORDER: Kendra Carboneau NEXT MEETING TBD SUBJECT DISCUSSION FOLLOW-UP Old Business Minutes from the August 17, 2015 meeting were approved with one change Update Hardy County to Hendry County SUS report submitted Sept. 18 The Whitaker Center has had more program participation every year by both faculty and students We are reaching approximately ¼ of the faculty (STEM and non-stem) Last year s review recommended that the Center complete an external review. This was completed in January 2015. Programming Highlights since last meeting STEMPerks Sept. 4 (approximately 20 attendees) Welcome Back Event Sept. 11 (53 attendees) Conservancy of SW FL Neil W. is new liaison Environmental Education Alliance Conference this Friday Oct. 2 Upcoming Fall Programming STEMPerks This Friday Oct. 2 8-10AM STEMinars - Wed. at 3:45 AB7114 There has been a limited response from FGCU faculty to give talks There are still some holes in the fall schedule Heather will talk to her colleague at NYU to work on a date Derek has funding Set-up talk with NYU Colleague Heather
GEMS Funded this year by Dr. Ruth and Burtt Holmes Also funded through donations in memory of Shirlee Morris - Shirlee s friends have been very generous. Events are scheduled for Oct. 3, Nov. 7 125 girls are registered for the October event There will also be two events in the spring Grace Place is looking to partner with STEM they are welcome to bring the girls to GEMS by bus. Give Laura and Zanna Grace Place contact info Jackie STEM UG Research and Internship symposium, Dec. 4, 2015 Last year 129 students presented 87 posters This year s program will start at 2:00 PM with oral presentations poster session will begin at 3:30 PM There will be 6 student talks billy Gunnels will invite a former student who now works for the public health department to talk about his experience with undergraduate research. We would like to restrict registration to individual projects, not class projects (unless it is a research class). Dates Beyond Fall Safety Review meeting for Science Fair Jan. 8, 2016 For the science fair, the College of Education students would make great encouragers not judges. Judges should be STEM majors. Should have encouragers walk around during the grand award judging and talk to the students who are not part of the final judging. WiSTEM (Women in STEM live learn community) group would also make good judges TAERSIF Jan. 23, 2016 Alico Arena GEMS Feb. 27, April 16 SunChase (Solar Go-kart Challenge) April 2, 2016 SunChase is our new trademark for the race
Mini-Grants Fall Deadline 9/28. 20 received. Travel: 1/11 (F/S) Research: 0/6 (F/S) PK-12: 1/1 (F/S) Travel funds are also Undergraduate Student Scholarship Support Award (USSSA), jointly sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Scholarship (OUS) and the ORGS and through Student Government The group agreed that awards would not be given to faculty to present their student s research. This is clear in the instructions. $8,000 is allocated ($4,000 per term) for mini grants. Most applicants ask for the full $500. Review committee will meet after October 9 th. Committee consist of Susan, Derek and Laura Some faculty members have multiple students applying for mini-grants. The group agreed that applications will not be automatically eliminated if they are for different projects The committee is looking for the student to recognize the broader impacts of their research The committee will want to know if the student has other sources of funding, and if they will still attend the conference if they do not receive a Whitaker Center mini-grant A suggested additional question on the application: Are acceptances competitive? For instance, in some fields on 20% are accepted. The group suggested that the Whitaker Center ask for an increase in funding to support additional mini grants, as funding has not increased over time, but applications have increased significantly. Fall Travel Learning Assistant Workshop, Oct. 4-6, UC Boulder Anna Goebel attending Cost for her travel will be split 50/50 between WC and CAS Learning assistants are trained in pedagogy this is more in depth training than a TA would receive Attendees will learn how to deliver information to learning assistants. The NOYCE grant has funding to support training for learning assistants
Learning assistant training is part of the new IUSE (based on SPARCT) grant to be submitted FL Assoc. of Science Teachers (FAST), Oct. 23-24, Tallahassee Laura and Susan Cooper traveling to present on STEM Institute POD - professional organizational development network in higher education - Conference, Nov. 4-6, San Francisco. Linda S. to sit on WIDER panel to present on SPARCT AAC&U, Nov. 12-14, Seattle, WA Laura to present on SPARCT Funding updates NSF-IUSE (Nov. 3) one for SPARCT, one for grad. professional dev. NSF-Noyce Begins May 2016 The funding will be run through the Whitaker Center MSP Charlotte County Whitaker Center to receive $15,000 for Laura s participation Laura will track her time and give funds to CAS to compensate Funds received from this program will go into an auxiliary account Anyone receiving funds from outside projects are welcome to deposit them in this account. We will keep track of what is deposited there are very few restrictions on how the funds can be spent. MSP Collier County FGCU faculty to run 21 hour workshops for teachers. FGCU faculty to be compensated for their time at $4,000 per workshop. The Whitaker Center will receive $1,000 for each faculty member for coordination of the program. Laura will conduct a guided inquiry workshop. New Business Associate Status (handout) The group reviewed the Whitaker Center Membership responsibilities document and discussed the fact that the Whitaker Center is not getting a lot of returns from the faculty associates Update Associates List Laura
The following changes were suggested: Members are required to attend at least one Whitaker Center event per semester (signin sheets will have to be provided) Members are required to submit information for the annual report or be removed from the associates list Website updates Laura is working with David Anderson to update and reformat the website New format will include a calendar (similar to the Lucas Center) Meeting Adjourned