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8/1/2003
Flood causes serious damage to Physics labs. The Physics Department sustained serious loss from the flooding Tuesday in the Bureau of Mines building.
But it could have been much worse. We did not sustain any loss in Cox or Dabney even though we have substantial amounts of equipment in the basement areas. And we're hoping to recover a good part of Hans Hallen's laboratory as we move his operation up to the floor above. We got great support from NC State Facilities Operations in the immediate aftermath. You may know that over 40 buildings sustained damage from the storm, but BOM was considered the most seriously impacted. The NC State online bulletin has some excellent pictures if you were not here to experience the live event. ( www.ncsu.edu/BulletinOnline/07_03/summerstorm.htm )
We especially want to acknowledge all the graduate students, from throughout the department, who have been helping and are continuing to help with the clean up. Thanks- we would not be on the road to recovery without you! And more help is still needed next week. If you can spare an hour or two please come by.
The future for the BOM basement area is quite uncertain, and a number of the moves that we have been talking about in the department will have to be reassessed. At present we do not see relocating any lab facilities back to the BOM basement. In particular, the Hallen labs will stay on the first floor until the move to Riddick. SPS will still be moving to the fifth floor of Cox. Other planned moves involving the graduate student offices in Daniels are on hold.
Need to get rid of stuff in your office? Take advantage of a Fall clean up opportunity. We now have a Dumpster out back of BOM for disposal of standard trash items (no chemicals, and no large pieces of equipment). Please take you trash to the dumpster.
A commercial shredding truck will be outside the BOM loading dock on Wednesday August 6 for sensitive documents; for example, student records with social security numbers, information from past faculty searches. FYI: Old exams are not "sensitive", they can simply be thrown out. Contact Robert Egler (robert_egler@ncsu.edu) if you have sensitive material and tell him where it is so we can get it picked up. Trash, should be taken directly to the dumpster at BOM.
Congratulations to Dale Sayers, recipient of the IXS Outstanding Achievement Award at the Twelfth International XAFS Conference held in Malmo, Sweden. This is the highest award of the International XAFS Society, awarded every 3 years at the International XAFS Conference.
This is the third time the award has been presented. The previous 2 winners were Farrel Lytle in 1998 at XAFS X in Chicago, and Edward Stern in 2000 at XAFS XI in Ako, Japan.
Who does what? Since there have been some changes in long-standing assignments, it may be helpful to list the current contact person for the common support/instructional areas.
General Physics Labs:
Jim Chilton
Astronomy Labs:
Robert Egler
Physics Tutorial center:
Elizabeth Rieg
Demo Room:
Kevin Dudley
PY205 / 208 Coordinator:
Prabha Ramakrishnan
Computer software problems (word, excel, etc):
Kevin Dudley
Computer hardware problems:
Steve Jenkins
Director of Graduate Programs:
Michael Paesler
Director of Undergraduate Programs:
Charles Johnson
Ted Horton served as a judge at the state 4-H presentation contest held on July 22 at Athens Drive High School. Ted helped judged 9-10 and 11-13 year olds in the science and technology category. The 9-10 yr winner gave a presentation on volcanoes, and the 11-13 winner gave a talk on "Chromosomes: The Factors of Life".
New lab building is on schedule. The new Undergraduate Science Teaching Laboratory (USTL) building next to Clark Labs is on schedule. The General Physics Labs, Honors and Majors labs, Physics Tutorial Center, and the PY452 lab are all scheduled to move to the USTL from Withers Hall for the Spring 2004 semester.
ACADEMIC REGULATIONS
Beginning of Semester Reminders:
More details are available on-line at:
www.ncsu.edu/provost/academic_regulations/beg_of_semester.html
COURSE SYLLABUS. Teachers are to provide students with a course syllabus (electronically or hardcopy) on the first day of class, which will help prevent misunderstandings and allow both instructor and student the opportunity for advance planning.
LISTING OF REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS WITH THE BOOKSTORES. All textbooks and related course materials that students are required to purchase for courses taught at NC State shall be listed with the NC State Bookstores by faculty members responsible for courses.
TEACHER OFFICE HOURS. All teachers should schedule time during each week when they are available to meet with students.
ATTENDANCE REGULATIONS. Teachers in 100- and 200-level courses must prescribe to the university's attendance regulation. Please be reminded that the attendance regulations provide the expectation that students be granted reasonable excused absences and attendant opportunities to make up missed work. In doing so, we should be sensitive to the variety of legitimate conflicts for which allowing excused absences are respectful of students' situations. These types of situations are described in item 1 of the attendance regulation.
CLASS ROLLS. Faculty are reminded to check class rolls to make sure all students are properly registered. (Up-to-date rolls are available on line at: www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/reg_records/adm_frnt.html )
GRADING SCALE. All courses and all students in courses are subject to the use of the +/- grading scale. Teachers are responsible to determine the performance recognizable by each grade.
EARLY EVALUATIVE FEEDBACK TO STUDENTS. Consistent with the 6 week course drop policy, teachers are urged to provide evaluative feedback to students before the end of the drop period.
NO MAJOR TESTS IN FINAL WEEK OF CLASSES. Regular tests and quizzes should not be held during this week, nor should assignments be added which must be done during this week. Term assignments identified at the beginning of the semester to be turned in during this week and scheduled lab tests are appropriate. The principle is for students to be able to plan time for final examination preparation during this week and to have time to complete scheduled assignments such as semester term projects and lab examinations during this week. Exceptions must be approved in advance by the department head and the dean of the college in which the course is taught.
ADDING AND DROPPING COURSES. Courses may be added during the first week of a semester and during the second week with permission of the instructor. All courses may be dropped without regard to course load during the first two weeks of a semester. After the first two weeks, students wishing to drop below 12 hours may do so only by complying with the regulation's 'Exceptions.'
(Students wishing to add a Physics course should see Robert Egler, in person, in the Physics main office.)
Important Dates to Remember:
First day of Class, Fall 2003:
Wednesday, August 20
Last day to add without Instructor's permission:
Tuesday, August 26
Holiday (no class):
Monday, September 1 
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