Staff Student Liaison Committee - Meeting Notes

Notes from Department of Civil Engineering Student Staff Liaison Committee Meeting Tuesday 14 August 2001 1 pm

Present

Students
Andrew Reeves BE/BCom 3rd Year
Drew Woodhouse BE/BCom 3rd Year
Reza Vakili BE 3rd Year
Jerome Johnson BE 1st Year not present
Greg Morris BE 4th Year
Mahala McLindin BE 1st Year not present
David Lacey BE 2nd Year not present
Dan Taylor BE 2nd Year not present

Staff
Rob Wheen 1st advisor & Rob Wheen (HOD)
Noel Ings 2nd Year Advisor
David Airey 3rd Year Advisor
Kim Rasmussen 4th Year Advisor
George Slack Civil Engineering Foundation Officer
Tim Wilkinson Civil Engineering Webmaster

1. Welcome: The Head of Department, Rob Wheen, welcomed all members, particularly new student members of the SSLC. Years had held "official" elections since the last meeting, so some members had changed. It appears there may have been a breakdown in communication resulting in the new 1st & 2nd year members not being informed about this meeting.

2. Matters arising from last meeting
Common Room - Rob Wheen announced that Room 338 was to be made available as the student common room. Students were to take responsibility for the room, and also be mindful of staff members who occupy nearby rooms.

Courses with Online Content: Rob Wheen noted that 5 courses had some online content and/or resources this semester and was encouraging staff to do so.

First year camp: There was considerable discussion on a first year camp that would be suitable as both a social and educational experience for new students.

Rob Wheen suggested some activities that could be incorporated into CIVL1001 Civil Engineering 1, including a trip to the bush (eg bushland retreat owned by Scots College, which might include engineering trivia competition, design competition (paddle pop bridge)) on a weekend early in semester.

Drew Woodhouse suggested a practical project that could be incorporated into a social activity run by the new formed Civil social society, SUCE. He suggested a construction project of a steel tower, which would involve students building a several metre tall tower from prefabricated sections. There was considerable discussion on how this could operate, involving the cooperation of staff, SUCE and students themselves.
It was decided that a small group could be formed involving staff and students to discuss the matter further.

3. Year Book
Rob Wheen showed a variety of year books that had been produced in the 1980s and early 1990s, and suggested that this could be a possible job for the newly formed SUCE.

4. Paddle Pop Bridge Competition - The open competition will be held soon - details are posted on noticeboards.

5. Resume Book - George Slack spoke of the low number of submissions by 3rd & 4th year students in the annual Red Resume Book. There was some discussion on why the interest was low, and it seemed that not all students read noticeboards, and that many students see job hunting as a private personal matter, and would prefer to look for jobs without the Department's assistance. The future of the Resume Book was considered.

6. SUCE - Andrew Woodhouse spoke briefly about the new Sydney University Civil Engineers (SUCE) social society. It was in the final stages of being officially recognised by the University of Union and hence eligible for funding. SUCE would be the caretakers of the common room 338. suce_is@hotmail.com

7. Hawkins Lab - Greg Morris mentioned that the poor state of the Hawkins Lab was the biggest complaint of students. Kim Rasmussen spoke briefly on the history of the problem, with the resignation of the last Computer Systems Operator. The department had just appointed a new staff member, and was in the process of ordering 18 new PCs for the Hawkins lab, which should be operational sometime in September. There may be a "staggered" introduction of the PCs.

8. Thesis Plans - Greg Morris that some 4th years had not received their thesis plans back from their supervisors.

9. Assumed Knowledge and Workload - Stuart Reid had asked the SSLC to consider the following points. Students must be aware of the difficulties they will face if they attempt subjects in which they have not successfully completed the "assumed knowledge" (the department no longer has prerequisites). In addition, students must be prepared to spend as much time out of class as they do in class on assignments.

There was some discussion on the matter, with Tim Wilkinson stating that staff have the responsibility to emphasise these facts to students and even provide statistics on performance. There was general agreement from the student members on these points.

10. Next meeting - Rob Wheen suggests near end of semester 2