MS&T Geology & Geophysics Advisory Board Meeting
Oct. 16, 2014
12:00 pm, McNutt 124
Attending:
in-person - Trish Gregg, Franca Oboh-Ikuenobe, Edie Starbuck, John
Held, Ralph Flori, Victoria Freese, Dave Wronkiewizc, Keith Wedge,
John Hogan
via telecon - Ann Hagni, Suzan Wiemers
Scribes: Edie Starbuck & Trish Gregg
 Program Update (Franca Oboh-Ikuenobe)
o Enrollement holding steady 162 students, 100 undergrad, 62 grad (as of
the 4th week fall semester enrollment)
o The first recruiting visit from Devon Energy this September with the target
of hiring G&G students. They attended the career fair and interviewed
G&G students for internships. John Hogan hosted them for dinner, which
really impressed the recruiters.
o The seismic observatory is near completion. The equipment will be
installed once there are adequately dry conditions. A first monitor is
mounted on the wall near the McNutt Commons and a smaller monitor is
hooked up until a second monitor can be mounted. The first monitor
shows the IRIS seismic activity is up and running on the monitor showing
real-time global seismicity. The second monitor will show local observatory.
Steve Gao said that an additional $10k to do the final install.
o Smart microscope lab. John Hogan has been working very hard to put
together a proposal for industry support from companies such as Conoco
Philips and Chevron for ~$500k. The department has met the $50k match
from the university ** $20k came from generous alumni donors ** an
additional $30k is coming from other departmental gift accounts. The
projected budget will include $50k from the university, $50k from the
department, and an additional $500k from corporate sponsorship. The
goal is for the lab to have 16-17 new smart microscopes as well as the
software and hardware to display them digitally on wall-mounted smart
boards/monitors.
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 Golf Tournament Fundraiser Results (Amy Reeves)
$1400 between participation and sponsorship – after expenses that brought
the total to $1145 to the S. K. Grant Fund.
 2015 Alumni Field Trip (Suzan Wiemers)
We now have 25 committed participants for the Alumni field trip. $1500 per
person, $1900 per person for single occupancy. There will be no further
solicitations at this point since the field trip is full, and all of the rooms have
been booked. There will be a little bit of funds raised from this, but the primary
goal is alumni engagement and starting to reconnect with alumni.
 Corporate Gift Opportunities (David Bardsley)
David could not be on the call, but sent information:
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David has created a list of 20 potential environmental and geotechnical
industry contacts for soliciting corporate donations.
Bill is developing the petroleum industry contact list.
Neither David nor Bill have contacted anyone to solicit gifts. Their
respective lists will first be reviewed with the Development Office.
The Program has identified 5 areas needy of corporate gifts:
(1) Microscope smart lab
(2) Seismic observatory
(3) Endowed Chair
(4) Field camp endowment
(5) Visiting speakers program
 Visiting Alumni Program (David Bardsley)
A draft proposal of an Alumni day is in progress. The idea is to schedule a
day for alumni to come back to Rolla, present to and meet with students. This
could coincide with the career fair or homecoming. We will wait for a further
update from David.
 Board Membership Strategy (Trish Gregg)
Keith is working with the academy to get more mid-career members,
graduating in the ‘80s and ‘90s, involved. He has offered to help in the effort
to bolster membership. The goal is to bring in 100-150 new members to
energize the board. John Held said he would provide an updated alumni list.
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Discussion about inactive members… Perhaps there can be a new
category for members who are ready to transition off of the board, such as
“Former members / honorary member”
Ann Hagni – if a member hadn’t responded or been involved, that was
considered inactive. Potentially sending an email: “thank you for contribution
to the G&G advisory board, if you would like to be on the board in the future
please let us know” Look over the past 2 years and send a letter to that extent.
Be aggressive about introducing new people to the board. (1) bring in new
people; (2) Allow people to gracefully bow out.
John Held – we don’t want to alienate or damage the relationship. If they can
be done in person with a phone call or handshake it may be received better.
However, if they are not responsive, it is very difficult to have that personal
interaction or communication.
Edie – some people would need/appreciate a phone call
Conclusion: Rather than making any changes at this point, the focus will be
on bolstering the numbers of board members. Once the new board is in place,
a new set of bylaws should be written and adopted. At that point the new
board can determine how best to define board membership and activity.
Franca – Can the banquet and the advisory board meeting coincide? Does
the banquet have to be with homecoming? Could we do it the weekend
before the career fair? Meeting on a Friday or Saturday afternoon and the
banquet on the evening. This is important to plan as we want to let new board
members know when the Fall meeting will be held.
John Held – If we want to coincide with the career fair, we should coordinate
with the career services department.
Ralph – take the meeting on the road? One option would be to have one
meeting per year in Houston or at AAPG, etc.
** The discussion of when and where is best to hold board meetings will
continue via email. **
Suzan – Trish and Keith should make a script for David and Bill to use when
contacting alumni so that they can have multiple items for a single
correspondence.
 Faculty Hires - Update on strategy to influence the
Chancellor's office (Keith Wedge)
Keith will be meeting with the new Dean this evening at the banquet.
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Ralph - A strong case can be made that G&G needs at least 2 more faculty
members. The dean is still trying to get his head around the entire school.
The hope is that the data will illustrate the needs of the G&G department.
When compared to peer institutions there are not enough faculty members.
Dave Wronkiewizc – will work with John Held using the “Best in Class”
proposal, which went through the campus committee, made it to the final 4
twice for a faculty member and was not selected either time. The proposal
can be presented to an industry partner. Rio Tinto and Freeport McMoRan
were mentioned as potential partners. This proposal would be in addition to
the faculty needs mentioned by Ralph.
Ralph - The interest is in creating endowed positions. The first target is a
position “Strategic minerals in our world”. The idea being that many
technology industries use rare earth minerals and they have to be mined.
Renewable resources depend on geology to find these rare minerals.
John Hogan - Much in the way that we have a strategic reserve in petroleum,
we need a strategic reserve of minerals - rather than depending on these
resources from other countries.
The big picture (1) create at least one endowed position in strategic minerals
through alumni and corporate sponsorship; (2) Economic geology; and (3)
petroleum geology.
Ralph – the dean wants to get a handle on resource needs. It comes down to
“does the data support [more faculty lines]?” Fewest faculty of any PhDgranting earth sciences department in the US.
Need to identify influential alumni that can help with the important cause of
getting more faculty lines for G&G.
 Officer elections:
Motion: Keith Wedge as Chair for at least a year starting at the next meeting.
Bill Tedesco as Vice Chair starting at the next meeting for at least a year
dependent on his acceptance. Suzan Wiemers to continue as Chair until the
next meeting. Trish Gregg to continue as Vice Chair until the next meeting.
Motion passed.
Keith Wedge is now Chair elect
Bill Tedesco is now Vice Chair elect (assuming he agrees)
Suzan Wiemers continues as Chair until the March/April advisory board
meeting.
Trish Gregg continues as Vice Chair until the March/April advisory board
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meeting.
Motion to adjourn. Adjourned at 1:20pm CST.
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