CPATH Meeting Minutes

Date: October 22, 2007                                   Time: 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Location: Michigan State University,East Lansing MI

Next meeting: November 7, 2007                     Time: 3:30 - 5:30 PM

Participants listed by group:

• Michigan State University (MSU): Daina Briedis, Neeraj Buch, Jon Sticklen, Mark Urban-Lurain

• Lansing Community College (LCC): Louise Paquette

• Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW): Cindee Dresen, Lisa Katz, Jeannine La Prad

General Agenda: (attachment 1)

1. Review minutes of September 8 meeting
   Revisions were suggested.  Mark will circulate revised minutes.
2. Demo Confluence
   Mark and Jon evaluated wikis.  There are several criteria:
   1.  WYSIWYG editing (many don't support that)
   2.  Need to be able to host the software locally.  Some (e.g., PBWIKI) are only hosted services.  MSU prefers not to have MSU intellectual property on hosted servers
   3.  Ability to restrict access/editing so that some pages are public, others are not.
   A demonstration site for the Confluence Wiki has been setup in DSME.  Mark created a workspace for CPACE and demonstrated some of the functionality.  Discussion of editing capabilities and other functionality.  Agreement that we should pursue Confluence and use this is our web site.
3. Adobe Connect
   Demonstration and discussion of Adobe Connect video conferencing software.  EGR has a server.  Need to support dial in as there may be instances when people are on the road and only have telephone access.  CSW uses conference phone calls and Webex.  CSW has a telephone conferencing service.  Agreed to use Confluence for the November 7 meeting for those who cannot attend in person.
4. Steering Committee Discussion
   Reviewed Lisa's excel worksheet on possible members on the Advisory Board  Do we need to have/think about a (relational) database to  keep data about the advisory board. Probably not now, but in the  future we might need it as the volume of notes and annotations grow
   Daina raised the issue of what competencies should be sought for candidates of the Ad Com... The consensus view was that candidates should not be forced to have one degree or similar. But they should not be separate from the engineering activities of their companies. Additionally having some members that are directly engaged in engineering activity in the interviewees - if not the Ad Board members.
   More discussion on this subject will be an agenda item for the next meeting
   How to get members of the departmental visiting boards in the college to participate? Neeraj volunteered to speak to this at the CEE visiting board meeting that will be this coming Thursday. 

To cover the Departments the following assignments were made:

• Daina for CHEMS and Bio Systems

• Neeraj for CEE and ME

• Jon for CS and EE

Although Neeraj is going to take this to the CEE visiting board, the view was to wait on the others until we figured out to limit the scope of the project (ie, maybe limit to only a few eng disciplines)
Further discussion of narrowing the scope (discipline,  geography, ... ) based on what's currently happening and projected to happen in the labor market should take place at the next meeting.
There were no other firm assignments made.