Not Much Budge in this Year's Budget

There has been one overwhelming theme to the early part of this fall semester. The budget. I have heard rumors spanning the spectrum from "we're closing down the college" to "major upcoming budget cuts" to "is there a budget problem?"

There will be a major tightening of the budget this year, but it is not restricted to the College of Technology and Computer Science, or even East Carolina University. This will affect every single university in the UNC School System.

So let me put one thing to rest, I can absolutely tell you the College is not closing down. I can also tell you that this is not something that has been sprung upon us. Dr. Reis and I have been in constant communication with each our department chairs in the College and have developed several contingency plans for any one of several possible budget reduction scenarios.

It is expected that the bulk of cuts will come from lapsed salary dollars and one-time monies. However, it may be a couple more months before we actually know what cuts are coming from General Administration, but I feel with great certainty that we have a solid plan in place.

That being said, I believe there are ways for each us to make minor adjustments to save money. For instance, limit the amount of printed material to what it is necessary, this will reduce our cost of paper. There are several other options to pursue and I would suggest discussing this at with your chairs and colleagues.

Over the next couple of months, I will make every effort to keep the budget process as transparent as possible to ensure all who wish to stay informed have that opportunity. I am as always available to anyone who wishes to discuss this further.

Making Headlines

Pitt-Greenville Chamber of Commerce Website

Greenville Inside and Out - City of Greenville

With the support of local businesses, citizens and ECU alumni, 16 "life-sized" Pirate statues decorate the streets and businesses across Pitt County as part of the Painted Pirate Project.

The pirates, who were unveiled in April 2008, will stay at their respective locations for approximately one year.

The East Carolina Alumni Association and the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the ECU Office of Centennial Events, kicked off the project during the 2007 Inaugural PirateFest.

The Painted Pirate Project Committee would like to extend a special thanks to the following businesses for assisting with the Painted Pirate Project.

On August 21-25, Erich Connell (Construction Management) hosted Dr. Anton Van Bakel and Professor Alfred Meyers of the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen (HAN University) to further develop the relationship with the College of TECS and the Department of CMGT to create and deliver a "Global Sustainability DE Class" between the two institutions.

The three held a workshop on DE practices and Connell will be presenting a paper a the "E-Learning 2.0; A Second Life for e-learning," an international conference sponsored by the European Federation of Open and Digital Learning in Charleroi, Belgium later this year.

This visit culminated with an increased interest on the part of the faculty from around the college, and including students.

August 18, 2008
Daily Reflector

ECU Technology Systems Assistant Professor Wins National Award as Chapter Advisor of the Year

David Batts, an assistant professor from the department of technology systems, was named Outstanding Chapter Advisor of the Year by the Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity.

Batts, who serves as an advisor for ECU's Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity, was honored Aug. 10 for his dedication and extra efforts to cultivate student leaders. Batts has received other advising awards from the Professional Fraternity Association and ECU.

"I am truly honored to be recognized for efforts to help build student leaders at ECU," Batts said.

"Service and service to our students is a major component here at East Carolina and I believe that being student-centered is what every person in higher education should strive to achieve."

August 18, 2008
Daily Reflector

New Construction Book Co-Authored by ECU Construction Management Members Released

Members of ECU's construction management department have co-authored a book, "Quality & Construction: How to Develop a Quality Management System for Your Constructio n Firm."
Danny Morton, an instructor of construction management, and Katy Griffin, lab supervisor for the construction management lab, wrote the step-by-step book that outlines effective project management, administration and effectiveness in construction management.

Jack Patterson of Western Carolina University is a co-author.

The book (BNi Building News, 2008) focuses on construction companies but can be adapted by any company seeking to define and control its processes.

Used in ECU's construction management classes, the book will help students understand the importance of a quality management system in the construction industry.

Faculty News

Gene Dixon (Engineering)

He will be presenting to the Greenville Rotary Club on September 22, 2008. Dixon will be promoting the Department of Engineering as well as discussing new opportunities for the program.

Dixon presented at the annual Eastern Carolina Conference on Volunteerism August 19, 2008 at the Pitt County Recreation Complex in Greenville, North Carolina. This conference brought together state and regional experts in volunteer management and provides excellent learning and networking opportunities.

He also attended the Institute of Industrial Engineers annual conference held in Vancouver, British Columbia. He presented a research paper and was one of a select number to be asked to speak to the attendees. Dixon spoke about the need for improved public speaking, particularly in the field of research.

Sam Khoury (Technology Systems)
Congratulations on your $5,000 scholarship Award from the Capella University's Armed Forces and Veterans Support Group.

Khoury also had his peer-reviewed paper titled "Telecommuting's Effects on the Employee, the Work Group, and the Organization" accepted for presentation and publication in the Proceedings of the 2008 Mountain Plains Management Conference in Pocatello, Idaho in October 2008.

Additionally, he attended a week long training course in SAP implementation and management at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and a week long course in RFID technology at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio this summer. These new technology have been incorporated into the IDIS program.

Erol Ozan (Technology Systems)
He has obtained a DoD grant in the amount of $58,714.11 with a possible option of $54,041.77. The grant is titled "Partnership in Information Assurance and Capacity Building Program." The grants will support the following items and project activities:

• Scholarship for one undergraduate student
• ECU's partnership with Information Resource Management College
• Faculty and Student travel to support ECU's Information Assurance Scholarship Program.
• ECU's activities in the area DoD Information Assurance Scholarship Program

Nasseh Tabrizi (Computer Science)
He will serve as our College of TECS representative on the Study Abroad Committee for 2008-09. He will be in constant communications with Dr. James Gehlhar, our new Associate Vice Chancellor for International Affairs.

Stephanie Sullivan (Engineering)
She has co-authored a book chapter in Whey Processing, Functionality and Health Benefits published by Wiley-Blackwell in July 2008.

Jason Yao and Loren Limberis (Engineering)
Yao presented their paper "A Project-Driven Approach to Teaching Controls in a General Engineering Program" at the Division for Experimentation and Laboratory Oriented Studies (DELOS) of the 2008 Annual American Society of Engineering Education held in Pittsburg, PA. This paper was nominated for the best paper award.

Michael Behm (Technology Systems)
Behm has his paper entitled "Toward a Theory of the Linkages between Safety and Quality" was published in the Journal of Operations Management.

TECS STUDENT / ALUMNI NEWS

Engineering and Computer Science Students Working Together for Service Award

Engineering students Michael Cannon & David Braswell, Computer Science student Matthew Blackmon and Education student Johnathan Dennis earned the East Carolina University Excellence in Service Group Award for their project efforts in fall 2007. Their project served the Ronald McDonald House and was part of Instructor Stephanie Sullivan's ICEE 3300 Engineering Project Management course.

Construction Management Student Success
Don Stanley (pictured right on construction site) was one of two recipients of the National Internship for the NAHB (National Association of Home Builders). The other student was from Cal Poly. This was a national internship in Washington DC. The photo is of Don on the job in the DC area working for Pulte Homes, one of the nation's finest and largest production home builders. The Department of Construction Management is currently inquiring with Bill Pulte (Founder of Pulte Homes) for future involvement with the CMGT program.

Technology Systems Alum - Bryan Derr Bryan is a fall 2002 graduate of the TSYS program and a spring 2005 graduate of the MSIT. He is presently a program manager for Command Decision Systems and Solutions. Most recently, Bryan became ECU's second NAIT Outstanding Early Achievement Award recipient in three years. April Lutheran, a 2003 BS in Design grad, was acknowledged in 2006.

Photo Gallery

Announcements and Upcoming Events

Here are some of the events for the College of Technology and Computer Science in the next couple of months.

• October 9           ECU Career Fair
• October 11-14     Fall Break
• October 16          TECS Student Appreciation Pizza Party

If you would like to submit a calendar event or need more information, please contact Chris Stansbury at (252) 328-9611 or via email at stansburyc@ecu.edu

For Giggles

How to Determine if Technology Has Taken Over Your Life

1. Your stationery is more cluttered than Warren Beatty's address book. The letterhead lists a fax number, three e-mail addresses, and your Web site URL. In essence, you have conceded that the first page of any letter you write *is* letterhead.
2. You can no longer sit through an entire movie without having at least one device on your body beep or buzz.
3. You think of the gadgets in your office as "friends," but you forget to send your father a birthday card.
4. You disdain people who use low Baud rates.
5. You constantly find yourself in groups of people to whom you say the phrase "digital compression." Everyone understands what you mean, and you are not surprised or disappointed that you don't have to explain it.
6. You know Bill Gates' e-mail address, but you have to look up your own social security number.
7. You stop saying "phone number" and replace it with "voice number," since we all know the majority of phone lines in any house are plugged into contraptions that talk to other contraptions.
8. You sign Christmas cards by putting :-) next to your signature.
9. You back up your data every day, and keep more than one copy.
10. On vacation, you are reading a computer manual and turning the pages faster than everyone else who is reading John Grisham novels.