===== 2024-25 UGA Faculty Learning Community =====
Our proposal was selected and awarded \$600 which was was originally advertised as \$750.
==== Create a contact list ====
A contact list for the FLC, "FLC (Immersive Tech)" was created in MS Peoples. A new member (Amanda Ferster; Educational Psychology) was added in late September.
{{:proposals:flc_list.png?nolink&800|}}
==== First Meeting on Sep 25, 12 PM (Physics CSP Room) ====
A list of members: Sun Joo Ahn, Sergio Bernardes, Sara Blakenship, Christopher Cleveland, Lucinda Dixon, Jessica Fernandex, Julie Grainy, Allison Howard, Kyle Johnson, Bruno Da Silva, Ania Majewska, Somang Moon, Allan Tate, Nandanda Weliweriya, Inseok Song (Total 15).
Conflicting schedule: Allison Howard (teaching), Julie Grainy (teaching), Sara Blakenship (teaching), Nandana Weliweriya (teaching), Chris Cleveland (teaching), Alan Tate (Conference)
Plan to attend: Inseok Song, Kyle Johnson, Sun joo Ahn, Jessica Fernandez,
Lunch order from Panera Bread for N=7.
=== Meeting agenda ===
* Greeting and Introduction
* What do we want to do/achieve via FLC?
* Share news, ideas, & tips and explore potential collaboration projects
* Contact "Meta for Education" (solicit for potential contribution from a local Meta Data Center [Stanton Springs Data Center])
* Any potential multi-disciplinary project/grant?
* Any tangible outcomes from ELC: How about a dedicated webpage to collect/share relevant information using the FLC money?
* Selecting future meeting time & location (how about a meeting hosted by each lab?)
* Anything else?
* Meeting started at 12PM, 09/25/2024 in Physics CSP seminar room
* Attendees: Inseok Song (Astronomy), Nandana Weliweriya (Physics Education), Jessica Fernandez (Environmental Psychology), Somang Moon (Communication Science and Special Education), Ania Majewska (Veterinary Medicine), Sun joo Ahn (Journalism)
* A round of introduction (name, department, experience/project with immersive technologies)
* Achievable Goals of our FLC
* Sharing news & ideas and exploring potential collaboration among members
* Contact Meta for contribution (fund and/or headsets)
* Collect needs from each member/lab for a dedicated programmer for 3-D content development
* If there is sufficient need, we can present the collected needs to OVPR (or relevant college deans) for the initial funding
* [Justification]: developing 3-D models via temporary workers (undergrads, grads, or external temporary programmers) is not sustainable (lack of continuity, frequent and quick turnovers, steep learning curves for meaningful contribution, etc.). We need an in-house, experienced programmer.
* [Funding model]: The position can be supported from a combination of hard money (from the University or Colleges) and soft moneys. Each member includes a dedicated budget item in a grant proposal for such a programmer.
* [Action Item]: Send a quick inquiry to all FLC members to collect information for the need (# of months per year).
* There is a possible internal funding opportunity from University Libraries (mentioned by Jessica). Jessica Fernandez will find out more about it, and share the info.
* There is a pre-SEED grant opportunity upcoming, and we apply for it to promote more practical meetings beyond the scope possible from FLC
* Create a shared cloud folder to collect relevant FLC documents such as meeting announcement, minutes, ideas, action plans, etc. => [IS] will create the shared folder.
* We will use a different meeting time (e.g., Tue 12:30 PM) for our next meeting (Oct 3?) to provide a chance to other members who could not attend the meeting because of teaching.
* We will try one of the future meetings as a Zoom meeting in late Friday (e.g., 4PM) to encourage the maximum a
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==== 2nd Meeting ====
* Meeting 2: 10/22/2024 at 11 am over zoom.
* Attendees: Inseok Song, Kyle Johnsen, Somang Moon, Nandana Weliweriya
Discussion:
* Application of virtual reality and immersive technology in other Stem disciplines beyond physics, astronomy and Engineering - example is nanome in Chemistry https://nanome.ai/
* Agreed on sending out a short survey to gather information on each of our FLC members about background, expertise and expectations before the next meeting.
* From the survey results update CTL's FLC website or any other website, maintain these information as a live document to attract more faculty members to the community
* Agreed on hosting future meetings in research labs so each member can showcase their projects, inspire future collaborations and make each meeting welcoming for more participants. Our next meeting (in about 3 weeks) will be hosted by Kyle Johnson.
* Somang discussed her interests in finding a solution using immersive technology to help her patients with hearing needs.
Link to [[https://outlookuga-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/song_uga_edu/EhS7IFB-SxFOvXDCpVfWn7UBBBXTN4mxo2rgy06P5nVJ4A?e=vKcqLY|the Shared OneDrive folder]] for our FLC.
A link to [[proposals/2024flc/admin|the FLC/Admin info]].