Meeting Notes

Outcomes from the Meeting

Career Exposure Seminars or "Physics in Action"
Identifying Internship Opportunities
Building Consensus to Enable and Empower Strategic Planning
'Marketing' Applied Physics Program
Fundraising Challenge and Brainstorming
Community Outreach
Graduate Student Recruitment
Research Seminar

Career Exposure Seminars or "Physics in Action"

An important departmental goal is to help undergraduates (and new grad students) make an informed decision whether to pursue a career in industry or one in academia. One way to aid in this process is for the Board to support a series of "Career Exposure" seminars. The premise is as follows: Board members who apply their physics education outside of academia, or associates that can be enlisted, would present a seminar describing the technology they work on, some basics of their particular business and an overview of 'a day in the life' of their job. A reasonable goal is to arrange for at least three such seminars per academic year.

Discussion/Action Items:

• Some institutions, such as the University of Illinois, send out a book of resumes to CEO's (1st section - brief history of the Department and 2nd section - resumes). Bryant Hichwa has a copy and was impressed to receive it. Maybe focus in on companies in the state of Iowa due to the Governor's initiatives to keep young people in the state of Iowa.
• On resumes -- make sure students use key words that jump out. Has a student demonstrated leadership and organizational skills? Experience is very important (either UG research project or industrial internship). Downplay list of courses.
• Employers are looking for well-rounded students. Are they creative? Adaptable? Resourceful? Do they have leadership skills? Do they have the ability to think outside the box? Can they grow into a different position?
• Develop corporate lecture series -- industry leaders lecture in the classroom. Jane Schildroth may be able to help with this.
• Link seminars to classes -- emphasize life long learning and real world connections.
• Tom -- get faculty to buy into idea of having guest speaker in classes.
• Board members will send a brief abstract and times that work best for them.
• Ideal schedule -- have guest give colloquium and visit two classes.

Topics:

• Hichwa -- Telecommunications and Nanotechnology
• Bahns -- Optical Recording
• Gorrell & Martin-Hiner -- Science Education
• Tribble -- Space Physics in Industry and Computer Research
• Strayer -- Magnetic Recording
• Others -- brainstorm names of other individuals who can present

Identifying Internship Opportunities

In earlier Board meetings the need for increasing internship opportunities for Physics/Astronomy students has been stressed and agreed upon. Internships provide students with: 1) The exposure they need to make the "business vs. academia" decision; 2) Valuable experience that will give those choosing to enter industry a significantly improved chance of landing the job they want; 3) A great learning opportunity in general.

Discussion/Action Items:

• Identify faculty in the Department who can support internships.
• Companies look for internship experience within industry -- students are more marketable if they get this type of experience.
• Internships demonstrate that a person can go into a different area and demonstrate success.
• First year student advisor should emphasize importance of UG research internships during advising sessions.
• Explore corporate internships -- when a company sends a person to Iowa to learn a skill or specific research area or a faculty member goes into industry for a "corporate" experience.
• Use UG research as a recruitment tool (develop a flyer with stats and examples of research projects).
• Link companies with hometowns of physics students (encourage students to participate during the summer).
• Board members will forward a brief description of internship opportunities at your company.

Building Consensus to Enable and Empower Strategic Planning

You'll learn in reading the Departmental Review that there are strong recommendations for combining and focusing research missions within the Department. A challenge to managing this significant change is getting the faculty to develop and adopt a decision making process that enables strategic planning and empowers strategic decision making. This is a huge challenge for an organization that is not hierarchical or as flexible in change as business environments. What recommendations do Board members have for building consensus?

Expected Outcome of Board Discussion: Provide DEO Tom Boggess with ideas and/or recommended methods for gaining 'buy in' from the faculty to work strategically.

Discussion/Action Items:

• Identify team building activities that will work with faculty.
• Strategy with faculty -- Change mindset "What is the best thing for the Department?"
• Have a faculty meeting off campus and bring in an outside facilitator. As a starting point, have an Executive Committee retreat off campus.
• Work with the Executive Committee to help build consensus. Identify informal leaders and get them to buy into your ideas. Identify those who want to sabotage your plan.

'Marketing' Applied Physics Program

The Applied Physics program provides wonderful flexibility for students who want to combine education in areas outside of physics with the solid science foundation that a degree in physics provides. A few students are now taking advantage of this curriculum option, but it is recognized that 'marketing' of the A.P. program can be significantly improved. What is it students need to know in order to see the benefits of the A.P. program and make an educated decision whether to participate?

Expected Outcome of Board Discussion: Provide ideas that help the Department effectively communicate the pros/cons of the Applied Physics program. Perhaps there are ways to aid the students in recognizing the value of the A.P. by explaining the career options it makes available? To help prepare us for discussion, a brief presentation on a proposed Medical Physics curriculum will be made.

Discussion/Action:

• Physicists have broad-based experiences.
• Engineers are very specific.
• The best curriculum for a student considering physics education is the applied physics program. A student will be able to teach more courses at the HS level with this applied nature of the program.
• Market customized Applied Physics track (in nanotechnology or materials science).
• Market analysis -- why aren't students interested in this program? Are we competing with the College of Engineering?
• Market to Service Courses -- Build in time during service courses to have guest speaker from industry. The courses that are required for engineering students and the more generalist in nature. Teach students what you can do with a physics degree.
• Attend State of Iowa Counselors Meeting and Iowa Science Teachers Meeting. Presentation about physics and what a student can do with this type of degree.

Fundraising Challenge and Brainstorming

Cheryl will provide a summary of private financial giving for the Department (total amount, average size of gift, number of contributors vs. total alumni of the Department). We'll see that there are many loyal contributors, but that the overall dollar figure is relatively modest. These dollars are very valuable to the Department because they provide funds for specific Department defined initiatives above and beyond the tight budget provided by the University.

Expected Outcome of Board Discussion: The goal of the discussion is to brainstorm how to increase the level of giving. One thought is to have Board members write letters of support that can be included in mailings. Perhaps there are potential corporate contributors that we can identify.

Discussion/Action Items:

• Determine companies and start to develop relationships.
• Identify natural link between research divisions in companies and start to make contacts. Pursue exchange agreements -- research money for research and development.
• Ask yourself: If the Department was to go away, would there be any companies who would care?
  1. Identify which companies would care.
  2. Why they would care?
  3. Identify contacts.
  4. Start to develop relationships.
  5. Work with Michael Kingan at UI Foundation.
     
     
• Analyze who has given money in the past (is there a history of repetitive giving?).
• Define two to three tangible goals (intermediate and advanced lab equipment, start-up, van for traveling road show, etc.).
• How can the Board help (raise funds)?

Community Outreach

The Department has been very active in providing roadshow science presentations to schools state-wide, and has also received very favorable recognition for hosting a weekend series of on-campus "Family Adventures in Science" presentations. Dale Stille, who is instrumental in all outreach activities, will provide an overview of activities.

Expected outcome of Board discussion: Make additional recommendations to enhance the availability or variety of the outreach programs.

Discussion/Action:

• Develop a monthly physics seminar targeted at advanced placement high school students.
• Develop a summer conference targeted at HS teachers with an option for University credit (science teachers need instructional equipment -- build in a take home kit into conference price).
• Conduct a daylong seminar on physics education and instructional tools at Iowa Science Teacher meeting.
• Formalize relationships with U of Iowa Department of Science Education.
• Develop a traveling science education road show. Possibly collaborate with Chemistry and Biology to help reduce costs.
• Develop summer courses for HS science teachers that would count toward continuing education credit.
• Identify funding sources (grants or foundations) who can help support conference or traveling road show.
• Some companies (Rockwell Collins) have programs that send HS teachers to national conferences. Develop a competitive program and market to local companies. If we created something locally, companies may be able to sponsor more teachers by sending them to a local conference (more bang for the buck).
• Involve Dale in Quarknet activities

Graduate Student Recruitment

Discussion/Action Items:

• Develop Graduate Student Recruitment Committee.
• Identify candidates. Develop relationships with DEO from other midwest physics departments (focus on 4 year liberal arts schools).
• Develop relationships with alumni who are faculty at other institutions with the hopes of increasing graduate student enrollment.
• Invite DEO and former alumni to give a colloquium.
• Develop relationships with institutions that have similar research interests.
• Identify juniors in high school who are interested in physics. Develop summer internship program for these students that would occur between their junior and senior year
• Develop a survey targeted at first year students -- Why did you pick The University of Iowa?
• Check retention -- how many students are we losing between freshman and sophomore year?
• "Fit" is important to students -- compatibility with potential advisor.
• Develop a recruitment weekend "Iowa Experience."
• Add sentence into offer letters about visiting campus.
• Think "outside the box."

Research Seminar

• Students are more concerned about immediate problems -- I have a paper due on Friday.
• Seminar should be a required one credit course. Students are not looking at the big picture -- Need students to "explore the possibilities."
• Grades are more important now than research seminar -- should we have the seminar during the 2nd semester?

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