Meeting Summary

EDUCATION

• Need initiatives to prepare teachers in K-12; there are very few science teachers in the state with science degrees. This is a problem that affects us in terms of recruiting qualified students to the Department.
• Develop video classes - use ICN (Iowa Cable Network) - could be very useful for schools that do not have science teachers with science degrees. We could do this with astronomy, where there are even fewer qualified teachers.
• Initiate projects to bring high school teachers to campus; get them more excited about science. We currently have QuarkNet which brings high school teachers to campus to work on high energy physics research projects with faculty.
• Expose high school teachers to lecture demonstration equipment; get them on campus and follow-up with Dale Stille's web-based catalog of departmental lecture demonstration resources.
• Consider sponsoring science fairs (we are exploring the possibility of hosting a science Olympics in late May).
• We will be sponsoring a regional AAPT (American Association of Physics Teachers) meeting in October 2000. This meeting provides an opportunity for faculty and staff to interact with teachers and college faculty.
• Student ambassadors - send students to home high schools over winter break to talk about physics-related topics.
• Consider peer tutoring (by junior and senior students) - directed at physics majors.
• Encourage students to work together on homework (emphasize team work).
• Encourage team projects for students. Students could be put to work on group research projects developing teaching software and visual aids for service courses and for export to high schools.
• Advisors need to be more pro-active. Faculty advisors should call students in for advising. We need to do more counseling of students.
• We should supply faculty with a more comprehensive advising worksheet. Better preparation for advisors.
• How can the Department do a better job at retaining bright first and second-year physics students?
• The department should offer regular roundtable discussions where students can talk to faculty.
• Explore the possibility of using high school teachers to teach summer courses.
• Explore the possibility of offering high school teachers professional development courses in the summer.
• Promote co-ops and internships more aggressively.
  
  
  

RESEARCH

• Next generation of knowledge needed by industry is physics.
• Develop a departmental research portfolio for business. This would help them understand what we do. Marcia could easily put something together similar to our newsletter at minimal cost.
• Check web site at Upsala. They successfully did what Berkeley is trying on a smaller scale.
• Identify graduate projects involving collaborations with industry. Explore the possibilities of appointing leaders in local industry as adjunct faculty who could provide advice during faculty meetings.
• We need to clarify our policy on intellectual property.
• Develop alumni and industry mentors for graduate and undergraduate students.
• Invite Iowa A+ for tour of departmental facilities.
  
  
  

INDUSTRY

• Next generation of knowledge needed by industry is physics.
• Faculty are invited to spend a week shadowing engineers at Rockwell.
• Sponsor more colloquia with industry. Bring members of industry to campus.
• Faculty need to be encouraged to routinely visit colleagues in industry - particularly R&D components.
• Plan seminars on resume writing, job mentoring, business presentations for students.
• Promote co-ops and internships.
• Develop methods to education Human Resource office. Develop contacts and work directly with the person looking to hire an employee.
• Develop careers options class - bring in industry speakers.
• Promote team projects.
• Continue to promote and support SPS trips to industry.
  
  
  

• A number of board members felt that students need to take courses in behavioral psychology. Understanding people is a valuable skill and makes it easier to be successful in a work environment.
• A simple course in business basics would be very valuable - Accounting, Finance, and Economics are useful.
• Students need to be trained to use Windows/Microsoft Office suite. They should know the elements that go into a clear presentation, be able to put these together quickly, and give effective presentations using PowerPoint slides.
• A number of skills are valuable for employers:
  1. Modeling skills - design of experiments - tied to research projects.
  2. High level computer skills: Mathcad, Mathematica, Maple, HTML.
  3. Low level computer skills: Java, C, C++.
  4. Familiarity with laboratory computer interfaces (like LabView).
  5. Elementary statistics.
  6. How to do literature searches (improve the little research book).
  7. Time management training for students.
• We should work on bringing real work experiences to the classroom.
• Have a more structured graduate curriculum - suggest relevant courses beyond physics.
• Reduce time to degree for Ph.D. (5 years should be goal).
• Make M.S. degree more professional (joint with Business, Computer Science).
• Joint M.A. degrees with other disciplines (i.e., Law, Journalism, Business, etc.).
• Create a M.S. degree in applied physics.
• Broaden graduate curriculum.
  
  
  

GENERAL

• There was a feeling that the department needs a 10-year road map. We need to decide where we need to make strategic investments.
• Bob might be able to supply us with good group research projects for undergraduates through Rockwell.
• Collaborations with Computer Science students on group projects to develop simple educational software components.