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Chairman’s Report on the Status and Vision for the future of the Physics Department at Wichita State University Prof. Nickolas Solomey 3 December 2007.

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Presentation on theme: "Chairman’s Report on the Status and Vision for the future of the Physics Department at Wichita State University Prof. Nickolas Solomey 3 December 2007."— Presentation transcript:

1 Chairman’s Report on the Status and Vision for the future of the Physics Department at Wichita State University Prof. Nickolas Solomey 3 December 2007

2 Review Panel Members Experienced University Teachers Knowledgeable employers of Physics majors Talented researches who have insight into Physics research directions needed for the future in both industry and government. Bob Rosner Yasar OnelPeter RatoffScott Hinks

3 Outline Current Status of the Physics Department – Staff – Classes – Labs and the status of the equipment – Some of my concerns Vision for the Future of the Physics Department – New faculty – Future research directions – Physics programs BA, BS, MS and possible Ph.D. Costs, Effort and Administration Conclusion

4 Physics Department Mission Teach Physics to any of the 15,000 students at Wichita State University that need it. Offer a Physics BA and BS degree program. Scientific Research in Physics and Astronomy. Physics Graduate program, currently in suspension awaiting recommendation for its future.

5 Successes of the Past The most successful and important Physicists who got his start at Wichita State University is Warren Pickett: But, also many others who have gone on to Harvard, Boeing Univ. of Michigan, Ohio State, Northwestern University, MIT and much more. Prof. Warren Pickett, UC Davis

6 Current Physics Department Status Staff: – 6 faculty (one of which is on phased retirement) – 1 Lab Coordinator who is a lecturer in two classes – 1 Secretary who does some administrative duties – 4 Graduate Teaching Assistants (from Engineering) – Outside lecturers Students: – 22 undergraduate Physics majors

7 Current Physics Department Status Like most Physics departments our department teaches mostly to the service of other programs, our student population is: Engineering (313, 314, 315 and 316), then Health Professions (111/131, 213, 214) Education (111/131, 502, 501S and 501K) Other Science Departments in LAS (300s) General Education (111/131 and 195) Physics majors

8 Population Distribution of Students in Physics Classes We are not a small department since we teach about 4500+ credit hours each year.

9 Current Physics Department Status Phys 313 and 314 (4 credit hours each without lab) are Calculus based introductory Physics. The Lab that goes with this is Phys 315 and 316 (1 credit hour each). We do not break down into recitation sections. Enrollment: 140 students/semester for 313 120 students/semester for 314 70 students/semester in 315 25 students/semester in 316 Every semester we teach 2 sections of 313 and 314 each, 4 sections of 315 and 1 section of 316.

10 Current Physics Department Status 315 and 316 Laboratory equipment is in major need of updating: – Much of the lab equipment is outdated, or of many different verity making it difficult for good instruction to students. – Lab experiments do not let the students make contact to ideas in Physics. Example is in electricity and magnetism the Wheatstone bride is just an electric circuit experiment and replacing these with Faraday, Lenz or Ampere Law experiments would be better.

11 Current Physics Department Status Phys 213 and 214 (5 credit hours each with labs) are Algebra/Trig based introductory Physics. Here too we do not break down into recitation sections. Enrollment: Phys 213 has 75 students/semester Phys 214 has 50 students/semester Labs are mandatory Every semester we teach 2 sections of 213 and 214 each, 4 lab sections for 213L and 4 lab sections for 214L

12 Current Physics Department Status Each semester we teach Phys 195, introductory Astronomy with about 50 students. Every Spring semester we teach Phys 111/131, Concepts of Physics with about 30 students. Currently taught by a lecturer. Every semester we teach two Phys 502 sections, which is a class for Education majors, with 25 students each. Currently taught by a lecturer or GTA.

13 Current Physics Department Status Every semester we teach 3 upper level physics classes for Physics majors, and 2 advanced lab classes for Physics majors. Currently our Physics graduate program is suspended awaiting the recommendation of this committee.

14 Current Physics Department Status Research: – We have 5 faculty in active research E. Behrman, Computational Condensed Matter Physics J. Ferguson, Theoretical Astrophysics J. Ho, Experimental Superconductivity H. Hamdeh, Experimental Solid State Physics N. Solomey, Experimental High-Energy, Nuclear and Astro-particle Physics

15 Future of the Physics Department The Dean has made the statement that the nominal strength of the Physics Department is about 10 full-time faculty. The College of Engineering would like us to improve the quality of the introductory Physics classes. The VP for Research would like the Physics Research to improve. There is a request for us to create and teach a Physics of Sound class for Health and Fine Arts.

16 Future of the Physics Department Fall Spring Summer cr. Hrssections enrollme nt st. cr. Hrs.Lab. Sec.sections enrollme ntst. cr. Hrs. 111/131/151 Intro. Physics GE4000011004001 195/196 Astronomy3110030010000 210 Physics of Sound316018030000 213 Intro. Physics 1 Non-Calc.525050042505004125125 214 Intro. Physics 2 Non-Calc.525050032505003 313 Intro. Physis 1 Calculs525050042505004140200 314 Intro. Physics 2 Calculs525050012505001 395/501S Astronomy30000130900 502 Education majors Phys. Inquiry522727002272700127135 taught by faculty 9 8 2 total 12 27501612 2760133 460 Yearly st. cr. Hrs5970 GTA for Lab. Sections54 UTA for Phys. 50212 hrs/week 6 hrs/week This table show the future teaching loads for introductory Physics classes. Please note that we are not a small department in credit hour income to the University. Secondly, you should notice that this minimum schedule has only 9 classes a semester taught by Physics faculty.

17 Future of the Physics Department Getting new Physics faculty will help get – Good teachers that can connect with the students – Expand our research activities in Physics I propose that we institute a minimal graduate Ph.D. program in Physics. – It would be a low cost program. – It will permit us to attract higher quality Physics faculty for instruction, and higher quality Physics faculty will bring better funded research activities. It is unreasonable to think that Wichita State Univ. can expand its Engineering and other Science without a good Physics program.

18 Future of the Physics Department Fall 08Spring 09Fall 09Spring 10Fall 10Spring 11Fall 11Spring 12Fall 12Spring 13Fall 13Spring 14 Undergraduate B.Sc. 555551661551714551661551714551661551 651652621631651652621631651652621631 681595675641681595675641681595675 Advanced Labs: 516517516517516517516517516517516517 616 555616 555616 Graduate MS & Ph.D. 811812821831811812821831811812 861 714 861 714 861 895875 881895875 881895875 Grad. Lab & Colloquium 816Q exam816Q exam816Q exam816Q exam 807 Undergraduate examples Graduate examples: Basic Advanced example 1example 2 1stCal-1/195 Cal-2/313 1st821/714 811/861 Cal-2/313 Cal-3/314 831/881 812/875 2ndCal-3/314 DifEq/616 2nd811/861 821/714 DifEq/551/516551/516/(714 or 395) 812/875 831/881 3rd621 or 651 3rd816/research885/816 631 or 652 813/research 4th651 or 621 4, 5 and 6thResearch 652 or 631 Ph.D. Qualifying exam to be given every May. Covers 821, 831, 811 and two specialties This schedule has all undergraduates taking 551 after 314, but that then every other year they either start into Classical Mechanics or into Quantum Mechanics. Undergraduate Program (B.Sc. And B.A.) 551 Modern Physics 555 Modern Optics 714 Mathematical Physics 595 Astro Physics 621 Mechanics 631 Electricity/Magnetism 641 Thermo Physics 651 Quantum I 652 Quantum II 661 Atomic Physics 681 Solid State Physics 675 Nuclear and Particle Physics Lab classes: 516 Advanced Physics Lab 517 Electronics Lab 616 Methods of Computational Physics Graduate Program (MS and Ph.D.) core mandatory classes: 821 Graduate Mechanics 831 Graduate Electricity and Magnetism 811 Graduate Quantum I 812 Graduate Quantum II (could be taught by WSU faculty or tele-course with sister physics dept.) 813 Graduate Quantum Field Theory (tele-course with sister physics dept.) specialty classes: other special classes upon request or through our sister physics dept. as a tele-course 875 Graduate Nuclear/Particle (experimental)(Taught with 675) 861 Graduate Atomic Physics (Taught with 661) 876 Graduate Particle Theory (tele-course with sister physics dept.) 881 Graduate Solid State (Taught with 681) 895 Graduate Astrophysics (Taught with 595) 714 Methods Mathematical & Comp. Phys 816 Graduate Advanced Labs (Taught with 516) 807 Colloquium This table show the planned undergraduate Physics major classes over the next 5 years in gray at the top. A graduate program only needs one extra class every semester and classes in conjunction with undergraduate classes. Very advanced graduate classes could be arranged by video with other schools. I propose that Sister Physics Dept. relationships with three schools would be enough. I am talking with Univ. of Hawaii, Univ. of Chicago and Lancaster Univ. as possible schools. Examples of this are how my IIT graduate student went to Univ. of Chicago and took the class on quantum field theory and particle physics theory there while signed up for these classes with me at IIT.

19 Future of the Physics Department Physics has 4 to 5 GTA each semester for Physics 200 and 300 labs Physics Ph.D. candidates past their Q-exam can be either supported off of a research grant or teaching 502, 111, 501K or being Lab Coordinator. minimumGrad StuDegrees Issued200 & 300GTA after Q-exam withAfter Q-examUniversity admittedtotalMSPh.D.Labs GTA502/111/LC supportedResearch supported Supporte d F09330050 0 3 F10250050 0 5 F11383053 0 8 F122102053 2 8 F133113253 3 8 F142112353 3 8 F152113353 3 8 Depending upon the quality of the students we might want to admit more in the event we have high losses. This will give us the best chances to meet our degree numbers Could have more with well funded research grants, such as HEP, Astrophysics, RIA, Nuclear and others Projected graduate program enrollment with M.S. and Ph.D. issued.

20 Future of the Physics Department fall 2007spring 2008fall 2008spring 2009fall 2009spring 2010fall 2010spring 2011fall 2011spring 2012fall 2012spring 2013fall 2013spring 2014 GN Astronomy11111111111111 OL 05310200011111 (Overload or Outside lecturer) JH20202010100000 HH22022222222222 JF22220022222222 ST33333333000000 EB22222222222222 NS11111111111111 New 1 222222222222 New 2 2222222222 New Faculty aiding Grad program 22222222222 New 3 2222222 New 4 (sliding start date matching ST) 222222 Visiting Faculty and LC (inexpensive)222222 New 6 (If buyback going strong then add another here)2222 Faculty classes1412141618161718 1719 Faculty buy back 000.50 0 01111 Total classes1518 1918191819 This projected hiring plan is that needed to cover our minimal teaching loads. This will changed as we try to understand how to improve our introductory Physics classes for engineers.

21 Future of the Physics Department We are discussing with the College of Engineering how to improve the quality of Physics classes: 1.Make smaller class sizes, 30 students instead of 90. 2.Take the current 2 semesters at 5 credit hours each and make them 3 semesters at 4, 4 and 3 credit hours. 3.Get a better book, we are studying this right now. Doing option 1 or 2 alone would require 1.5 new faculty above our nominal level. Doing both option 1 and 2 would require 3 new faculty above our nominal level.

22 Future of the Physics Department What research should the new hires be specialized in? I propose that we hire groups in: 1.high energy experimental physics (started), 2.low energy experimental nuclear physics (would be the only such group in Kansas) and 3. experimental Astro-physics (possible cooperation with NIAR)

23 Future of the Physics Department Why these specialization? 1.They work at national labs in big groups and do not need large amounts of start up money and are typically funded groups. 2.A small University can contribute substantial to these efforts getting students involved with major projects and results. 3.Rare isotope nuclear physics is a major need for future reactor energy needs, improving rare isotope cross sections can let us build safer reactors. Kansas wants to support future energy research and this would fit in to that plan. 4.NASA has an interest in both high-energy and low energy projects and this ties in nicely with an Astro-physics group. 5.Neither of the other two Kansas Universities has a nuclear group.

24 Future of the Physics Department What size groups? Both DOE and NSF, office of high-energy and nuclear physics have told me that a 2 or 3 faculty group is fundable. Less than 2 would not be funded, 2 not well and 3 would be considered strongly. NASA program managers have asked that experimental groups have at least 2, but 3 would not bring us more.

25 Future of the Physics Department The Physics Department currently has a experimental Solid State Condensed Matter group doing material studies with Mössbauer Spectroscopy (Prof. H. Hamdeh and Prof. J. Ho). It will be expensive to bring in more people in this subject due to the start up packages in this field needing $300,000+, but this group is productive and should be supported as much as possible. They also need to establish outside funding. Cooperation with Engineering or Chemistry is possible. Can we get any cooperation with a National Laboratory or Industry?

26 Future of the Physics Department The Physics Department currently has one Theoretical Astrophysics faculty and one Theoretical Condensed matter physicists. In support of my proposed experimental high- energy and nuclear efforts I request that the new faculty hire be in support of the Graduate Ph.D. program specializing in theoretical nuclear or high-energy physics.

27 Future of the Physics Department Cooperation with other schools We are currently reaching out to nine 4-year Liberal Arts Colleges in this part of Kansas, and four schools are interested in both Instruction and Research cooperation between our Physics Faculty. Recruiting We started in October of 2007 a program of recruiting to get Physics majors, and when the time comes this will expand into a graduate program recruiting effort.

28 Funding the Growth Funding for this growth has to come from many sources: 1.LAS support for faculty 2.Outside funding for a faculty for supporting the graduate program for 4 years. Clair Booth foundation WSU foundation Physics department Benefactor 3.Support for Introductory Lab equipment: LAS Technology grants WSU Foundation STEM grants Industry (HP, MS, local companies)

29 Administration of the Growth Reinstating the Master program is a local administrative decision. The earliest we can ask for this is the Fall of 2009 and in Fall of 2008 recruiting efforts would have to start. The Ph.D. program would then turn on in the Fall of 2011 as the MS students pass their qualifying exam. This gives sufficient time to get the administration paper-work in order. At each phase of the growth: intro-physics lab updating, new faculty hiring, expanded research grants, the MS program and Ph.D. program all need careful watching of the program as it advances.

30 Conclusion The Physics Department will expand its faculty, by how many and with what emphasis depends partly upon this committee’s recommendation. It can be done in a way that: 1.Improves teaching quality 2.Improves research quality To get the highest quality new faculty and keep the good faculty we have I strongly recommend permitting us to create a small, low cost, creatively executed Physics Ph.D. program. Energy research is a major priority in Kansas and Wichita State University has many rules to play in this plan. I see Physics as contributing to this effort, and the new Physics faculty should be directed in basic energy sciences (low energy nuclear, high- energy and astro-particle physics) as the best direction to pursue.


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