The restructuring of a Physics Department with a little help from APS Bridge and PhysTEC Programs*

The Physics Department at the University of Central Florida (UCF) has undergone significant ups and downs in its forty years or so of existence. In this talk, I will summarize some deliberate, yet unconventional efforts in the past fifteen years that may have helped it emerge as a vibrant, productive, and engaged department that prides itself not only on its professional achievements but also as a leading institution that nurtures diversity and inclusion amongst its students, staff and faculty. Of note are the changes that instructional faculty have embraced as a result of a strong Learning Assistant (LA) program which took little time in convincing the department that peer mentoring and pedagogical training does wonders in our undergraduate courses, both lower and upper divisions.   The LA program has also impacted the departmental culture and climate, making it more student centered and accessible than it was prior to the instructional reform efforts that began around 2008. Efforts at enhancing diversity and inclusion took a major leap when UCF Physics department became an APS Bridge Program Site in 2015. The number of graduate students from under-represented minority (URM) groups rose from about 4% in 2014 to 22% in 2019 – hovering at about 20% currently. Seven URM students have already graduated with PhDs and moved on to careers in national labs, academia, industry, or as postdocs related to NASA missions.  I will discuss some of the tenets of the Bridge program that are essential for its success.  The strong emphasis on various forms of mentoring for the Bridge Program students has in turn made us more aware of the mentoring needs of all graduate students. I will discuss our strategies for recruiting, mentoring and retention of students in the programs, highlighting good practices that have led to successes and lessons learned from our failures.  I will contend that the effects of the UCF-APS PhysTEC (aimed at increasing the number of physics teachers with strong content knowledge) and the Bridge programs go beyond departmental culture, inclusivity, and attitudes towards students, they also help enhance significantly the departments’ research and funding profile and ability to attract excellent junior faculty members.