Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2014
Volume 59, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 3–7, 2014; Denver, Colorado
Session G38: Invited Session: Graduate Education: Sustaining Thriving Programs by Embracing Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century |
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Sponsoring Units: FEd Chair: Theodore Hodapp, American Physical Society Room: 709/711 |
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 11:15AM - 11:51AM |
G38.00001: Highlights From the Second Conference on Graduate Education in Physics Invited Speaker: Renee Diehl The Second Conference on Graduate Education in Physics was held in January 2013 with more than 100 participants from 74 different institutions. The participants comprised a diverse group faculty from large and small departments, staff from industry and national labs, and graduate students and postdocs. The conference was aimed at fostering innovation and creativity in our approach to graduate education in physics. Because the majority of physics PhDs ultimately find permanent employment outside academia, and because of the many competing demands on new faculty, many departments are reviewing their graduate programs. The presentations and discussions at the conference included the increasing attention being paid to broader and more flexible graduate curricula, forming industrial partnerships, strategies to increase diversity, professional skills training for graduate students and postdocs, and improving mentoring practices and instituting family-friendly policies for graduate students. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 11:51AM - 12:27PM |
G38.00002: Increasing Diversity in Physics at the PhD Level and Beyond Invited Speaker: Keivan Stassun We briefly review the current status of underrepresented minorities in physics: The underrepresentation of Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans is an order of magnitude problem. We then describe the Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Bridge program as a successful model for addressing this problem. Since 2004 the program has admitted 67 students, 60 of them underrepresented minorities (50\% female), with a retention rate of 90\%. Already, the program is the top producer of African American master's degrees in physics, and is the top producer of minority PhDs in astronomy, materials science, and physics. We summarize the main features of the program including its core strategies: (1) replacing the GRE in admissions with indicators that are better predictive of long-term success, (2) partnering with a minority-serving institution for student training through collaborative research, and (3) using the master's degree as a deliberate stepping stone to the PhD. We show how misuse of the GRE in graduate admissions may by itself in large part explain the ongoing underrepresentation of minorities in PhD programs, and we describe our alternate methods to identify talented individuals most likely to succeed. We describe our mentoring model and toolkit which may be utilized to enhance the success of all PhD students. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 12:27PM - 1:03PM |
G38.00003: The Landscape of Graduate Admissions: Surveying Physics Programs about Doctoral Admissions Practices Invited Speaker: Geoff Potvin Sustaining or improving the best graduate programs as well as increasing the diversity of the physics community requires us to better understand the critical gatekeeping role played by graduate admissions. Admissions processes determine not only who is allowed to begin graduate study but can also influence who chooses to even consider applying. Recently, in concert with some of the activities of the APS Bridge Program, a survey was conducted of directors of graduate admissions and associated faculty in doctoral-granting departments about their admissions practices. Receiving responses from over 75\% of departments that award PhDs in physics, respondents were probed about their admissions decisions with special attention on the criteria used in admissions and their relative importance, and how student representation considerations are dealt with in the admissions process (if at all). Results indicate a number of important issues for future students, faculty, and administrators to consider including the importance placed on GRE scores. Results also indicate a sizable number of departments express a latent demand for greater numbers of students from traditionally-underrepresented backgrounds (including women) but simultaneously report a dearth of such students who even apply to their doctoral programs. Implications of these and other findings will be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 1:03PM - 1:39PM |
G38.00004: The future of the graduate physics curriculum and exam structure Invited Speaker: Michael Thoennessen Although the need for a ``core'' knowledge that all graduate student in physics should master is generally accepted, many departments have begun to modify their curriculum and exam structure in order to focus more on research skills and accommodate interdisciplinary degrees. There is no ``one size fits all'' solution and each department has to define itself and highlight the unique aspects of its programs. A summary of the discussion on the graduate physics curriculum and exam structure at the recent APS/AAPT Graduate Education Conference will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 1:39PM - 2:15PM |
G38.00005: Preparing Graduate Students for Non-Academic Careers Invited Speaker: Lawrence Woolf One of the primary topics discussed at the conference concerned career development, since most graduate students will not have the academic careers of their advisors. Goals included reviewing the primary functions of physicists in industry, evaluating how students are currently prepared for these careers, and identifying how to fill gaps in preparation. A number of non-academic physicists provided insight into meeting these goals. Most physics graduate programs in general do not purposely prepare students for a non-academic career. Strategies for overcoming this shortcoming include advising students about these careers and providing training on broadly valued professional skills such as written and verbal communication, time and project management, leadership, working in teams, innovation, product development, and proposal writing. Alumni and others from industry could provide guidance on careers and skills and should be invited to talk to students. Academic training could also better prepare students for non-academic careers by including engineering and cross disciplinary problem solving as well as incorporating software and toolsets common in industry. [Preview Abstract] |
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