Physics2017 SRP

Physics_Faculty_Meetings#2017

Physics Short Range Plan

Goals

Create a 1-2 page document that advocates the hiring of new physics faculty at the associates level.

Outline Arguments

1. Compare Department performance in 2009 to current performance showing the impact of having a department with more than 6 faculty (increase enrollment)
2. Compare the number of full time faculty in peer institutions (ISU=6, average of peer institutions=13)
3. delineate how the reduction in faculty has prevented regular faculty rotations through courses offered by the program, faculty are needed in upper division courses
4. larger class sizes are needed due to the limited number of physics faculty
5. the department is currently without any Assistant professors, the infusion of new faculty an essential component of a healthy department.
6. Identify currently faculty that are willing to assume the responsibilities of a Department Chair
7. Physics needs to be able to diversify the sources of its research/grad student support funds. My understanding is we just have two research grants supporting students (my NNSA and the NSF). (My other two grants support students in other depts.)This makes the grad program highly susceptible to funding fluctuations.

Text

The Physics Department at Idaho State University request the replacement of faculty lost to attrition in order increase the Department's productivity. The loss of full time faculty in the Physics department over the last five years has removed faculty from underrepresented groups in science, has created a department size far below ISU's peer institutions, and has impacted ISU's ability to serve it's students effectively. This loss of faculty has been the highest of all the departments in the College of Science and Engineering. We propose to reverse this trend by requesting the hiring of at least one new tenure-track faculty member at the Associate level each year for the next three years. The Physics department would seek candidates pursuing research that expands the capabilities of the Idaho Accelerator Center.

At least six years ago, ISU's Physics Department was composed of thirteen Ph.D. faculty, three of which were women. The department size was consistent with the average number of physics faculty in the peer institutions listed by ISU. The physics program was able to service students with Ph.D. faculty across the spectrum of introductory and advanced courses. The physics department at present has lost all of its faculty from underrepresented groups and most of the remaining faculty are at the rank of full professor. This reduction in man power has forced the department to depend more on the hiring of adjuncts to teach the lower division courses as well as the use of faculty from outside departments to help with upper division courses. We fear this path will lead to a department composed of full professors who focus more on teaching service courses than maintaining the University's research profile. The infusion of new tenure track faculty at the Associate level is one of the key ingredients needed to alter this trajectory and maintain a healthy department.

The Physics Department's research program has receded with the loss of faculty. In 2011, research programs from faculty in the Physics Department generated over a million dollars in indirects, a factor of five more than what it being generated now. The Idaho Accelerator Center no longer has any full time physics research faculty. We believe this places one of ISU's oldest and historically productive research centers at risk. There are two remaining research programs that are currently supporting graduate students in physics. One of those programs is based with the National Science Foundation and has been continuously funded for over ten years. The Physics Department is interested in hiring tenure track faculty at the Associate rank who will expand the research program at the Idaho Accelerator Center.

Physics_Faculty_Meetings#2017