Physics2017 SRP
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
- Compare Department performance in 2009 to current performance showing the impact of having a department with more than 6 faculty (increase enrollment)
- Compare the number of full time faculty in peer institutions (ISU=6, average of peer institutions=13)
- delineate how the reduction in faculty has prevented regular faculty rotations through courses offered by the program, faculty are needed in upper division courses
- larger class sizes are needed due to the limited number of physics faculty
- the department is currently without any Assistant professors, the infusion of new faculty an essential component of a healthy department.
- Identify currently faculty that are willing to assume the responsibilities of a Department Chair
- 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 requests the hiring of Associate faculty to replace 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 one new tenure-track faculty at the Associate level each year for the next three years. The Physics department would seek candidates to pursue research that expands the capabilities of the Idaho Accelerator Center.