College of Arts and SciencesStrategic Planning

Leadership Retreat:Department of Physics

David L Shealy

May 20 & 21, 2014

Areas of Physics Contributions• Globalization – to increase Department of Physics international

profile and enhance student and faculty global prospective

• Undergraduate Education – to develop globally competent students and ensure career success

• Research and Graduate Education – to advance scholarship and grow the research enterprise

• Diversity – to foster a diverse community for Department of Physics

• Entrepreneurship and Innovation - to contribute to a culture of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship

2 - Physics

Globalization -Examples of Physics Activities:• Renato Camata took sabbatical (F2011) in Brazil with NSF

support;• Twelve faculty presented talks at intl. conferences outside US;• Faculty served on six intl. PhD Committees (visit or remote);• Five faculty are PI’s on G&C or MoU for Intl. Research & Grad.

Education;• Corinne Nouveau from Université de Bourgogneis is performing

sabbatical research with Andrei Stanishevsky at UAB; • Physics uses MoU’s with international universities & research

facilities to expand research productivity & collaborations.

3-Physics

Globalization – Using MoU’s• Andrei Stanishevsky has been initiator and coordinator of

activities under three Memo of Understanding between UAB• Arts et Metiers ParisTech (AMPT), France, since October

2009; • ECAM-Lyon, France, since September, 2011; • Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic, since August

2013.• These activities have led to the successful collaborative

programs including dual-PhD with Arts et Metiers ParisTech and NSF International Research Experience for Students (IRES) support with Technical University of Liberec.

• The opportunities for UAB students to participate in ECAM summer school are being investigated.

• Metrics

4-Physics

Globalization• Goals

• Metrics

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2014 - 2020

G1: Increase # of student & faculty presenting at intl. conferences

G2: Increase # students & faculty visiting intl. universities & research facilities

G3: Increase # exchange programs with intl. universities & research facilities

1 year 3 years 5 years

G1: 12 15 20

G2: 12 15 20

G3: 7 9 11

Undergraduate Education

• Metrics

6-Physics

Undergraduate Goals: 2014 - 2020UE1: Double enrollment in Honors section of PH221-222 in support 30/30 Plan (30% increase & 30% out of state by 2020)

UE2: Expand research experiences for all tracks of physics majors

UE3: Develop metrics & collect data on student improvement since instituting supplemental instruction (SI leaders) during AY13-14

UE4: Establish BS graduation rate of 10 degrees per year

UE5: Assist select Physics Majors to apply for NSF Graduate Fellowship Program

Metrics: 1 year 3 years 5 years

UE1: 10 students 15 students 20 students

UE2: 15 students 20 students 30 students

UE3: PH201-202 (1 sect.) PH201-202 (all sect.) PH201-222 (all sect.)

UE4: 9 BS deg.: ACHE 13-14 Establish av. 10 BS per y Raise BS/y to 14

UE5: Apply for 1 NSF GRFP Apply for 2 NSF GRFP Apply for 3 NSF GRFP

Research and Graduate Education

• Metrics

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Goals: 2014 - 2020

R1: Increase Physics research expenditures from 2.7M to 4.5M

R2: Increase Physics awards (# G&C + # Scholarly Distinctions) by 50% by 2020

GE1: Increase Physics graduate enrollment & support by 30% by 2020

GE2: Expand Physics GTA/G&C numbers and levels of support

Metrics: 1 year 3 years 5 years

R1: $2.7M $3.5M $4.5M

R2: 30 38 45

GE1: 34 36 42

GE2: 14/20 15/21 16/26

Physics Projected G&C by 2020

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Key point: Physics must HIRE five new faculty (TT) to achieved projected growth in Research Expenditures from now to 2020.

FY97

FY98

FY99

FY00

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FY02

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FY04

FY05

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Tendline: Y=$152,389*(#_FY) + $833,403

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Diversity#

• Goals: Foster diverse physics community

• Metrics

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Goals

D1: Develop strategies to grow a diverse (gender & racial) physics community at UAB

D2: Look for funding to assist in developing more diverse physics community

D3: Participate in Diversity Workshop offered by APS and funded by NSF to improve recruitment and retention of under-represented groups

1 year 3 years 5 years

# admitted: 3 5 7

Retention rate: 2/3 4/5 7/7

Time to Degree: 7yrs 6 yrs 5 yrs

#In 2012: 20% of Physics Doctorates were female, but 20 degrees of Physics Doctorates were earned by African American and 32 were Hispanic American, where 1800 PhD’s were granted in 2012.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation• Goals• Capitalize on industrial connections among faculty to place

graduate students in semester-long industrial internships;• Use Applied Physics Track in Physics Graduate Program to

encourage students to consider internships during their dissertation research;

• Further cultivate startup companies from patents resulting from physics research productivity.

• Metrics10-Physics

Metrics: 1 year 3 years 5 years

# internships: 1 3 6

# startups: 3 4 5

Data• CHP

• Enrollment, Retention and Graduation

• Mandatory Advising:• Physics Professional Advisor is Gary Applewhite, shared with PSY;

• Physics faculty mentoring research and career development

11-Physics

Data

• Faculty led programs:• Renato Camata is Director of Physics Undergraduate

Program;• Mary Ellen Zvanut is Director of Physics Graduate

Program;• Yogesh Vohra is Director of NSF REU Site Program and

Director of CNMB;• Sergey Mirov is Director of Center of Optical Sensors &

Spectroscopies;• Chris Lawson is Executive Director of Alabama EPSCoR• David Shealy is Director of IT Research Computing

12-Physics

Data• Research productivity: • G&C Expenditures over past 15 years is shown on slide 8;• There were 41 individual peer review publications during

2012 by physics faculty, where there were 25 co-authored publication by physics faculty with other UAB Physics faculty;

• There were a total of 13,751 citations of Physics faculty during 2003-2013, based on Scopus.

13-Physics

What are the needs of your department?

• Hire a new Chair of Physics;• Authorize recruiting of new TT slots for recruiting

during 2014-15;• Upgrade Physics Machine Shop according to plans

being developed by Physics Machine Shop Committee;• Physics needs to expand undergraduate teaching labs

for Introductory Physics, Honors Physics, and Advanced Labs of Physics majors;

• Physics will continue developing online AST and PHS courses.

14-Physics

Are there programs that should close/sunset?

• Physics does not recommend any physics degree programs to be closed or sunset.

15-Physics