The University of North Carolina Program Review and Recommendations Form (Complete this form for each program identified in Enclosure #1C)

Transcription

1 Enclosure #1B The University of North Carolina Program Review and Recommendations Form (Complete this form for each program identified in Enclosure #1C) Date: December 30, 2008 Constituent University: UNC Asheville CIP Discipline Number: Exact Title of the Program: Physics Exact Degree Abbreviation (e.g. B.S., B.A., M.A., M.S., Ph.D): B.S. 1. The accompanying guidelines list questions about centrality to mission, quality, faculty and physical resources, demand, costs, duplication, and consequences of deletion. After considering those issues, which of the following does the campus recommend? _XX Retain the program in its present configuration with low enrollments likely to continue. Retain the program in its present configuration with specific steps to be taken to increase enrollments. Restructure the program by combining it with one or more other campus programs. Actively investigate collaboration with other UNC campuses in order to conserve program resources and increase course enrollments. Discontinue the program while assuring graduation for any currently enrolled students. 2. As more programs, certificates, licensure programs, and courses become available online through the University of North Carolina Online would you be willing to consider online courses or programs from another campus to meet the needs in this program? Would you be interested in exploring a joint online offering with one or more other campuses to meet the needs this program is currently addressing? Would you be interested in utilizing an online degree program or courses from another campus to meet the needs this program is currently addressing?

2 3. Explain the above responses either the rationale for leaving the program in its current configuration or specific steps proposed to increase enrollments or pursue other options. Centrality to the University s Mission The physics major is part of the academic core of UNC-Asheville s programs in the natural sciences. Physics is the most fundamental of the natural sciences and elimination of the major would have adverse effects on the mission of UNCA. UNCA currently provides its students opportunities to pursue study in physics at the undergraduate level, broadening their choice of study in the natural sciences. Physics faculty at UNCA also enrich related disciplines by participating in classes, team-teaching, and seminars. This outreach extends to the Honors Program, the Education Department, and Master of Liberal Arts Program at UNCA. There is a cultural and societal need for physics. It strengthens the science education and scientific literacy in our country. The Department of Physics at UNCA develops students at three levels: professionals in physics, support for other majors through the teaching of service courses and interaction, and appreciation of physics and astronomy courses for the general student. This program cannot be combined with a similar or related program since its focus is disciplinary and specific. The faculty teaching loads in the department are balanced with service courses and teaching in neighboring fields so that the faculty in the department support themselves in terms of student credit hours generated. Quality of the Program The quality of the program is exceptionally high. A strong indicator used is the acceptance of graduates into distinguished graduate programs. For example, we have recently had two students accepted with fellowships to Notre Dame in astronomy. This year one student received a fellowship to attend Penn State in Acoustics. In the past we have had UNCA physics students accepted into William and Mary, Vanderbilt, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, the University of Florida s Laser and Optics Center, and MIT. These are all highly ranked and well-respected graduate schools in physics in the nation. A major indicator for faculty in the department are publications in peer-reviewed journals and grant funding from the National Science Foundation as well as other sources. All tenured physics faculty have received major grants and have published in peer-reviewed journals, such as the Astrophysical Journal, the Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy, Applied Optics, and Physics Letters B. Also 60% of the physics faculty have been recognized by university awards in research and/or teaching. Concerning accreditation, the American Physical Society does not have an accreditation organization in physics.

3 Faculty Involved There are seven full-time faculty teaching in the Physics program, with five holding the Ph.D. in physics. Two have Master s degrees in Physics and teach for us as Lecturers in the department. The department uses three adjuncts as well to teach some courses and labs, with all adjuncts holding the Ph.D. in physics. The average teaching load per semester is the standard 12 hours per semester with some reassignment for two faculty engaged in research and/or chair duties each semester. One of our faculty members is an endowed professorship, who teaches 6 hours per semester and conducts undergraduate research during the other 6 hours per semester. The faculty in the department teach some large general-education lecture classes to balance the small enrollments in upper-level courses required for the major. However, these large classes do break up for smaller laboratory work and personal supervision. If this program were discontinued, theoretically, the faculty could still teach the general education classes. In that case, there would be no need for the larger sections (needed now to make the department self-supporting in terms of student credit hours generated) and these could be reduced in enrollment. This would then result in more sections of general education having to be taught. Faculty with research funding might leave, taking the funding elsewhere. Then there would be a shortage of faculty to cover the general education classes in physics. Facilities/Equipment The available space and equipment is minimally adequate for the current program. Physics faculty constantly bring in thousands of dollars in equipment for the major. This influx of equipment is mainly in the form of grants (e.g., the National Science Foundation), although transfers of equipment by connections with National Research Laboratories has played a role in the past. Necessary equipment needed to conduct our labs and teach our courses is available and in working order. Demand Physics at UNCA has been in place since It is currently serving the predicted numbers of students, and doing it well with a high-quality program. In order to control for differences in school size, it is useful to compare the ratio of Physics graduates to total undergraduate FTE enrollment. These comparisons for selected UNC institutions are shown in the table on the next page.

4 Ratio of Physics Graduates to Undergraduate Enrollment Fall 2005 Undergrad FTE Enroll Physics Graduates N Percent N Percent Average Percent Institution UNC Asheville 3, NC State Univ 20, UNC Chapel Hill 16, UNC Charlotte 15, UNC Greensboro 11, UNC Wilmington 10, Data Sources: (1) American Institute of Physics (AIP) for graduates in and AIP data for has not been released at the time this report was prepared. See (2) FTE enrollment data are taken from the Statistical Abstract of Higher Education in North Carolina See As shown in the above table, student demand for the Physics major at UNCA is relatively high when you compare the number of graduates in relation to overall undergraduate enrollment. The Department has approximately 15 majors at any time. This size and the number of our graduates (see above) are excellent for a school of our size. The job prospects of our graduates are excellent. Our majors have a variety of choices ranging from graduate schools in physics, to teaching in North Carolina middle and high schools, to related professional programs in engineering, to working at Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville, to working at a microelectronics firm in the Research Triangle. One of our graduates in physics attended law school, and another has attended architectural school. Due to the relatively low number of majors compared to some other departments on campus, the Department of Physics has responded by extending its general education offerings, and by teaching topical and physics research courses as independent study courses beyond the normal teaching load. Productivity as measured according to the three dimensions of majors, correlate courses, and general education courses, places the Department of Physics in the top three most productive departments at UNCA (Archer Gravely, Institutional Research). Also in response to our relatively low number of majors compared to some other departments on campus, we added a Minor in Astronomy two years ago. Many of the courses needed to complete the Astronomy Minor are first courses in the Physics major, such as PHYS 221, PHYS 222, and Calculus I, II, and III. There has been much interest by students on our campus to pursue the Minor in Astronomy. We are hoping that it will attract more students to major in Physics, as well. In any event, the Astronomy Minor

5 complements the Physics Major and strengthens it. Essential supporting courses for other programs at UNCA include the non-calculus based physics sequence needed by our UNCA pre-medical students and Music majors in the Recording Arts track. Another essential supporting course for other programs at UNCA is the calculus-based physics sequence needed by our UNCA students majoring in Atmospheric Sciences, Chemistry, Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Biology, and Engineering majors. There are also three heavily-enrolled general education (Integrative Liberal Studies) courses for the general student to fulfill their ILS requirements for graduation from UNCA. Costs The credit hours required to fulfill a Physics major is about 32. The range at UNCA is from 30 to 64. Physics concentrations have been consolidated. Physics at one time had both a B.S. and a B.A. in the early days of the department. Later, the B.A. was consolidated into the one B.S. program that we have today (this consolidation took place in the mid 1980 s). The three tracks in Physics today all share essentially the same 32- hour core. Differences in the three Physics tracks lay in the courses students must take outside our department education courses for our teacher certification track and engineering/computer science/science courses for the applied physics track. The average class size in upper-level courses in the Physics major is about eight. Optics, Thermal Physics, and Electromagnetic Theory are offered every other year to help bring up the enrollments in those classes. On rare occasions, the department has run courses with enrollments as low as three or four; however, this is balanced by the general education ILS courses that have enrollments around 80 or 90 so that the department always supports itself in terms of university averages of student credit hours generated. The yearly cost for specialized equipment is low since many of these items are obtained by grant funding and contacts with national laboratories. Most of the budget is spent on equipment used in the service courses for other majors that we teach. About $8000 per year of the operating (supply/equipment) budget is spent on the Physics major. Library journals in Physics cost about $20,000 per year for the core physics journals. Duplication The Physics program complements the other programs in the Natural Sciences plus other university departments well. UNCA currently contains the core natural sciences: Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Other natural science departments at UNCA complement this core. The Physics Department s objectives cannot be equally accomplished through another program due to Physics distinct and unique nature as a basic, fundamental science. There are no duplicate courses in other departments/programs. The faculty in the Physics Department at UNCA are aggressively engaged in providing

6 opportunities for undergraduate research. In fact, the UNCA Undergraduate Research Program was co-founded by a member of the Physics Department. The UNCA Undergraduate Research Program had as its director another member of the Physics Department for ten years, between 1990 and Critical Mass If the physics major was eliminated, then the department would no longer exist. The exciting vigor of a college faculty, balancing research for the majors, courses for the majors, service courses, and general education ILS courses, would cease. An important sector of the university would then revert to a two-year college where some faculty are needed to teach introductory courses for service and general education. With such a downsizing, the contributions our program makes to the UNCA Honors Program, Master of Liberal Arts Program, and Education Department would disappear. Our contributions to the overall health of the university, through undergraduate research and service to the university, would also disappear. Recommendation Regarding Physics The major in Physics is a core natural science discipline in line with UNCA s mission and should be continued. The department is a high quality program and has taken steps to increase its enrollment by the establishment of a Minor in Astronomy two years ago. Its enrollment compared to its overall undergraduate enrollment is higher than that of UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University, as well as other UNC system universities. 4. Name/ /phone of department contact person: Dr. Randy Booker Chairperson, Physics Booker@unca.edu