M.S. Program in Physics and Astronomy

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1 M.S. Program in Physics and Astronomy Mission: The overall goal of the M.S. program is to prepare students for careers in education or research in physics, astronomy, or related areas at industrial or government laboratories. This will primarily be done through the students classes, work as teaching assistants, and/or independent study or research projects. Student Learning Outcomes: 1) Students completing an M.S. degree will demonstrate advanced knowledge in at least four areas of modern or classical physics, including classical mechanics, electromagnetism, thermal physics, quantum mechanics, atomic physics, nuclear/particle physics, condensed matter physics, astrophysics, optics, and medical physics. 2) Students will demonstrate knowledge of the basic principles of physics, usually expressed mathematically. 3) Students are expected to be able to use these principles to analyze and solve problems in a range of areas in physics and astronomy. 4) All students completing a terminal M.S. degree will have demonstrated the ability to discuss scientific results clearly and coherently. 5) Students will understand and feel prepared for career options in education and/or research that are appropriate to their degree programs. Some graduate courses emphasize basic principles and mathematical tools (PHY 504, 506, 507, 520, 521, 522, 611, 613, 614, 615, 616, 632, 716), others apply these principles to topical areas of physics (524, 525, 554, 555, 556, 591, 592, 605,624, 630, 639), while PHY 535 provides advanced laboratory experience. Assessment Responsibilities will be done, as described below, by the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with the Graduate Program and Curriculum Committee (GPCC). Indirect Assessment: A) Students will demonstrate success in learning outcomes 1-3 by making consistent, timely progress toward the MS degree. Our goal is for terminal M.S. students to complete all requirements within 2.5 years (for non-thesis option) or 3 years (thesis option) of entering the program. Assessment: MS students are required to complete (with GPA > 3.00) 6 (thesis option) or 7 (non-thesis option) of the graduate physics courses listed above, typically within 2 years, before sitting for the MS oral exam. The DGS and GPCC review the student progress toward degree every semester. Statistical reports of student progress during the previous two academic years will be prepared in the Fall semester of even numbered years.

2 B) Students will demonstrate success in achieving learning outcome 1 through successful completion of core course work. Assessment: Every year, the Director of Graduate Studies will report to the faculty the courses and grades of students completing the M.S. degree as a terminal degree. Recognizing that it may be appropriate for some students to specialize and concentrate their studies in fewer areas, our goal is for at least 75% to have taken physics courses at the 500 level or higher in four different areas, obtaining grades of A or B in each. (Students who obtain the M.S. degree but wish to continue on to the Ph.D. are automatically required to satisfy this.) Direct Assessment: A) Students will demonstrate achievement of learning outcome 5 through responses to a questionnaire at the completion of the terminal M.S. degree. Assessment: Student obtaining terminal M.S. degrees will complete a questionnaire asking what career they anticipate pursuing and how well i) the courses they took, ii) their work as teaching assistants, iii) and/or research or independent study projects helped prepare them for their anticipated careers. The questionnaire also will ask them to suggest improvements. All completed forms of the previous two years will be reviewed by the DGS and GPCC during the Fall semester of even numbered years, and appropriate changes in the program will be considered if necessary. B) Students will demonstrate successful achievement of learning outcome 4 through successful performance on the M.S. oral exam. Assessment: M.S. exam committees will complete a form describing the student s performance on the oral exam, including how well they indicated understanding of the physics material they discussed and how clearly they presented it. The student will be given an evaluation score (Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good, Excellent) and must obtain a grade of at least Good to be considered to have passed the exam. The evaluation form will be given to the Director of Graduate Studies to be placed in the student s file. All results of the past two years will be reviewed by the DGS and GPCC during the Fall semester of even numbered years, and appropriate changes in the program will be considered if necessary.

3 Ph.D. Program in Physics and Astronomy Mission: The overall goal of the Ph.D. program is to prepare students for careers as independent researchers and/or college/university educators in physics, astronomy, or related areas. This will primarily be done through the students research projects (culminating in theses), classes, and work as teaching assistants. Student Learning Outcomes: 1) Students completing a Ph.D. degree will demonstrate advanced knowledge in at least seven areas of modern or classical physics, including classical mechanics, electromagnetism, thermal physics, quantum mechanics, atomic physics, nuclear/particle physics, condensed matter physics, astrophysics, optics, and medical physics. 2) Students will demonstrate knowledge of the basic principles of physics, usually expressed mathematically. 3) Students are expected to be able to use these principles to analyze and solve problems in a range of areas in physics and astronomy, including advanced problems in the student s area of research. 4) Within their subdiscipline, students will demonstrate advanced knowledge of current areas of research, key open questions, and seminal literature, and will be capable of using advanced experimental or theoretical methods to conduct independent research. 5) Before completing the Ph.D. degree, students will be able to clearly communicate the results of scientific analysis in written and oral form at a professional level. This includes the ability to clearly and coherently present/discuss their research to experts in their specialty field, through publications and/or presentations at appropriate regional, national, or international meetings, conferences or workshops. 6) Students will understand their career options in education and/or independent research and are well prepared for these. Some courses emphasize basic principles and mathematical tools (PHY 504, 506, 507, 520, 521, 522, 611, 613, 614, 616, 632, 716), others apply these principles to topical areas of physics (524, 525, 554, 555, 556, 591, 592, 605,624, 630, 639), while PHY 535 provides advanced laboratory experience. In particular, the core courses (504, 611, 613, 614, 615, 632), required for all Ph.D. students, are intended to provide a mathematically rigorous grounding in the basic principles of classical and quantum physics. Assessment Responsibilities will be done, as described below, by the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with the Graduate Program and Curriculum Committee (GPCC).

4 Indirect Assessment: A) Students will demonstrate success in achieving learning outcomes 1-3 through successful completion of core course work. Assessment: Before qualifying for the Ph.D. oral exam, students must pass (with GPA > 3.0 and not more than one C ) the core courses. In addition, they must pass topical courses in at least 3 different areas of physics, to assure they have studied a breadth of areas before concentrating on one area in their research. The DGS and GPCC review the student progress toward degree every semester. Statistical reports of student progress during the previous two academic years will be prepared in the Fall semester of odd numbered years. B) Students will demonstrate success in learning outcomes 1-4 by making consistent and timely progress toward the degree. Our goal is for a majority of students receiving Ph.D. degrees to complete all degree requirements, including the thesis, within six years of entering our program. Assessment: Once students pass the oral qualifying exam (which probes their understanding of physics related to their area of research interest), they meet annually with their advisory committees to discuss their progress toward degree. The advisory committee files reports of the student progress with the DGS, who discusses cases in which progress was considered poor with the student and advisor. The DGS and GPCC will report on student progress toward the degree in biannual reports prepared in the Fall semester of odd numbered years. C) Students will demonstrate success in learning outcome 5 through peer-reviewed publications and presentations. Assessment: Chairs of Ph.D. Advisory Committees will report to the DGS all papers presented and manuscripts submitted by their students. The DGS and GPCC will review the results every two year, during the Spring semesters of odd numbered years. Our goal is for at least 90% of Ph.D. students to have made a presentation at a meeting and 75% of them to have submitted a manuscript as described above, before receiving their degrees. If needed, the Department will provide additional resources, e.g. travel funds, to attain this goal.

5 Direct Asessment: D) Students will demonstrate achievement of learning outcome 3-4 through evidence of preparation to initiate their independent research. Assessment: a) Students taking their oral qualifying exam will complete a questionnaire about how well the core and topical courses they ve taken have prepared them to start reading and understanding physics/astronomy literature and initiate their research plans, and, if relevant, how well preparatory courses (506, 507, 520, 521, 522) prepared them for the more advanced core courses. All completed forms of the previous two years will be reviewed by the DGS and GPCC during the Fall semester of odd numbered years, and appropriate changes in the program will be considered if necessary. b) Faculty on advisory committees at oral qualifying exams will complete a form about how well the student demonstrated mastery of the basic physics needed for them to initiate their research and, if needed, recommend additional courses or areas of study for the student. All completed forms of the previous two years will be reviewed by the DGS and GPCC during the Fall semester of odd numbered years, and appropriate changes in the program will be considered if necessary. E) Students will demonstrate achievement of learning outcome 6 through responses to a questionnaire at the completion of the Ph.D. degree. Assessment: a) Students defending Ph.D. theses will complete a questionnaire asking what career they anticipate pursuing and how well i) their research projects, ii) courses they took, and iii) their work as teaching assistants (for those planning educational careers), helped prepare them for their anticipated careers. The questionnaire also will ask them to suggest improvements. All completed forms of the previous two years will be reviewed by the DGS and GPCC during the Fall semester of odd numbered years, and appropriate changes in the program will be considered if necessary. F) Students will demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes 4-6 through successful completion of the doctoral defense. Assessment: Faculty serving on advisory committee at Ph.D. defenses will complete a form about how well the student indicated the expertise needed to succeed as independent researchers: e.g. how well he/she understood his/her research and how it relates to other work in the field, how well he/she described the research goals and results. All completed forms will be reviewed every semester by the DGS and GPCC. Cases for which the student did not demonstrate such expertise will be discussed with the Department chair and the student s advisor and, if necessary, changes in student preparation will be suggested.