December 14, 2004

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Undergraduate Program
Topics for Discussion

• Status of the Plans for a BA Physics Degree
• Status of AST/PHY277 upgrade
• Three similar seminar courses
• PHY104 Opportunities in Physics
• PHY200 Physics Today
• PHY311 Connections in Science

December 14, 2004
2
Bachelor of Arts in Physics
Where we left last time

• Advantages of a B. A. in Physics seriously
  questioned
• A closer look to other institutions advised

What has been done since

• Questionnaire sent to Mid-west Physics Chairs
• Twelve responses have been received and compiled

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Status of Plans for Bachelor of Arts in Physics
Last years discussions crystallized in concrete
proposal

• This years discussion has questioned advantages
  of
• instituting a B.A. in Physics
• Prospective clientele is not clear
• It is doubtful that itll attract more students
• It may reduce the number of B. S. Physics majors
  who
• take the B.S. track
• It may require the introduction of new courses,
  which is
• not a good economics decision
• It is not clear how much other institutions have
  
• benefited from a B.A. program

Proposal Take a closer look one more time to
more institutions, before
settling issue definitively
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A Survey of Other Institutions
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Questionnaire

• Do you have (or did you have in past) a BA or
  'General' degree
• program in place?
• 2. How many credits are required in physics for
  the BA and the BS?
• How many credits in related disciplines for
  each?
• 3. Do you have courses that are specifically
  tailored for the BA
• outside those offered for the BS degree?
  What are they?
• 4. On average, how many physics majors graduate
  per year in the
• BS and BA tracks? In your estimation, how
  many of those with
• the BA degree would not have enrolled in the
  BS if the BA
• were not available?
• 5. If you have a web page that describes the
  requirements for BS and
• BA, could you give us the link?

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Bachelor of Arts in Physics
Where we left last time

• Advantages of a B. A. in Physics seriously
  questioned
• A closer look to other institutions advised

What has been done since

• Questionnaire sent to Mid-west Physics Chairs
• Twelve responses received and compiled

What we found

• The BA program marginal as a recruiting tool
• Benefits of BA program not significant

What we propose

• Shelf plans for BA in Physics, for now
• File gathered information
• Revisit decision in 5 years, if appropriate

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Chairs note The suggestion to table the
institution of a BA degree was accepted.
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AST/PHY277 Computation for PHY and AST Majors
Where we left last time

• Proposal of mandatory, 3-credit AST/PHY277
• well received
• Syllabus to be completed

What has been done since

• A small committee (Swesty, Jacobsen, Drew)
• has drafted a detailed syllabus

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AST/PHY 277 An Introduction to Unx Computing
Objective
Prepare Physics and Astronomy majors for modern
scientific computing, with value well beyond
their undergraduate years.  
Main Areas
Computer Literacy Computer Programming Numerical
Methods
Characteristics
Mandatory for AST and PHY majors 3-credit
course Taught once a year (Fall semester) Will
need a TA, for extensive grading and help in the
field Limited numbers of seats (25 to 30 max)
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AST/PHY277 Computation for PHY and AST Majors
Where we left last time

• Proposal of mandatory, 3-credit AST/PHY277 well
  received
• Syllabus to be completed

What has been done since

• A small committee (Swesty, Jacobsen, Drew)
• has drafted a detailed syllabus

What will happen, if syllabus is approved

• New AST/PHY277 forwarded to CAS Curriculum
  Comm.
• CAS Curriculum Comm. will review case in January
• If approved, new AST/PHY277 will start in Fall
  05

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AST 277/PHY 277
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The faculty enthusiastically endorsed making
Computation in Physics and Astronomy a required
3 credit course for first offering in Fall 2005.
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Three Comparable Seminar Courses
PHY104 Opportunities in Physics
Stony Brook faculty, alumni and other physicists
discuss their current projects and their careers,
and relate their activities both to basic
undergraduatethe introductory physics curriculum
and to areas of on-going research
PHY200 Physics Today
Introduces students to the excitement of current
topics in physics research. Students are
introduced to researchers from the University and
Brookhaven National Laboratory who are conducting
research at the forefront of a variety of
subfields of physics. Literature search and
presentation skills are developed.
PHY311 Connections in Science
A selection of the interrelations between physics
and other scientific and technological fields,
using modern examples from engineering,
Investigation of the application of physics to
other scientific fields including medicine,
biophysics, chemistry, engineering, and applied
mathematics, among others. The course is taught
as a seminar and includes guest lecturers, tours
of laboratories, and discussion of classic and
current research projects.
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Three Comparable Seminar Courses
Enrollment
F04 S04 F03 F03 PHY104 7 13 PHY200
5 6 PHY311 9 9
Proposal Leave PHY311 as it is Consolidate PHY104
and PHY200
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The undergraduate curriculum committee proposes

• Make PHY277 a requirement for PHY major
• (it already is for AST)
• Expand AST/PHY277 syllabus and make it a 3-credit
  course
• Encourage students to take AST/PHY277 in
  Sophomore year
• Encourage upper-division instructors to include
  numerical
• problems in their assignments

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The faculty voted to amalgamate PHY104 and PHY200
into PHY200 starting as soon as possible.