PHYSICS FLASH
    News from the Department of Physics ~ July 2008

ASU PHYSICS
Department of Physics
Arizona State University
PO Box 871504
Tempe, AZ 85287
480.965.3561
2008 Region 10 NACADA Conference
 Advising best practices focus of regional education conference

The May 2008 Region 10 Conference of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) opened with a keynote address from Dr. Adam Johnston, Associate Professor of Physics at Weber State University and a leader in the area of science education reform. Weber’s speech focused on inspiring intellectual curiosity, improving communication, encouraging self-
authorship, and
understanding
advising as teaching.
The address was
timely and moving
for each of the
345 conference
participants who
attended the three-
day conference held
 in Park City, Utah.  
     Among those
participants were
Karen Burrington
and Sabrina
Mathues from
ASU Physics.
Mathues serves as
ASU Physics’ Undergraduate Advisor and Coordinator of Under-graduate Programs. Burrington is Coordinator to the ASU Physics’ General Studies program as well as the Master of Natural Science program. Both women deal with a large segment of the physics student population in their daily work at ASU. More and more of their success lies in a keen understanding of advising strategies and techniques.
     When a call for travel grants went out to ASU departments seeking professional development opportunities for advisors, ASU Physics jumped at the chance.
     “It really was a no-brainer,” states Peg Stuart, Department Manager of ASU Physics “With the increase in responsibilities and workload that staff have in providing comprehensive service to all of our student populations, you have to invest in your staff. You do everything you can to equip your staff with the latest and most effective information. Because in the end, we are investing not only in student retention and success, but in the quality and effectiveness of our staff. A university cannot succeed one without the other.”
    The conference theme - Making Advising Count: Turning the Ordinary into the Extraordinary – was relevant for both Burrington and Mathues’ respective areas in ASU Physics as well as their scholarly interests in education.
      “During the breakout sessions we heard from speakers representing small and large universities,” commented Mathues. “It was interesting to share experiences and compare notes with advisors and advising administrators from different college environments.” 
     Mathues found the session When Dreams and Realities Collide: Helping Underprepared and Low-Achieving Students Face Academic

 Challenges to be among the most impressive conference sessions.
     "It’s hard to see a student who is absolutely passionate about the material that they are studying, still run up against hurdle after hurdle– either personally or academically,”
says Mathues. “This session afforded me some insights that I plan to apply in my day-to-day interactions with such students.”
    

















Burrington was equally impressed with the quality and range of topics discussed. One session, titled Advisors as Teachers: Creating the Conditions for Learning, shared helpful techniques on how advisors and student-centered university personnel can better understand and help “at- risk” students succeed, and incorporate problem-solving strategies to help keep these students focused and on track.
     “By incorporating these simple, effective strategies to my interaction with students, I can better connect with them which results in better retention and student success,” says Burrington. “This session reminded me how important our advising role is in every student’s journey.”
     The conference also addressed complicated issues in the session titled From Advocate to Enforcer: Balancing Competing Roles. In this session, advisors shared interesting opinions on how to equally balance the advisor role of advocating for the student while still adhering to university policies. Through the use of real scenarios, candid discussion, and best practices participants came away with strategies to turn an uncomfortable situation into one that is productive and manageable.
     “I’m so thankful to the ASU Office of Student and Academic Programs for making this funding opportunity available to departments,” says Stuart. “The knowledge and experience they (Burrington and Mathues) have gained from this conference will have an immediate and positive impact on our students. Making that positive impact in the lives of students is why we do what we do every day.”  
 
For more information on NACADA, click HERE.

For information on student programs through ASU Physics, click HERE.

       
  CALENDAR
CHECK



8/14         
Lunch-n-Learn: Faculty Center
Karen Burrington and HR specialist Paul Stoll will provide updates and information as well as field questions regarding ASU Faculty Center. All faculty are welcome. 11:30am in PSF462. See Karen Burrington for details.

8/18-22   
Graduate student orientation
ASU Physics welcomes a new, top-notch graduate class. Week-long training and information sessions will help acclimate new graduate students to ASU.

8/22         
Fall Welcome Event
ASU Physics will host a one-hour open house for incoming freshman. New students and parents will meet the Chair, undergraduate program personnel, and get information on opportunities available to freshmen. All faculty and staff are welcome. 1:30pm in PSF462. See Sabrina Mathues for details.

8/25         
First Day of Classes
GOOD LUCK TO ALL OUR FACULTY, STUDENTS, AND STAFF!

8/26         
Faculty meeting
Tuesday departmental meetings will begin on 8/26. A new departmental web calendar will come online soon. Please see Peg Stuart for more details.

8/28
Department Colloquium
Jeff Squier from the Colorado School of the Mines will be the first speaker in this year's Physics Colloquia. 4:00pm in PSF123.

 

Keep in touch and
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
with ASU Physics!

Please consider supporting ASU Physics students, research, and programs. More information on the ASU Physics website

or by calling 480.965.6794.

 

Physics Flash
welcomes your feedback. Please send your comments, questions, and story suggestions to
margaret.stuart@asu.edu

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Atypical IT
Physics team vital to departmental progress
With a research-intensive area like physics, the Information Technology staff can literally make or break a department’s success. ASU Physics is fortunate to have an in-house IT team that works directly with physics faculty, staff, and students while also acting as liaisons to UTO for broader IT issues.
     A small team which includes IT manager Gary Childress, Web Developer Michael Yakerson, and part-time IT support staff John Huffer, Physics IT serves nearly 100 faculty, research professionals, and staff in addition to graduate and undergraduate students in physics. Needless to say, they are a busy trio. This past year, Childress led his team in providing and managing innovative and practical solutions that impact teaching, learning, research, marketing, and recruitment.
     One project that impacted everyone within the department was the acquisition of a new file storage solution. Physics IT worked with UTO to transfer to a new file storage service which utilizes the CIFS file sharing protocol. The new service allows for easy access from nearly any type of operating system from Windows to Mac to Linux. The change increased ASU Physics’ capacity for file storage while at the same time reducing costs and overhead associated with providing a secure environment through which that information is stored.  Physics IT plans to increase storage capacity again to handle the file storage and backup needs of the department as utilization of the service increases.
     ASU Physics IT also been extremely involved in helping administrative and instructional staff move processes and systems from a paper format to a web format. The result has been an increase in efficiency, access, visibility and engagement. One example of a new web-based process is recruitment. In the past, a faculty search meant piles and piles of applications and letters of recommendation – all of which had to be organized, copied, made available to a search committee, and then archived for three years. For administrative staff, the process was time-consuming. For faculty, access was limited and cumbersome. For the department in general, the files took up space – something no department has an abundance of.
     ASU Physics IT, together with Department Manager Peg Stuart, designed a web-based application submission database that allowed applicants to upload necessary documents through the website. Search committees could view the documents at their convenience through a secure site and even participate in a search committee discussion board on each applicant. The database allowed staff to retrieve contact and application information quickly, categorize applications as complete or incomplete, and monitor search committee progress. 		The applications are archived digitally with no impact on space. It is the kind of application that is a win-win for everyone.    
     In addition to web-based recruitment, ASU Physics IT has worked with staff to develop other applications that streamline textbook ordering and TA/RA assignments among others. The beauty of the collaboration between staff and an in-house IT team
ASU Physics IT manager, Gary Childress, works with Deborah LaBranche in the business office on web applications.

is that modifications and upgrades are made as needed since both groups work in the same building.
     In looking to the future of web design, information sharing and sharing of responsibilities on the web are becoming increasingly important and necessary. ASU Physics IT is currently in the final stages of preparing the department web site to move to a new environment hosted through UTO called Drupal. This new system will help reduce development time for web-based applications while at the same time allowing for a richer user experience.
     For instance, for information to be updated on the Physics website, staff responsible for the content must interface with the web developer to address issues such as formatting of code and graphics manipulation. Because of the user-friendly nature of the new Drupal environment, staff can more easily upload and manage content themselves reducing the turn around time on getting information out to faculty, students, and the public.  Since Drupal also allows for Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, people outside the department can subscribe to the ASU Physics site and be instantly updated on news and events.  ASU Physics IT plans to continue brainstorming ways in which Drupal can positively impact ASU students, faculty, and staff.

If you have an idea or question for ASU Physics IT, please visit their webpage at http://physics.asu.edu/it/physics_it.php.

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From the Chair...

 

Physics on Stage
 Going behind the scenes in a successful physics department

     Our graduate student teaching assistants also play an important role in the success of our academic programs. The process begins with recruitment of the brightest and most gifted individuals from around the world.  Graduate Program Director Bruce Doak works closely with a team of faculty and our graduate coordinator to select a group of about twenty outstanding new graduate students each year.  In the week before classes, these graduate students participate in a week-long orientation designed to help them become familiar with ASU, the department, and their fellow students. General Studies Program Director Carl Covatto facilitates many workshops throughout the week that focus on their role in teaching, understanding the undergraduate curriculum, grading, and lab/recitation responsibilities. Carl has provided inspiration and direction to numerous incoming graduate classes.
     Undergraduate Coordinator and Academic Advisor Sabrina Mathues takes the lead in recruiting and advising our undergraduate majors. Her dedication and attention to detail have resulted in significant growth in the majors program over the last two years.  The students really appreciate the way she is there to help each of them understand the process and the program that they desire.
     In many of our lectures, our students are amazed by demonstrations of physical phenomena that are brought to life right there in the classroom. Behind the scene, rooms full of equipment are organized and assembled by Wayne Easterling and Jim Krider to develop each of these lecture demonstrations.
     Physics is a quantitative science and our laboratories provide students hands on experience to characterize physical phenomena with precise measurements and then to build mathematical models that describe the results.  Before each laboratory, Iwonna Rzanek works with our graduate teaching assistants to organize laboratories so that they actually work! 
     Banks of computers are set up by Gary Childress and his team with the software that will enable students to apply the most advanced mathematical approaches. As detailed in this issue of the Physics Flash, Gary and his team do so much in support of teaching and research through ASU Physics. (see Atypical IT)
     The start of the semester is the peak of excitement as the whole team makes final adjustments and welcomes our students to the 200+ sessions where the principles of physics are discussed and explored, and our students apply their new knowledge to solve some of the most complex problems ever posed.  The knowledge gained from these exercises may well be at the foundation of society’s most critical challenges of energy, sustainability, defense and health.
     It is truly a team effort, and every one of our staff, student assistants and faculty deserves our appreciation for their dedication to one of the largest shows of physics on earth.
     Congratulations to each of them on a job well done, and best wishes in the upcoming academic year!

 

Sincerely,

 

 


Robert J. Nemanich
It is a singular pleasure to watch how our staff, student workers, graduate student assistants and faculty work together to bring the principles of physics to our students and to the ASU community.  It is truly a collaborative effort that involves multiple people with a wide range of responsibilities. Often much of the planning and maintenance for an exemplary physics program happens behind the scenes and goes largely unnoticed by students and those outside the department. But the teamwork and dedication is there and is exemplified through so many of our staff.
     Every semester over 4,000 students enroll in ASU Physics courses.  The instructor-student interactions that occur in each class meeting represent the culmination of a tremendous effort which begins nearly a year before the semester starts.  Our faculty initiate the process with Associate Chair and Regents’ Professor David Smith where they define the courses that will inspire our majors and graduate students, and provide the foundational knowledge of physics for ASU students in majors across the campus.
     Working closely with General Studies Coordinator, Karen Burrington, and Instructional Resource Manager, Tim Cook, Dave develops a schedule of lecture, recitation and laboratory courses, The three then work with the University to schedule the rooms and assign a faculty or student assistant to each of the over 200 lectures, recitations, and laboratories taught through ASU Physics. Making these assignments is a tremendous undertaking.
     In the weeks before the semester begins, Dave, Karen, and Tim carefully watch the student enrollments and often make significant adjustments to the schedule.  The past few years have seen an increase in enrollments – at times fairly dramatic. As these increases impact the course schedule, Karen, Dave, and Tim adjust and readjust to ensure the best use of time, space, and resources.
     At the start of the semester, our student workers Shelly Robinson and Raiza Dottin help students make last minute adjustments to their course schedule. Both Shelly and Raiza help students quickly get the information they need to register or modify their schedules. So many students have commented on the efficiency of our student worker staff.

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