| Physics phase-out |
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| Written by Christina Lords - Argonaut | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 29 January 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
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 Fans hold up signs with a message supporting the University of Idaho physics department at the basketball game against Boise State University Thursday. Editor’s note: There are 41 programs that could possibly cut from the University of Idaho come April. This story is the first in a series of how those proposed cuts, determined by Program Prioritization Process, would affect the UI campus on a college-by-college level. Look for next week’s installment on how the PPP is affecting the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences. Alex Natale can’t believe the rumors are true.Natale, a senior physics major, heard from classmates the University of Idaho might be cutting its undergraduate physics program. The next day in class, his professors confirmed his disbelief. “I thought it was ridiculous,” he said. “I don’t know how they could cut physics from the College of Science and still be the College of Science. It’s a core science.” The bachelor of arts and bachelor of science physics programs may be cut as a result of the university’s Program Prioritization Process. The PPP is a part of the University of Idaho’s Strategic Action Plan — a long series of decisions affecting the university’s future that was implemented in 2005. Interim President Steven Daley-Laursen said the PPP is an effort to increase the overall financial and academic efficiency of the university. The Provost’s Council oversees the PPP. College of Science Dean Scott Wood said he recognizes the physics cuts detailed by PPP are not without controversy, but he said he hopes the cuts made in the undergraduate program will lead to a more focused and viable graduate program. “Current faculty and staff are disagreeing with the recommendations,” he said. “There is some controversy there.” The possible loss of upper division courses will allow more time for faculty to focus on graduate work, Wood said. Currently, UI has 57 physics majors. “We want (faculty) to focus on research,” he said. “We think they should be drawn to that.” Wood said the university’s efforts to focus on research would help retain quality faculty members if the proposed cuts were to be carried out. “I don’t think we’ll see a mass exodus,” he said. But Natale isn’t so sure. He and other physics students are concerned with the quality of education they would get if cuts were made, especially for the underclassmen and future students, he said. If the physics upper division courses were cut, Natale said he worries about professors having enough incentive to stay at UI. If the physics faculty is more consumed with research, he fears graduate students may have a larger role in teaching lower division courses, he said. “We want (incoming students’) education to be pretty good, too,” Natale said. He stressed the importance of maintaining the current level of student-faculty interaction and available lab work for undergraduates in the physics department. “You learn the same things wherever you go,” he said. “It all depends on how well you know your professors. A lot of (universities) don’t get that time with their professors and don’t get the time to do that lab work.” The master of natural science degree and master of arts in teaching degrees in chemistry, earth science, geography and physics are graduate programs that may also be cut from the College of Science. “We have exceedingly low demand for those programs,” Wood said. “We’re basically cleaning up the catalog there.” Jack McIver, UI’s vice president of research, said concern had been expressed that faculty would not have as much undergraduate student help with research opportunities. Undergraduates can be utilized from other science departments to conduct physics research, he said. Natale said one of his main concerns would be less opportunity for research in important cutting-edge areas such as nanotechnology and bioinformatics. Nanotechnology is technology of devices and materials that are constructed in extremely small scales. Bioinformatics utilizes computer science and mathematics to model and analyze biological systems, such as genetic information. McIver said it was important to analyze UI’s current research and anticipate what kinds of research will receive future funding. “It will be more of a shift (in research) that we’ll be doing,” he said. “We’ll have a new administration, a new Congress … The question is, is this university aligning its strengths to get money from federal funding.” Wood said he encourages students to get involved with the prioritization process — an option students like Natale are taking seriously. Graduate student in physics Jamie Hass is circulating a petition to save the major. “There are more of us than the faculty,” he said. “We pay for our education. We’re like consumers in this situation. We have a say in what happens to us.” Students have been encouraged by faculty and department leaders to write letters expressing their concern, Natale said. “They all want us to try to fight this,” he said. “We just didn’t think it’s reasonable.” Students have already written letters to the Idaho State Board of Education, Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, former UI alumni and student organizations like the Society of Physics Students, Natale said. Some students feel like university leaders haven’t been transparent enough, he said. “It seems like these changes came out of nowhere,” Natale said. “It doesn’t seem like there’s a place for feedback … They say they’re being open, but it doesn’t seem like there’s a way of communicating with these people who made this decision.” The process has been hard, but the university’s leaders, especially fellow deans, have shown support for one anothers programs, Wood said. “We’re just going to make (UI) that much better, but to do that, we have to make difficult decisions,” he said.  Add as favorites (178) | Views: 7641
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