National MagLab
Congrats to @floridastate Physics Dept for being cited as 1 of 5 model undergraduate physics programs in the U.S.http://ow.ly/IwE0306pR62
"For a public educational institution in Florida, there is no task more important than helping students from all backgrounds gain access to the most economically promising career paths — those in engineering, computing and the mathematical and physical sciences.
That’s why it is so significant that a national task force recently cited FSU’s Physics Department as one of five model undergraduate physics programs in the U.S.
The task force, named the Joint Task Force on Undergraduate Physics Programs (J-TUPP) because it was organized by two physics professional organizations, said that the FSU Physics Department is driven by “a focus on preparing all students for success.” That is a surprising description of an academic program in an elite discipline like physics.
The Physics Department’s undergraduate program, led by professor Susan Blessing, was cited both for its own educational innovations and for adopting highly effective teaching strategies developed elsewhere. The department’s emphasis on getting students involved in cutting-edge research early in their undergraduate careers was also lauded.
The task force pointed out that because FSU is a research university, the Physics Department “must balance competing priorities, including graduate and undergraduate education and research productivity.” But the task force noted that the undergraduate program had benefited from “having a strong undergraduate committee” — which includes a former department chair and two former chairs of national education-related committees.
The undergraduate program also benefits from broad support among the entire Physics Department faculty as well as active encouragement from administrators at higher levels.
Many parents, teachers, counselors and policymakers are surprised to learn that bachelor’s degree graduates in physics are among the most highly valued members of the 21st century workforce. Even without further education, these graduates work in engineering and information technology jobs as well as in other roles. When the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce ranked bachelor’s degree fields by salary in 2015, they placed physics 15th — sharing space in the top 25 with engineering disciplines, information technology, applied math and statistics, economics and pharmacy.
Even physics bachelor degree graduates who continue on for more education contribute in unexpected ways. Many earn doctorates in physics research, of course. But undergraduate physics majors post some of the highest scores on the entrance exams for professional programs in medicine and law.
Among the science, engineering, math and computing disciplines, physics is not the only one in which FSU provides outstanding undergraduate programs. The university’s new Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences program for pre-health students is breaking new ground. The undergraduate programs in Statistics and Computer Science are growing rapidly. And that is just a sampling.
But FSU can only continue to serve Florida’s students well if we maintain a bedrock commitment to providing high quality undergraduate education, even while attending to the other demands that a research university must meet. It’s a tall order, but Florida requires nothing less."
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