Introduction - 1994 Proposal to Research Corporation

Lawrence University

Department of Physics

INTRODUCTION TO PROPOSAL FOR

DEPARTMENTAL DEVELOPMENT GRANT

Proposal submitted to Research Corporation, Tucson, AZ, August, 1994; awarded in December, 1994.

Executive Summary

The Department of Physics at Lawrence University aspires to become one of the best small physics departments in the country. To attain this goal, we must increase faculty research productivity and undergraduate research participation --- two outcomes that require major improvement in departmental infrastructure. The Department's long-standing endorsement of research, combined with decades of experience in undergraduate research participation, suggests that major improvements should be realizable in four years. Our primary need at present is financial support that will permit prompt and planned development in several areas. We submit this proposal to Research Corporation as an application for a Department Development Grant.

In many respects, physics at Lawrence is thriving. Recruitment has nearly tripled our number of majors; curricular innovations have generated strong programs in laser and computational physics; faculty research and student/faculty collaborative research are increasing; publications and talks, often with student coauthors, occur regularly. With a heightened institutional commitment to change, with a capital campaign designed to provide additional support and facilities, with one new physicist in 1993--94 and second in 1995--96, and with the addition of a laboratory supervisor in 1996, the Department is poised to take a major step toward excellence. Founded in 1847, Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music that provides 1200 students with a rich environment for learning. The University's budget has been in balance for fourteen years, the endowment is $90M, and the University is in the ``quiet'' phase of a capital campaign scheduled to conclude in 1997 during Lawrence's sesquicentennial. A student-faculty ratio of 11:1 fosters personalized teaching and responsiveness to individual student needs. Small classes, tutorials, independent study, and faculty/student collaboration characterize the Lawrence approach to education. The Department of Physics consists of four professors, a technician, a part-time machinist, and a future laboratory supervisor. We presently occupy 8300 square feet, space that is scheduled to expand by fifty percent within five years.

I. Introduction

The Department of Physics at Lawrence University aspires to become one of the premier small physics departments in the country. Realization of this goal will require a stretching effort spanning several areas, the most important being increased faculty research and greater involvement of undergraduates in research. These improvements necessitate a major strengthening of departmental infrastructure, especially in the areas of staffing and equipment. This proposal discusses the rationale for these objectives, assesses our present condition as a baseline for improvement, proposes changes for the designated areas, and suggests measures for evaluating progress. Complete with dates and budget, this proposal requests support for four years of planned development that should help us realize our goal of becoming one of the best small physics departments in the country.

II. Recent Developments: The State of the Department

Various activities during the past decade attest to our efforts to improve: we have developed and exported curricular innovations, received outside support for various activities, hosted conferences and workshops, developed a scheme for recruiting prospective majors, expanded faculty/student research, increased our publication rate and number of contributions at national meetings, and developed an identity and esprit that prompts us to think boldly about the future of physics at Lawrence. Two curricular enhancements emerged during the past decade --- laser and computational physics. These advances stemmed from pilot programs that served as models for other institutions. Now that these programs are accomplished, we find ourselves with laser and computational facilities unmatched at most other undergraduate institutions. Our resulting ability to provide first-class instruction in these areas has enriched our offerings and established greater pride in the Department. Support for laser and computational physics came from NSF, the Pew Trust, the Keck and General Electric Foundations; workshops and national conferences in these areas were supported by NSF, NSF/APS, and the Sloan Foundation. During the past six years, faculty and faculty/student research generated fifteen papers in The Physical Review, Computers in Physics, Annals of Science, The Journal of Applied Physics, Optics Communications, The Proceedings of the Materials Research Society, and Historica Mathematica. The physics faculty delivered twelve invited and ten contributed talks at APS, OSA, BHSS, MRS, HSS, Project Kaleidoscope, AAPT, GEC, Sigma Xi, and AAAS meetings. During the same period, students in the Department delivered thirteen talks at NCUR and/or Argonne undergraduate research symposia. These contributions stemmed from programs supported by Research Corporation, NSF, NEH, NASA, the Keck Foundation, and several corporations (Tektronix, Coherent, Perkin-Elmer, Siemens). Members of the Department participate in national organizations and engage periodically in professional consulting. Recruitment of prospective majors has proven to be beneficial. For each of the past eight years, we have invited forty outstanding high school seniors from all over the country to attend weekend workshops. Using our laser/computational facilities, we engage these students in hands-on activity. Thirty percent of the attendees matriculate here. As a result, our number of graduates has increased from about five per year in the 1980's to about ten or a dozen during each of the past few years. The high ability of our recruits has enabled us to increase the rigor of our program, a development that has prompted increasing numbers of graduates, seven or eight in recent years, to pursue the doctorate in physics or related fields.

III. An Opportunity for Excellence

While we take pride in these developments, we think more about improvements and the prospects for taking a major step toward excellence. Our thinking is prompted by the following considerations:

Lawrence has increased its endorsement of undergraduate research,¹ an activity long championed by the Department;
The sciences at Lawrence figure prominently in the current capital campaign² which concludes in 1997; objectives for this campaign include new facilities³ and expanded support for physics and the other natural sciences;
The Department plans to introduce a capstone program for seniors as a way to focus and enrich the curriculum; this program will also serve as a pilot within the University to demonstrate the strong impact that integrative and custom-tailored senior experiences can have on students;⁴
Lawrence has strengthened its endorsement of faculty scholarship and research;⁵
Our new colleague, Prof. Susanne M. Lee, is already bringing new research and teaching interests to the Department;
A second new physicist will bring additional interests and perspectives in 1995;
The administration has approved, pending external startup funding, the hiring of an additional member of the physics staff to be called a laboratory supervisor;
The administration approves the replacement of full-year sabbaticals in physics.

These developments, especially when taken together, suggest that the prerequisites exist for the Department to take a major step toward excellence. We believe that excellence in a small physics department requires strength and depth in three basic categories:

a vigorous faculty that engages in both teaching and research, develops and refines curricular materials, pursues significant research problems, publishes and participates in professional activities, secures outside support for research and teaching agendas, interacts with colleagues in other disciplines and other institutions, recruits and advises students effectively, and attends to the needs of non-scientists and non-majors as well as majors;
able and lively students who are attracted to the department, perform well in coursework, participate aggressively in undergraduate research, score well on national examinations, compete successfully for national honors and awards, gain admission to strong graduate programs, contribute to good student/faculty rapport, and exhibit high levels of postgraduate achievement;
a solid infrastructure that provides good facilities, support staff, ample equipment, modern research and teaching laboratories, adequate library resources and services, extensive computational facilities, and a strong departmental identity and ethic that reflect faculty comraderie and a commonality of goals.

Our program already shows strength in many of these areas. But two categories require major improvement if we are to achieve excellence: we need more faculty research productivity and we need greater student involvement in research. To generate these outcomes, we need to invest significantly in departmental infrastructure, with a major emphasis on staffing and equipment. As we discuss below, we also need more space, greater outreach to non-scientists, and more frequent submission of research proposals. But for the next four years, we propose to focus mainly on the first two categories where we believe investment in infrastructure can produce prompt and major improvement.

Footnotes

¹The Excellence in Sciences Fund, a special part of the endowment designed to support undergraduate research in the sciences at Lawrence, is scheduled to grow to roughly $2M by the end of the decade.

²A case statement summarizing the goals of this campaign was submitted to Research Corporation in October, 1992. At least $15M in campaign funds are earmarked for the natural sciences, roughly $11M of which will be spent on new and renovated facilities; the remaining $4M will cover scientific equipment and endowment restricted to the support of the sciences.

³Ellenzweig Associates, an architectural firm in Cambridge, MA, is coordinating the planning of new and renovated natural science facilities at Lawrence.

⁴A recent grant from the Keck Foundation attends to several prerequisites for this program.

⁵Richard Warch, ``Practicing What We Preach: Scholarship and the Aims of a Liberal Arts Education'', President's Report for 1991-92, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, September, 1992.