2018 Department Chairs Conference

June 7 - 9, 2018
American Center for Physics
College Park, Maryland

The American Physical Society and American Association of Physics Teachers thank you for participating in the 2018 Physics Department Chairs Conference, held on June 7-9, 2018. Designed by chairs, for chairs, the program featured extended discussions and networking with other chairs on topics prioritized by you.

2018 Chairs Conference photo

2018 Department Chairs Conference

Conference Schedule

Wednesday, June 6 - Greenbelt Marriott
7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Congressional visit briefing
Room: Chesapeake A and B
Thursday, June 7 - Greenbelt Marriott
7:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Congressional visit day on Capitol Hill
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. New chairs workshop
Room: Chesapeake A and B
6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Reception
Room: Annapolis Ballroom
6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Introduction
Plenary with dinner

A New Guide to Effective Practices and Departmental Review
Michael Jackson, Millersville University
Room: Annapolis Ballroom
Friday, June 8 - American Center for Physics
8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Breakfast snacks
8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Opening plenary
Phys21: Career Preparation for Physics Departments
Paula Heron, University of Washington
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Career preparation breakouts
10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Panel
Student Recruitment to Undergraduate Programs
Ron Henderson, Middle Tennessee State University
Michael Jackson, Millersville University
Vivian Incera, City University of New York
Lance Cooper, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Workshop
Inclusive Graduate Admissions
Casey Miller, Rochester Institute of Technology
Julie Posselt, University of Southern California
11:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Report
Community Data from Your Programs
Ted Hodapp
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Introduction of chair discussions
Departmental Leadership in the 21st Century
Neal Abraham, Five Colleges
1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Breakout Sessions: Administration Issues*
Smaller colleges and universities Regional universities Large research institutions
3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Break
3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Breakout Sessions: Faculty Issues*
Smaller colleges and universities Regional universities Large research institutions
5:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Report back from breakout sessions
5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Reception
6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Dinner
Saturday, June 9 - American Center for Physics
8:00 a.m. - 8:15 a.m. Breakfast snacks
8:15 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Plenary
How to Effect Pedagogical Change at the Department Level
Charles Henderson, Western Michigan University
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Breakout Sessions: Transforming Pedagogy**
Introductory Courses Upper-division Courses Computation Across the Curriculum Cross-disciplinary Courses Evidence-based techniques that apply to all courses
10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Breakout Sessions: Mentoring*
Smaller colleges and universities Regional universities Large research institutions
11:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Closing
12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Physics Innovation and Entrepreneurship Workshop (optional, additional registration required)


Congressional Visit Day (Optional)

In addition, there will be a Congressional Visit Day (CVD) prior to the start of the conference. The APS Office of Government Affairs (OGA) facilitates communication between physicists and Congress through CVDs. OGA will assist CVD participants with setting up a meeting with their representative or senator and will provide supporting material on scientific issues of concern.


Physics Innovation and Entrepreneurship Workshop

Phys21 in Practice: Building a Supportive Ecosystem for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Physics Departments
Members of the APS PIPELINE program, a project which focuses on developing methods to integrate innovation and entrepreneurship education into physics (PIE), will be hosting a half-day workshop immediately following the 2018 Department Chair’s conference in College Park, MD. The workshop will focus on PIE as a mechanism to achieve the goals outlined in the Phys21 report, and develop examples of implementations that you can take back to your campus.


Sponsored by the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers.