Gender Equity Conversation Visits
APS invites physics departments to schedule Conversations on Gender Equity. These conversations foster dialogue between visiting discussion leaders and members of physics departments or laboratories. Discussion leaders meet with students, faculty, staff, the department chair or lab director, and other interested parties to examine the institution’s culture and how that culture affects its climate for gender equity and expansion of diversity, with a goal of finding customized solutions. The visiting team is selected from members of the APS 2007 Gender Equity workshop steering committee, the APS Committee on the Status of Women in Physics, and other physicists who are engaged in diversity issues.
All travel expenses for the discussion leaders are borne by APS (with funding from the National Science Foundation). To date, teams have visited University of Notre Dame, Brown University, University of Houston, Northeastern University, Cornell University, SUNY Stony Brook, and the University of California Berkeley. Gender Equity Site Visit Information
M. Hildred Blewett Scholarship
Applications are due June 4, 2010 for the M. Hildred Blewett Scholarship for Women in Physics. The annual scholarship consists of an award of up to $45,000 to enable women to return to physics research careers after having had to interrupt those careers for family reasons. M. Hildred Blewett Scholarship Information
American Association of Physics Teachers Summer Meeting
This year’s AAPT Summer Meeting will take place in Portland, Oregon from July 17-21, with a theme of “50 Years of Lasers.” The AAPT meeting features two days of workshops followed by three days of sessions, plenary talks, and other events. AAPT Website
Embed Teacher Recruiting Video in your Website
As reported last month, the APS/AAPT-led PhysTEC project recently produced a fast-paced five-minute video designed to inspire physics majors to pursue a career in teaching. The PhysTEC website now includes html code that you can use to embed the video in your department’s website. Teach Physics Video.
ESEA Reauthorization
The Department of Education recently issued a blueprint for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which was renamed “No Child Left Behind” under the previous administration. The blueprint instructs states to continue developing and implementing science assessments, but does not include science testing in the important measure of Adequate Yearly Progress. APS along with the American Institute of Physics and four of its member societies endorsed a letter to the House Committee on Education and Labor with the following recommendations:
1. Include science in any accountability measure while recognizing the importance of laboratory and inquiry-based learning.
2. Include language in Title IIA directing school districts to set aside a portion of the Teacher Quality funds for science professional development programs and reauthorize the Math and Science Partnership program (Title IIB) at $450 million.
3. Create an office at the Department of Education to oversee the Department’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs.
