Department Committees
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Climate and Diversity
Function: Promotes equitable climate and diversity by helping identify issues and implementing activities and actions to improve department-wide climate and diversity.
Meeting frequency: once per month
Colloquium
Function: The colloquium committee selects and recruits colloquium speakers, with input from all the faculty. The committee’s primary work is to fill the colloquium schedule for the spring of the current academic year and the fall of the upcoming academic year.
Meeting frequency: Once at the in the beginning of the academic yearin person to discuss procedures. The rest of the work is done by emails and google doc.
Space and Facilities (computing, shops, and library)
Function: Monitors office and research space allocations. Evaluates remodeling requests. Recommends actions and policies related to the library, computing systems, electronics and mechanical shops development and usage.
Meeting frequency: Approximately every three months
New Staff (Faculty), Promotions and Mentoring
Function: Works with new faculty search committees to recommend worthy candidates to the department, organizes faculty promotions material and mentoring committees.
Meeting frequency: as needed
Outreach, Communications, Web Content and Museum
Function: Discusses upcoming outreach events, plans for reaching more students/communities, museum programming (docents program, exhibit additions/fixes/rotations), approves large-scale redesigns of the website (e.g. the Research page was completed with large amounts of feedback from this committee)
Meeting frequency: Once a month, does not meet over summer
Staff Recognition and Salaries
Function: Reviews non-faculty staff annually to nominate them for intra and extra mural awards/fellowships and salary raises.
Meeting frequency: as needed, approximately once or twice per year
Faculty Recognition and Salaries
Function: Reviews faculty annually to nominate them for intra and extra mural awards/fellowships and salary raises. – special assignment for this year is to ensure compliance of our department procedures with the “Revised Post-Tenure Policy” recently approved by the UW-System Board of Regents.
Meeting frequency: as needed, quite frequently
Department Finances
Function: Reviews department finances and spending policies and priorities.
Meeting frequency: as needed, approximately once or twice per year
Strategic Planning
Function: Reviews and updates the department strategic plan.
Meeting frequency: As needed, not very often but it depends on the year
Student Awards
Function: Reviews student award selection process and selects students for annual intra and extra mural awards.
Meeting frequency: usually once per year, in March
Alumni and Board of Visitors Committee
Function: Runs BoV meetings (2x/year), provides administrative support for BOV, liaises with WFAA Development Officer, reviews/awards MacDonald Awards and George Ott staff award.
Meeting frequency: Two BoV meetings/year (usually in May and Oct). Awards meeting held once per year.
Undergraduate Committees
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Physics Majors Program
Function: Provides oversight of physics major courses, including laboratories. Develops strategies to make UG physics program more attractive, and recruit physics, AMEP and AP majors. Nominates students for annual department and university awards.
Meeting frequency: As needed
Service Courses
Function: Provides oversight of service courses, including laboratories and teaching assistants. Reviews TA performance report and recommends TAs for annual department and university awards. Includes oversight of course coordination and REACH effort.
Meeting frequency: once per month
Graduate Committees
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PhD Graduate Program
Function: Advises the department regarding PhD graduate education and research related matters.
Meeting frequency: as needed, approximate every other month
PhD First Year
Function: Provides guidance to first-year PhD students.
Meeting frequency: Pairs of committee members meet with each incoming student in summer and occasionally throughout the year.
PhD Graduate Recruiting
Function: Discusses methods to attract PhD students to the department.
Meeting frequency:
PhD Graduate Admissions & Fellowships
Function: Reviews applications to the PhD program and makes recommendations on acceptances. The number of offers must be decided in consultation with the chair and associate chair. Committee duties extend additionally to proactive involvement in the recruitment process.
Meeting frequency: Several times during December, January and February
PhD Qualifying Exam
Function: Responsible for conducting the qualifying exam that includes assembling problems, grading, making recommendations on passing grade, and overall grades distribution, placement.
Meeting frequency: as needed prior to each exam
PhD Preliminary Exam
Function: Serves on prelim committees of students and develops a concrete plan to “keep track” of students after the exam, providing additional monitoring of student’s progress towards PhD.
Meeting frequency: As needed prior to each exam
MSPQC Committee
Function: Meets to hear program status from MSPQC staff and provides feedback to planned/desired program or curriculum changes.
Meeting frequency: Once per semester and as needed
MSPQC Admissions
Function: Reviews applications to the MSPQC master’s program and makes recommendations on acceptances.
Meeting frequency: Several times during January, February, March and April