We are broadening our educational focus to include experiences that will prepare our students for immediate employment following graduation. We are in the process of exploring links with local and regional industries that will lead to co-op and internship opportunities and eventually jobs. We are developing external-funding proposals for our surface science research center and optoelectronics laser laboratory. We have developed new courses to expose students outside the sciences to the beauty of physics. We are ahead of most in developing our intructional model to include the more effective discovery and collaborative learning approaches.
Astronomy is a field that almost everyone enjoys.
We have two astronomy courses and a laboratory that are very popular with students. The faculty of the department are young, friendly, enthusiastic about physics and sincerely interested in students. Often we have students involved with our research activities during their first year in physics. Our students find time to be involved in publishable research and maintain an active chapter of the Society of Physics Students where physics students can get to know others with similar interests. They sponsor various activities aimed at the diffusion of the knowledge of physics and just having a good time while being personally involved in adding to the physics knowledge base.