Wanted to forward to the list the reply below from Mariam Dittman. It
correctly addresses the issue in which I am interested. i.e. do
teachers with a master's degree in physics have appropriate credentials
to teach introductory astronomy? If the answer is yes, what is the
credible authority that says so? Any comments from AAPT?
Cheers,
Rick Swanson
Mariam Dittman said:
We just completed our accreditation visit. I assume yours is coming
up.
Will this get past an accreditation team? It depends on the team. Our
VP of
academic affairs required us to write up a justification for an
exception to
qualifications because none of our physicists have enough astronomy
hours.
He was formerly with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
(SACS). Did we need to do it? We'll never know for sure.
I would start by explaining to your administration that this is common
practice (to hire physics folks for astronomy classes). Explain that
astronomy is a subfield of physics. I told the VP that this wasn't a
problem 10 years ago. He told me that the regulations are stricter
now. Is
there a credible source to support this (astro courses taught by
physics
folks)? Probably not. You might try looking at degree programs for
graduate work near you. Find a university with a grad program in
physics
that has folks doing astronomy work. See what their courses would be
labeled (PHYS or ASTR) for the most part. That might work if they take
phys
coursework while doing astronomy research. If you can show that this
university that produces astronomers gives them physics coursework,
then
that may satisfy folks.
Be aware that SACS is really looking hard at qualifications at the two
year
college level. They pulled 1100 personnel records (current and past
instructors) in their two day visit with us. The problem you will have
is
that the must statements are sufficiently vague. As I recall it goes
something like this: You must have a Masters degree and 18 semester
hours
in field or a Masters degree with a major in field. It doesn't state
specifically that you have to have someone with hours in ASTR to teach
ASTR.
But it depends on how your team defines "in field". You might rather
be
safe then sorry. All it will need is just a letter of justification
saying
that this person completed coursework in physics which pertains to the
teaching of astronomy. Of course, the worst that happens if you don't
do
this is that the accreditation team identifies these folks as not
qualified
and then you file an exception with a listing of course work that is
appropriate to the field of astronomy (which should be about all of
the
coursework for the physics degree).
I wish you luck.
Richard E. Swanson, Ph.D.
Dean of Instruction
Physics Professor
Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst, NC 28374
swansonr@sandhills.edu (910) 695-3715