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Re: profs

Joel's suggestion of using Enginering profs to teach physics is closer to
reality than our smirks may allow us to consider. I suggested at this
summer's Professional Concerns Committee meeting of AAPT that this was an
issue worth addressing, since the summer Invited Session of the
Professional Concerns Committee was centered of the effects of downsizing.

Historically, Engineering Departments have rattled their chains and
threatened to teach our courses for us, but disdained the task of weeding
out their own students (It was more pleasant to let us be the unpopular
instructors). As food for the grist: Our Electrical Engineering School
admits 500 freshmen into the program. There are 64 slots in senior EE lab.
Something must cause 80-90% to "change their minds." Perhaps a Physics
course would do it.

However, with the increased use of non-degree granting physics departments,
the trend is set for Universities to experience what secondary schools
already have, namely, that the person that teaches a course may not even
have taken the course, but certainly does not need a degree in it!!!

Over the past decade my own department has had "guest lecturers", who were
anything from post-docs, to visiting faculty, to members of other
departments. A Chemist, who taught one section, won the "physics" teaching
excellence award from the College of Natural Sciences that year.
Currently, one section of Honors Engineering Physics is taught by an
Engineering Prof, who is doing an excellent job--and enjoys it--and the
students know it!

Now I ask you to consider the following: If 3000 service course students
suddenly left your department to take their physics course elsewhere (1)
How many faculty would have to be "let go" because their teaching loads
could not justify their employ? (2) Could this method of shifting loads be
*used* to eliminate tenure? and (3) What would be the financial
consequences (independent of other considerations) to the Department
Operating Budget with the loss of the dollars these students represent?

Just some food for thought. Karl


Richard Tarara said:

Better to have the theoretical physicist teach math than to try and teach
physics! ;-)

An interesting thought, and I'm not telling which group I belong into.

Does this mean we should really be getting Civil Engineering Profs to teach
physics? :-))

Joel

____________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Karl I. Trappe Desk:(512)471-4152
Physics Dept-Mail Stop C1600 Office: (512) 471-5411
The University of Texas at Austin FAX: (512) 471-9637 (other building)
Austin, Texas 78712-1081 E-Mail:trappe@physics.utexas.edu
____________________________________________________________________________