December 14, 2004 Undergraduate Program Status of the Plans for a BA Physics Degree Status of AST/PHY277 “upgrade” Three similar ‘seminar’ courses: PHY104Opportunities in Physics PHY200Physics Today PHY311Connections in Science Topics for Discussion

Bachelor of Arts in Physics Where we left last time: Advantages of a B. A. in Physics seriously questioned A closer look to other institutions advised What has been done since: Questionnaire sent to Mid-west Physics Chairs Twelve responses have been received and compiled

Status of Plans for Bachelor of Arts in Physics Last year’s discussions crystallized in concrete proposal This year’s discussion has questioned advantages of instituting a B.A. in Physics: Prospective clientele is not clear It is doubtful that it’ll attract more students It may reduce the number of B. S. Physics majors who take the B.S. track It may require the introduction of new courses, which is not a good “economics” decision It is not clear how much other institutions have benefited from a B.A. program Proposal: Take a closer look one more time to more institutions, before settling issue definitively

A Survey of Other Institutions

1.Do you have (or did you have in past) a BA or 'General' degree program in place? 2. How many credits are required in physics for the BA and the BS? How many credits in related disciplines for each? 3. Do you have courses that are specifically tailored for the BA outside those offered for the BS degree? What are they? 4. On average, how many physics majors graduate per year in the BS and BA tracks? In your estimation, how many of those with the BA degree would not have enrolled in the BS if the BA were not available? 5. If you have a web page that describes the requirements for BS and BA, could you give us the link? Questionnaire

Bachelor of Arts in Physics Where we left last time: Advantages of a B. A. in Physics seriously questioned A closer look to other institutions advised What has been done since: Questionnaire sent to Mid-west Physics Chairs Twelve responses received and compiled What we propose: Shelf plans for BA in Physics, for now File gathered information Revisit decision in 5 years, if appropriate What we found: The BA program marginal as a recruiting tool Benefits of BA program not significant

Chair’s note: The suggestion to table the institution of a BA degree was accepted.

AST/PHY277: Computation for PHY and AST Majors Where we left last time: Proposal of mandatory, 3-credit AST/PHY277 well received Syllabus to be completed What has been done since: A small committee (Swesty, Jacobsen, Drew) has drafted a detailed syllabus

AST/PHY 277: An Introduction to Un*x Computing Prepare Physics and Astronomy majors for modern scientific computing, with value well beyond their undergraduate years. Computer Literacy Computer Programming Numerical Methods Main Areas Characteristics Mandatory for AST and PHY majors 3-credit course Taught once a year (Fall semester) Will need a TA, for extensive grading and “help in the field” Limited numbers of seats (25 to 30 max) Objective

AST/PHY277: Computation for PHY and AST Majors Where we left last time: Proposal of mandatory, 3-credit AST/PHY277 well received Syllabus to be completed What has been done since: A small committee (Swesty, Jacobsen, Drew) has drafted a detailed syllabus What will happen, if syllabus is approved: “New” AST/PHY277 forwarded to CAS Curriculum Comm. CAS Curriculum Comm. will review case in January If approved, new AST/PHY277 will start in Fall ’05

Introduction to Unix –basic file manipulation commands –editing files –working remotely Introduction to Fortran 90 –integer & floating point arithmetic –real & integer variables and expressions –basic conditional & loop structures –static arrays –basics of subprograms Rudimentary numerical techniques –Trapezoidal rule integration –Basic least-squares fit –Newton-Raphson iteration –Euler's method for ODEs Computer literacy –more extensive tour of Unix –graphics & visualization applications –makefiles –LaTeX –HTML –IDL/Mathematica/Maple/Matlab –symbolic manipulation Programming –Complex variables & strings –Formatted I/O –allocatable arrays & dynamic memory allocation –All of F90 & procedural parts of C++ –pointers in F90, C, C++ Numerical Methods –Greater detail of numerical integration, root-finding, ODE methods –Intro to Monte-Carlo methods In 1-credit course we teach:In 3-credit course we could add: AST 277/PHY 277

The faculty enthusiastically endorsed making “Computation in Physics and Astronomy” a required 3 credit course for first offering in Fall 2005.

Three Comparable Seminar Courses PHY104Opportunities in Physics Stony Brook faculty, alumni and other physicists discuss their current projects and their careers, and relate their activities both to basic undergraduatethe introductory physics curriculum and to areas of on-going research PHY200Physics Today Introduces students to the excitement of current topics in physics research. Students are introduced to researchers from the University and Brookhaven National Laboratory who are conducting research at the forefront of a variety of subfields of physics. Literature search and presentation skills are developed. PHY311Connections in Science A selection of the interrelations between physics and other scientific and technological fields, using modern examples from engineering, Investigation of the application of physics to other scientific fields including medicine, biophysics, chemistry, engineering, and applied mathematics, among others. The course is taught as a seminar and includes guest lecturers, tours of laboratories, and discussion of classic and current research projects.

Three Comparable Seminar Courses F04S04F03F03 PHY PHY PHY Enrollment: Proposal Leave PHY311 as it is Consolidate PHY104 and PHY200

The undergraduate curriculum committee proposes: 1.Make PHY277 a requirement for PHY major (it already is for AST) 2.Expand AST/PHY277 syllabus and make it a 3-credit course 3.Encourage students to take AST/PHY277 in Sophomore year 4.Encourage upper-division instructors to include numerical problems in their assignments

The faculty voted to amalgamate PHY104 and PHY200 into PHY200 starting as soon as possible.