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Why Physics at
Southwestern?
1. Award Winning Faculty - The faculty of the Physics Department have been recognized within the
Southwestern College community as outstanding educators. Since 1991, the
current members of the Physics Department's faculty have been selected to
receive two Fassnacht Outstanding Faculty Awards from the College and two
Faculty Citations from Southwestern's Student Government Association.
2. Student-Teacher Interaction - The Southwestern
College Physics Department offers students a friendly atmosphere of
extensive student-teacher interaction and small classes. Since the
department is relatively small each physics student receives close personal
attention and guidance. Teaching is strongly emphasized at Southwestern. In
fact, it is the number one priority. As a result, physics students have
daily access to faculty for individual assistance.
3. High Percentage of Physics Majors - The Southwestern College
Physics program has had between eight and twelve majors for the past several
years and has graduated fourteen students
from 1996 to 2001. Even though these numbers are unimpressive in an
absolute sense, they are seen to be huge when compared to those from other
institutions. For a comparison with several other Kansas schools, note the
following table which lists the approximate undergraduate enrollments and
the total number of physics graduates for a five year period at several
Kansas schools:
|
School |
Approximate Undergraduate Enrollment (2003) |
Total Number of Physics Graduates 1996-2001 |
|
University of Kansas |
20,000 |
87 |
|
Kansas State University |
19,000 |
30 |
|
Wichita State University |
11,000 |
4 |
|
Pittsburg State University |
5,500 |
7 |
|
Southwestern College |
600 |
14 |
4. More Women in Physics - The percentage of physics majors at Southwestern who are women has
greatly exceeded the national average for the past several years.
Nationally, 18% of physics graduates over the last three years have been
women, a low percentage which is of continuing concern to the national
physics community. Of the fourteen Southwestern physics majors who have
graduated over a five year period (1996 -2001), however, six (43%) have been women.
Additionally, two of the current (Fall 2005) three upper level physics
majors are women. It is not clear why the percentage of physics majors who
are women has been high, and so there is no way to anticipate whether this
trend will continue. However, these data indicate that the real or perceived
barriers that women encounter in the study of physics at other institutions
are minimal or simply do not exist at Southwestern College.
5. Preparation for Graduate School - Of the thirteen physics majors who have graduated from Southwestern over
the last five years (2001 - 2005), most are either in graduate school or
employed in education or technical industries. Five of these graduates are currently in graduate school
pursuing a Ph.D. Two students graduated
in May of 2005 with an engineering degree
in our dual degree program with Washington University in St. Louis,
Missouri. One of these dual degree students is currently working on a masters in
engineering.
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