2020 Physics Department Chairs Conference

The American Physical Society and American Association of Physics Teachers co-hosted the virtual 2020 Physics Department Chairs Conference, on June 18-19, 2020. Designed by chairs, for chairs, the program included:

• A town hall with NSF Directors from the Division of Physics and the Division of Materials Research
• “Restarting the research enterprise" with APS Chief Government Affairs Officer Francis Slakey
• Discussions about experiences of these past few months on topics including: labs, assessing student work, assessing faculty in an online environment, synchronous vs. asynchronous teaching/learning environments, etc.
• Pre-release discussions of the “Effective Practices for Physics Programs” (EP3) Guide, currently under development, and set for initial release in December 2020. Possible topics include: Recruitment/retention of students, guide for new chairs, program review, advising and mentoring of students, and career preparation
• Session for new chairs (experienced chairs are encouraged to attend and share strategies)