The Department of Physics defines its mission in the context of academic excellence and scientific rigor. Our responsibility is to prepare students for careers in physics and technical fields, but because Physics as a discipline is a bridge between technology and society, we are committed to bringing an understanding of physics and science to both the student population and the campus community at large.
Furthermore, the Department is committed to presenting physics to all of our students in a way that conveys our individual and collective excitement about our discipline. In this way we encourage students to develop an interest in and a curiosity about physics and science.
For all of our students our goal is to provide:
- an opportunity to develop and hone problems-solving skills,
- a solid grounding in the methods of scientific inquiry, and
- a knowledge base on which to build decision-making skills in a society which has an increasing reliance on science and technology.
For our majors our goal is to provide:
- an excellent preparation for either graduate school or a career in a scientific or technical field,
- an opportunity to take a meaningful role in faculty research,
- an opportunity to develop and hone presentation skills, particularly as they pertain to scientific and technical presentations, and
- close mentoring relationships to help them make career path decisions.