Report from your Councilor

By Noah Finklestein

I’m grateful to serve on the APS Council of Representatives as your councilor (as well as councilor for the Forum on Education and the Topical Group on Physics Education Research). By way of reminder, the Council oversees the membership and units, scientific meetings, fellowships and prizes, policy statements and most standing committees and by-laws. Complementarily, the APS Board of Directors oversees the management of the society, corporate governance and finance, strategic directions, and final approval of policies and procedures. I always welcome your input and will be pleased to bring issues from this Forum to the council.

Brief updates from recent Council meetings and activity at APS central activities:

In the past year, APS has held two council meetings (Nov 2017, Apr 2018) and phone calls, virtual meetings and work online in between.

In short, the APS is healthy, financially viable, and seeking to undergo slow, adiabatic, incremental change to maintain our strengths, and adapt to changing landscape that physics finds itself in. As of April 2018, our membership rose to 55,368 (2.5% over the prior year). 2017 saw ~$56M in revenue and $55M in expenses. We continue to seek to grow our student and international membership and to connect to industry. We continue to engage in policy and making the case for physics. For example, in a study finished this last year, APS found 12.6% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product is directly attributable to physics-based industries. Publishing remains a main avenue for showcasing the work of physicists and APS, and our journals remain a major source of revenue. We are adapting to new models of Open Access.

Current areas of focus of the Council and APS include:

Policy. The Office of Public Affairs (OPA) has been renamed the Office of Government Affairs (OGA) to reflect more accurately the Society's advocacy and lobbying activities. The purpose of the OGA is to, “facilitate communication between physicists and government entities, including the Administration, Congress, and funding agencies, on scientific issues of concern to APS members, to the scientific community, and to the nation as a whole. In collaboration with two APS member committees - the Panel on Public Affairs (POPA) and the Physics Policy Committee (PPC) - the OGA is responsible for developing internal and external policy positions for APS and advocating on behalf of APS for the advancement and support of physics and science more broadly.” Francis "Slake" Slakey has been named Chief Government Affairs Officer (CGAO). More on the impressive work of this office can be found here.

Strategic Planning for APS. As you may be aware, last year APS undertook a strategic planning process and anticipates having a strategic plan for review this fall (November Council meeting). The four pillars approach is an effort to implement a vision of “One APS.” This strategic plan focuses on:

• Scientific Research Dissemination: promoting our role in the scientific enterprise.
• Serving Communities: programmatic work, outreach, diversity, education, governmental affairs.
• Securing Financial Sustainability: ensuring a stable organization in light of changing membership demographics and a rapidly evolving publishing landscape.
• Increasing Organizational Excellence: ensuring the structure and operations of APS are serving our mission and goals.

  Largely this effort is being undertaken by the Senior Management Team, APS Staff and Volunteer Leaders, with involvement of subcommittees focusing on the above and facilitated by an external consultant. While FOEP will be instrumental in all of these areas of focus, I will pay particular attention to the role FOEP might contribute to on the pillar of Serving Communities.

  Review of our Prizes and Awards to ensure these are fully funded, are aligned with mission /vision of the units, and represent and promote diversity of membership. For FOEP, the Prizes and Awards Committee is coordinating with this unit on the Dwight Nicholson Medal.

  Additional APS items of potential interest:

  Interested in getting more involved with the Office of Government Affairs? I’d recommend checking out the Advocacy Dashboard and sign up for Signal Boost a monthly update on APS policy.

  Some exciting advances from Education and Diversity at APS:

  Effective Practices for Physics Programs Guide (EP3, formerly BPUPP). The American Physical Society, in collaboration with the American Association of Physics Teachers, is leading an effort to create a guide of effective practices related to all aspects of undergraduate physics programs. EP3 will have a section helping guide departments to think about evidence-based approaches that encourage students to pursue science. The project is in the process of identifying individuals who can serve as contributors and reviewers. Please contact Noah Finklestein (finkels@colorado.edu) or Ted Hodapp (hodapp@aps.org) if you think you are one of those people, or know someone who is.

  Step Up 4 Women in physics. This project is trying a radical approach to increasing women in physics by enlisting high school teachers to directly recruit women in their classes to consider majoring in physics in college. If you know high school teachers, or teacher leaders who you think could help APS with this, please send information to Kathryne Woodle (woodle@aps.org), the STEP UP Project manager.

  The Inclusive Graduate Education Network (IGEN) builds on the extremely successful APS Bridge Program by expanding these principles and strategies to all of the physical sciences. Many Bridge students are involved in outreach and recruiting efforts. If you are interested in engaging them, we suggest you contact the APS Bridge Program Manager, Erika Brown (brown@aps.org), or attend the national conference to be held at Google Headquarters and Stanford on 16-18 November.

  PhysTEC, an APS signature program to increase the number and quality preparation of precollege physics teachers, has recently released a study of thriving programs. Check it out or use the tool, Physics Teacher Education Program Analysis (PTEPA) Rubric, which was developed to characterize the practices and structures observed at thriving programs. PTEPA provides a guide for program leaders to reflect upon and improve their programs, and enables measurement and research over time.

  There will be two Council meetings where I will be pleased to share FOEP issues, concerns, and celebrations. The October meeting will be shorter and online focused on our Strategic Plan, while the November, longer and in person. I welcome your feedback and areas you wish to bring up to Council (through the FOEP executive board).

  Noah Finkelstein is a Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder and conducts research is in physics education, specifically studying the conditions that support students’ interests and abilities in physics – developing models of context. In parallel, he conducts research on how educational transformations get taken up, spread, and sustained. He is a PI in the Physics Education Research (PER) group and a co-director of CU’s Center for STEM Learning. He co-directs the national Network of STEM Education Centers, is helping build the STEM DBER-Alliance, and coalitions advancing undergraduate education transformation. He is involved in education policy serving on many national boards, is a Trustee of the Higher Learning Commission, is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and a Presidential Teaching Scholar and the inaugural Timmerhaus Teaching Ambassador for the University of Colorado system.