Department of Physics at the U of I

Message From The Department Head

Dale Van Harlingen, Department Head

To Illinois Physics colleagues, alumni, and friends,

We in the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois are at an important and exciting crossroads in our history. For the last several years, we have faced difficult challenges brought about by financial pressures, leadership changes in the University administration, increasing student enrollments, and declining faculty and staff sizes. Because of the dedication and creativity of our Physics community at all levels and the steadfast support of our loyal alumni, we survived and even thrived in that period, maintaining our scholarship, commitment to learning, and the unique camaraderie within the department that is one of our greatest and most treasured assets. On balance, we have done rather well, but it is never easy or much fun to be looking behind us and hoping to survive.

Now, the landscape has changed dramatically—we are able to look forward and the view ahead is much brighter. Due in part to downsizing and in part to the implementation of sound fiscal policies by the University in the last few years, there is a stable financial situation that will allow increased hiring across campus, investment in new initiatives, and long-overdue rewards for our talented and dedicated faculty and staff. There is a strong leadership team on the campus, one with particular knowledge and appreciation for scientific discovery and creativity—Chancellor Phyllis Wise, a biologist; Provost Ilesanmi Adesida, an electrical engineer; and Vice-Chancellor for Research Peter Schiffer, a physicist. And most of all, there is a pervasive feeling across campus that this is our time to grow and take on new challenges.

That is not to say that all is perfect—far from it. The State of Illinois continues to have long term financial problems that will almost certainly bring decreases in State support for the University, increases in tuition for our students, and major changes in the pensions and benefits of our faculty and staff. It is possible, actually likely, that there will be significant reductions in federal funding for science, making it crucial that we compete aggressively for these resources. Along with that are increases in cost of doing research, especially for some essential commodities such as energy and liquid helium for cryogenic research. Resources will continue to be limited, compelling us to be thoughtful in our planning and the choices we make. These are real problems, but no more difficult than the research problems that we embrace and address every day in our labs and offices, so we are confident that we can control and even solve them.

So what we see in the next few years is a unique window of opportunity to shape the Department of Physics and the University of Illinois and to put ourselves in a strong position for the future. In Physics, this is already happening:

• Faculty: After four years of no faculty hiring and a nearly 20-percent reduction in our numbers from 65 to 50, we hired three faculty members last year, four this year, and have four more faculty searches in progress for next year. In addition, we are engaged with two exceptional senior professors at other institutions whom we hope to attract to Illinois. We are hoping to grow back to our target size of 60 faculty in Physics, which we believe to be a productive and sustainable size for our faculty.
• Staff: We have also made a number of investments in growing our staff over the last few years, hiring coordinators for advancement, communications, undergraduate advising, and course delivery. These steps are helping us to enhance the educational experience of our students and to share our accomplishments and plans with our peers, our alumni, and the public.
• Educational programs: Enrollments all over campus have risen sharply in the last five years but nowhere more than in Physics. We are now teaching over 5,000 students per semester—an increase of 30 percent over the last five years—and the number of graduate research students and undergraduate Physics majors is at an all-time high. To respond to this rapid growth, we have revised our introductory course sequences, developed new upper-level laboratory courses, and designed and presented new courses that fulfill our multiple missions to teach the substance of Physics and its excitement to people of all ages. The increased number of Physics students creates real problems, but it is a good problem to have, indicating the importance of and interest in our field.
• Infrastructure: We have launched a series of initiatives designed to increase the size and quality of our classrooms, offices, and laboratories in the Physics complex. Remodeling is currently underway to modernize the main department office and to renovate some of our instructional spaces with the help of funds from the College of Engineering and the campus Academic Facilities Maintenance Fund Assessment, a student fund directed to improve the educational experience for students. We are planning conversion of the space behind the library that formerly held our research journals into a flexible interactive classroom and a faculty-staff lounge area adjacent to the Physics Interaction Room. We are also in the process of carrying out feasibility studies to generate a design and cost estimate for an addition to Loomis Laboratory over the lecture halls and a new Advanced Experimental Research Building to be located next to MRL. These are ambitious projects, but Physics is an ambitious department and we want to position ourselves for opportunities for major capital projects that may come up from the State, University, or the help of our loyal alumni.
• Alumni: As we grow in our size and our reach, it has never been more important for us to keep in contact with our alumni, former colleagues, and friends. You serve as role models for our students, reminding them where they can go and what they can do with a Physics degree, and we greatly appreciate your loyalty to Illinois that you have demonstrated through your gifts and service to the department. We are stepping up our efforts to keep you better informed about our activities and accomplishments, and increasing opportunities for you to visit the department and share your story with our students.

As I enter my seventh year as head of the Department of Physics, I continue to be honored by the opportunity to serve our talented faculty and staff and to strive to maintain and enhance our cherished legacy of excellence in education and scholarship. It a good time for Physics. A time to be thoughtful. A time to be aggressive. A time to think big, reach high, and become even greater as a department.

Dale J. Van Harlingen, Head and Professor
Department of Physics
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Fall 2012