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S.99-63

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT, A CADFATVII C

MEMORANDUM

To: ?

Senate

From: ?

J. M. Munro, Chair

Senate Committee on Academic Planning

Subject: ?

External Review - Department of Physics

(SCAP Reference: SCAP 99 - 31)

Date:

October 14, 1999

For Information

Attached are:

the Report of the External Review Committee for the Department of

Physics and the Response to the Report of the External Review

Committee

t'wt,

SCAI' 99-31

Response to the Report of the External Review Committee

Department of Physics

Our external review committee, consisting of W.P. Ha'lperin

(Northwestern University), C. Murray (Bell Laboratories), M.B. Walker (Toroto

and P. Percival (internal member) has provided a constructive report that

comments on all aspects of the Physics Departments activities. We agree with

many of the points of view and recommendations of the committee. Below, we

respond in order to each of the recommendations in the report.

Research Programs

(a)

Semiconductors

This area has long been a priority for the department and we are gratified

that the program is recognized as being 'extremely strong'. Of course, we are

aware that the area of nanostructures provides many opportunities for

fundamental as well as applied research and would very much like to mount an

experimental program in this area. We have recently taken some initiatives to

strengthen this area further: (i) We have nominated Dr. Karen Kavanagh for an

NSERC University Faculty Award. Dr. Kavanagh is a well known materials

scientist with expertise in semiconductor heterostructures. (ii) We are applying

• through the CFI program for a focused ion beam facility. If this application is

successful, we will have greatly enhanced our capability to carry out research on

all sorts of nanostructures.

(b)

Thin magnetic films/surface science

The department is conscious of the fact that successors to Arrott, Cochran

and Heinrich must be found if this very successful and visible program is to

survive. Although our recent searches in experimental condensed matter physics

were fairly general, we did state in the advertisements that surface science and

ultra thin magnetic films were priority areas. One of the two experimentalists

hired in 1998 (Dhirani) in fact is a surface scientist albeit not with expertise in

magnetism. We will continue to make hiring in this area a high priority.

The potential problem in electron microscopy may already be solved.

Dr. Karen Kavanagh (mentioned above) is an expert in electron microscopy. If

she accepts our offer, she will take over Professor Curzon's facility and provide

us with state of the art capability in this area for the foreseeable future. Of

course, if she does not come, the issue will have to be revisited.

(c)

Soft condensed matter

We agree that finding a successor to Michael Wortis within the next few

years is crucial for the health of the program in soft physics. In the current

. ?

search for a junior theorist, the search committee identified an extremely

promising and accomplished young theorist working in theoretical biophysics

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Draft Response - External Review Committee-Department of Physics

and recommended a bridging appointment for this individual. If this initiative i.

successful, we will have gone a long way toward ensuring continuity in the soft

condensed matter area. It would also be useful to appoint one additional

experimentalist in this field to complete a very solid group.

(d)

Intercalation compounds /superconductors

The department agrees that it must address the issue of what to do with

positions that become available in these subfields in the near future While some

discussion has taken place, no consensus has emerged. There are a number of

areas of condensed matter that are not represented in the department or that

could be strengthened. For example, an appointment in the area of t.tSR

spectroscopy or condensed matter physics at ISAC could be attractive. As well,

strengthening the synchrotron radiation group has its attractions.

(e)

High energy/medium energy/ astrophysics and plasma physics

The department has no intention of mounting an effort in plasma physics.

However, we do believe that the diversity brought to the department by

members with research programs in fields other than condensed matter physics

is important. We see at least two opportunities to retain this diversity: (i) It may

be possible to appoint a leading Canadian researcher, Dr. Guy Savard, presently

at Argonne National Laboratory, to the half position that became vacant with the

death of Otto Haeusser, with the remaining salary and much of the start up

funding supplied by TRTUMF. Negotiations to bring this initiative to fruition are

currently in progress. (ii) The position that will become available through the

retirement of Professor Palmer in 2000 could be used, for example, to make an

appointment in Astrophysics.

Faculty Recruitment

(a' Maintaining a competitive edge

There are seven different recommendations in this category, all of which

we agree with in principle. The review committee has correctly identified the

difficulties that we face in attracting and retaining the high quality young faculty

needed to maintain our visibility in the research community. In the 97-98 hiring

season, we were able to offer salaries higher than the nominal aP4 salary at

which all new appointments are authorized and we hope that we will be able to

continue to do so. This past year, start-up funds for new experimentalists were

also adequate, in part because of the CFI program. We also believe we have

sufficient laboratory space, at least for the near term and, of course, provide new

faculty members with reduced teaching and service loads.

However, given the attitude of the Government of British Columbia and

the culture of Simon Fraser University, an overall reduction of the Physics

Draft Response - External Review Committee-Department of Physics

Departments teaching load to two courses per year per faculty member is not

realistic at this time.

(b) The need for a strategic plan

We generally agree with the ideas expressed in this section. Given the

sheer number of retirements, it is quite important to develop a vision of the

departments future so that areas of strength rather than isolated research efforts

are developed. We prefer to hire well rather than quickly. In this context, it is

particularly important that searches be kept alive until a successful conclusion is

reached, as pointed out in the report.

(c)

Recruitment organization

The committee seems not to have appreciated that SFU Policy A10.01

states that the Department Chair shall act as chair of search committees unless an

alternate arrangement is, in each instance, approved by the Dean. The present

Chair certainly intends to continue past practice and chair each search committee

unless there are highly unusual circumstances.

Undergraduate Program

• We are pleased that the review committee recognizes the effort that the

department as a whole puts into its classroom and laboratory-based teaching.

The most important issue in undergraduate studies pointed out in the review is

scheduling, particularly the multiple offering of lower division courses (two or

three times per year in most cases). Our current scheduling of first year courses

reflects their large enrolment: with perhaps one exception, offering any of the

PHYS 100 to PHYS 121 courses less frequently would lead to unacceptably large

classes in the single semesters when the courses were available. There may be

some room for efficiency at the second year level, where the current schedule

reflects the conflicting demands of the physics and engineering science

programs. As we have done for the past decade, we continue to work with

engineering science to match our course offerings to their timetable.

We feel that the multiple offering of at least a few third-year courses is

unavoidable if we are to offer a realistic coop program in physics: students must

be able to take part of their upper division courses in the summer. The overlap

of the electromagnetism courses at the third year level, identified in the review,

will be dealt with by the physics undergraduate studies committee within two

months. We have also experimented with placing two courses (PHYS 395 and

PHYS 484) on-line without standard lectures. While the students found the on-

line delivery of material acceptable, the three faculty teaching the courses have

not noticed a decrease in the amount of instructional time compared to regular

•

courses, perhaps because of the long hours spent in helping students debug code,

perhaps because of the overhead in setting up the courses. We don't see on-line

4^-

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Draft Response - External Review Committee-Department of Physics

delivery of these specific courses as being detrimental, but we also don't see a

gain in efficiency.

The review also recommended that teaching loads be reduced by

streamlining course offerings. Right now, we offer a minimal number of courses

to satisfy our honours program and service commitments to other departments,

and the available faculty almost exactly balances the 55-58 course offerings per

year. While we may be able to reduce course offerings by perhaps

5%,

wholesale reduction in teaching load by 30%, to the average of most research-

intensive universities, cannot be accomplished without gutting our programs:

we would need more faculty positions.

Graduate Program

We agree that recent course offerings for graduate students have not been

adequate. Part of the explanation was that while we were three positions short,

we had to cut back on course offerings and that graduate students (perhaps

unfairly) suffered the most. We hope that with our recent two hires and the

further hires that are in the offing that this problem will be alleviated.

We have already adopted one of the suggestions, that of encouraging adjunct

faculty, to offer courses. For example, in 98-3 M. Vetterli taught a course on

particle physics. But more of these should be encouraged.

Concerning the length of time taken to complete the MSc program, we agree

that 6 semesters should be the goal (and much closer to the average). A few

points:

(i)

our best MSc students often go to the PhD program directly, which raises

the average MSc completion time.

(ii)

in the past few years, we have been admitting a higher number of

students who need remedial coursework. Some, but not all, of these are

qualifying students. Those who are not are taking more courses, which slows

down their degree.

This having been said, there is still room for improvement. The three

steps that can have some effect are:

(i) encouraging students to take all 5 classes during their first two semesters.

Probably, it's better to plan it so that they take 2 classes in the Fall and 3 in

the Spring. Obviously, this requires our being able to offer enough classes

in the Spring.

^I

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Draft Response - External Review Committee-Department of Physics

(ii)

reducing the TA load for students. This obviously costs money, and its not

clear who would/could/should pay for this.

(iii)

making sure that supervisors do not have unrealistic expectations

concerning the amount and thoroughness of research done for the MSc.

degree. This is hard to enforce, but it is something that supervisory

committees should be doing.

Facilities and Infrastructure

(a)

Computing Resources

The external review of Academic Computing Services is essentially silent

on the subject of research computing, at least of the number crunching variety.

This makes it increasingly urgent that the Faculty of Science develop a policy of

its own with regard to computational infrastructure. The Physics Department

clearly has an important stake in this.

(b)

Library Services

The library external review recommends sweeping changes to the

operation of the library. We will have to see how those recommendations that

are accepted affect service.

(c)

Instrument Shops

We agree with the points made in this subsection. Although the

technician who instructed new graduate students in machining has retired, we

will make every effort to continue this valuable service.

Staff: Technical and Professional

We are pleased that the external review committee appreciated the

competence and dedication of our support staff and have chosen to remark upon

it in their report. We are in complete agreement with their assessment. The issue

of a backup for the departmental assistant, Dr. Sada Rangnekar, is not a simple

one since the other members of the support staff belong to a different employee

group and crossover in duties is strongly discouraged in the collective agreement

of the CUPE members. Nevertheless, the current Department Chair certainly

recognizes the problem since he handled part of Dr. Rangnekar's portfolio during

an absence some years ago. A creative solution will have to be found.

Diversity

The Department agrees that it would be useful, from many points of view,

to have a larger number of women faculty members. In particular, an

. ?

appointment of a woman to a senior position would presumably go a long way

toward reducing the service burden on our two existing women faculty

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Draft Response - External Review Committee-Department of Physics

members. The VP Academic has provided an opportunity for us to make such

an appointment and we have identified a suitable candidate and made an offer

(contingent on success in the current NSERC UFA competition). We do wish to

point out, however, that the average percentage of women faculty in 14 medium

to large Canadian physics department is 3.6% compared to 8.5% in our

department. Indeed, the department of the Canadian member of the review

committee has one woman in a faculty complement of fifty seven!

We believe that the current low enrollment of women in our graduate

program is a fluctuation. Certainly, a few years back it was at least three times as

high. We will continue to aggressively recruit potential women graduate

students.

(

Simon Fraser University ?

Department of Physics

Report of the External Reviewers

VPA's Comments

The external reviewers of the Physics Department praised the Department for

pursuing its niche as a centre of excellence in various sub-areas of condensed

matter physics, and encouraged the Department to develop a longer term

recruitment strategy designed to perpetuate and reinforce this niche.

According to the reviewers, the Department's success in pursuing this strategy

will depend on its success in increasing starting salaries for new faculty,

reducing teaching loads from two courses annually to one, and providing start-

up research grants that are at least triple current values. This represents a

significant challenge to the Faculty of Science's

budget

and to current University

policies and practices.

The reviewers recommend earlier contact between new graduate students and

faculty in order to identify research interests at an earlier stage in graduate

student preparation. The reviewers also recommend that the total elapsed time

for the completion of graduate degrees should be brought more into line with

norms in the discipline, especially by reducing the time for completing Masters

0 ?

degrees.

Finally, the reviewers encourage the Department to become more competitive in

attracting a higher proportion of women and designated minorities into faculty

positions in order to diversify the teaching faculty and provide role models for

prospective students. This task should be given a high priority in the

Department's recruitment strategy.

David P. Gagan

Vice-President, Academic

mic/vpcown.phY5/2402

L_-

Report of the External Review Committee

for the

Department of Physics

Simon Fraser University

June 4, 1998

1. Executive Summary

The excellent research programs in physics at Simon Fraser University are built on a

tradition of research in condensed matter physics taking advantage of hiring

opportunities for developing focus areas in this sub-discipline. Some faculty with

research specialties outside of condensed matter physics have provided important

breadth in research and in teaching at the graduate level. The review committee

recommends continuing this strategy. However, imminent changes in the faculty ranks

will lead to as many as twelve additional vacancies in seven years requiring that this

strategy be implemented within a more specific and longer range plan than has been

developed so far. The committee believes that it is crucial that such a strategic

recruitment plan be formed and that it should be as specific as possible in identifying

•

the research directions of the department. It should be revisited in each recruitment

season to reexamine departmental priorities with an eye to taking advantage of new

outstanding recruitment possibilities. The plan should also specifically address

available resources including major laboratory equipment and facilities, both those

current and those needed for new faculty additions.

The plan should be explicit in its outline of the administrative mechanism for

recruitment. The committee recommends that in those years in which multiple searches

are conducted that different faculty members serve as chairs of the search committees.

If there are special circumstances it may be appropriate that the chair of the department

also serve as a search committee chair. Searches should be conducted on a multiyear

basis until they are successful in each of the broadly designated areas within which the

search is held.

The committee recommends that special attention be paid to improving the competitive

position that Simon Fraser must adopt to be successful in recruitment during the next

seven years. Maintaining a competitive edge is becoming increasingly more difficult in

the present global hiring environment. The issues of start-up funding, initial salary,

and space, are some of the most important. If the competitive position is not addressed

then the physics department, despite its reputation, will soon fall behind. The

committee recommends that the strategic recruitment plan be implemented with an

understanding to be worked out between the administration and the department as to

how to improve its competitive edge.

The committee recommends that course offerings be streamlined to reduce the average

teaching load and that this also will help in maintaining a competitive recruitment

position.

Introduction

Simon Fraser University has one of the best condensed matter physics research

programs in Canada, as measured by external grant research support, external

recognition and citations of journal papers. Over the last three decades the department

has focused on condensed matter physics, and has built up a substantial international

reputation in that area. The department has at present twenty three faculty, two joint

appointments, and several adjunct professorships. This focus of the department has

also led to collaboration and collegiality which is a tribute, in part, to the dedication and

guidance of the chair, Professor Robert Frindt.

Since the last department review in 1990, the department has made four faculty

appointments at the assistant professor level and two joint appointments at the assistant

professor level. These appointments have been made in the broad area of experimental

condensed matter physics except one in theoretical high energy physics. Since 1990,

two of the assistant professors have been promoted to associate professor, leaving only

two assistant professor positions in the department and two joint appointments at the

assistant professor level. The department can foresee the departure of twelve faculty

due to retirements by the year

2005.

In addition, since 1995 the department has

suffered the loss of six faculty due to an untimely death, two resignations, and three

retirements. The research programs will be greatly affected by these losses and so it

should be a high priority for the department to consider the impact of each new

appointment on the overall focus and quality of the research.

The physics department, including the faculty, teaching assistants, and the technical

staff, have a clear commitment and enthusiasm for both undergraduate and graduate

teaching. In part, what distinguishes physics at Simon Fraser from other departments

at other universities is the attention paid to, and the corresponding success of their

teaching programs. Initiatives such as, computational physics, computer assisted

personalized approach to problem assignments (CAPA), the undergraduate

microcomputer laboratory, and Co-op programs are very good examples.

Research Programs

The department of physics has strong research programs in several sub-areas of

condensed matter physics. This emphasis on sub-areas has been a factor in the

successful recruitment of new faculty and graduate students and in developing the

quality of research programs in these areas. We suggest that continued focusing on a

few research areas is an appropriate strategy to maintain and further develop the

department's reputation and research standing. In the following few paragraphs we

discuss the present research thrust areas and comment on their strengths and

weaknesses. This is not to be construed as a definitive evaluation of the research

programs which is not possible given the limited time available to us. However, we

suggest that the focused-research-area approach is a good framework for the

department to use in developing its own plan. Details, and the research areas

themselves, may change in the course of further development of a plan, but the

emphasis on coherent focused areas with common infrastructure needs, should be a key

feature.

a) Semiconductors: This area is extremely strong, further enhanced by the recent

addition of research in MOCVD growth and, applied device physics, the latter with

/'1.

• ?

a joint appointment in Engineering Sciences. We note that the 1990 visiting

committee recommended the addition of semiconductor growth to the department.

Some key issues facing this sub-area are: Is there an opportunity for more

interaction with those doing synchrotron radiation physics, and if so, what will be

the affect of upcoming retirements in that field? The program could be strengthened

and enhanced by adding more effort in mesoscopic physics/quantum

nanostructures, in experiment or theory. Present interactions with the University of

British Columbia (UBC) provide some mitigation of the high equipment and

processing costs of the semiconductor program and extramural collaborations could

be increased in order to take advantage of possible funding opportunities. It is

crucial to strengthen industrial interactions in order to support equipment costs and

continue to produce graduate students with skill sets desired by industry.

Thin magnetic films/ surface science: Traditionally this has been a strong program,

however the retirements by Arrott and Cochran and the imminent retirements of

Heinrich, Curzon, and Crozier by 2005 will completely deplete this sub-area.

Significant equipment now exists in the laboratories and will become underutilized

if new faculty appointments in films and surface science are not made in the next

few years. The acquisition of a focused ion beam instrument would allow the

creation of a research area in magnetic nanostructures that would have synergy with

the semiconductor thrust area and also possibly be shared with those performing

nanostructured semiconductor physics. The department should consider the

possibility of building such a program. Major equipment exists in the laboratories

which will become underutilized in the next few years. The electron microscopy

capability will discontinue soon owing to a faculty retirement in that area. The

department must evaluate the impact this will have on their future, and not just

• ?

current, research programs. Simon Fraser plays a leadership role on behalf of

Canadian science through its involvement with the PNC-CAT at the Advanced

Photon Source. Developing and protecting this investment is also an important

consideration.

Soft condensed matter: This research sub-area is very strong in theory and

simulations. Since the last departmental review in 1990, this area has been further

strengthened by new experimental appointments in nonlinear dynamics and liquid

crystals, and light scattering from vesicles, a move consistent with a suggestion by

the previous visiting committee. The present research group has an emphasis on

the study of membranes, involving both theory and experiment. They have initiated

good interactions with UBC, including holding joint courses, and have made a new

joint appointment with the Biochemistry program which could enhance that

interaction as well. The major issue facing this subgroup is the retirement of their

senior member, Words, by 2002. If the department wants to maintain a top group

in soft condensed matter physics it will have to make one or two key faculty

appointments in this field.

Intercalation compounds/superconductors: Traditionally this has been a strong

research area in the department; however most researchers will have gone into

administration or retired by

2005.

The department needs to look carefully at how

possible new hires in this area could interact constructively with others in thin

films/magnetism and semiconductors or, alternatively, be prepared to rebuild a

group that will operate more independently by making several key appointments in

this thrust area.

High energy/mediumenergY/ astrophysics and plasma physics: For many physics

departments these broad areas of research are a substantial core of activity. In

contrast, at SFU, the few positions here are complementary to other research

. ?

activities and provide diversity important for the general physics culture and training

of students. It is desirable that this group not be reduced to a single individual by

attrition (all but one retire by 2005), so that several new appointments should be

//0.

made in these fields. It is particularly important that individuals hired in these areas

should have interactive personalities capable of forging productive research links

outside the department, in addition to their important interactions within the

department.

Faculty Recruitment

a) Maintaining a competitive edge

The Physics Department has built an enviable reputation for the high quality of its

research programs in the area of condensed matter physics. Given the large number

of retirements in the near future, and the competition among universities and

industry for the best people, it is imperative for SFU to take certain steps in a

number of areas if it is to maintain its current stature as one of the top physics

departments in Canada. We believe that the department would profit from

reviewing its current position in a number of areas:

Starting salaries for new faculty. An initial offering less than 5Ok is not

competitive on the North American scene.

Startup funds for new faculty. Major new recruitment will spread already thin

university resources even more thinly; yet strong startup is mandatory to

compete with the best experimental candidates, who are getting packages from

$250-750k at assistant to associate professor ranks.

Laboratory space. Sufficient space for research laboratories for new faculty is

mandatory. The needs for space allocated to professors emeriti should be

reexamined in this context.

Teaching loads in general. The norm in US research universities, for

established researchers, is one course of three lectures per week in two of the

three semesters per year. A further reduction of teaching responsibilities below

this norm of two courses per year is especially important for new faculty who

are just starting their research programs.

Service requirements for junior faculty. All junior faculty should have very

limited committee responsibilities until their tenure review has been completed.

Mentoring for junior faculty. A senior member of the Department or a

Departmental Committee should be assigned to each new faculty member to

have responsibility for advising on grant applications, an appropriate level of

committee responsibility, and helping the young faculty member to promote

his/her accomplishments through invited seminars, etc.

b) The need for a strategic plan

It is imperative that the department have a strategic plan covering the next seven

years. The demographics of the physics department will change very substantially,

as has been discussed above and in the department's self study report. In this

period it is expected that there will be at least 12 departures from the faculty ranks

and there may well be more. For example, in just the last two years there has been

an unanticipated loss of three faculty. This uncertainty must be combined with the

uncertainty associated with successfully concluding searches. Will the department

be able to attract this many top faculty in so short a period of time? We believe that

the answer to this question hinges critically on developing a seven year strategic

plan for recruitment that targets specific research areas in more detail than the

present physics three-year plan, dated November 1997. The critical thinking

required in reaching consensus on such a plan will stand in excellent stead as a

/11.

benchmark for progress in the very extensive recruitment period that lies ahead.

Furthermore, it can be a very attractive recruitment tool to show candidates in a

given year clear evidence of how the department sees itself developing in the future.

This is particularly true when the department envisages multiple hiring in a specific

subdiscipline in which several individuals will share common infrastructure. A

strategic plan should be revisited each recruitment season and if and when there are

unexpected opportunities. Overall, a strategic plan encourages communication

within the department and will promote efficiency in planning for research space

and departmental resources in order to start and support junior faculty laboratories.

Such a plan naturally opens a dialogue between the Dean's office and the

department and, with this administrative support, encourages continuity in faculty

searches that have not been successfully concluded.

c) Recruitment organization

The chair of a search committee has a very special responsibility which must be

exercised creatively and with as much cooperation and consensus from within the

department as is possible. It is generally our feeling that the department chair,

having extensive administrative responsibilities in other areas, should be chair of a

search committee only if there are special circumstances such as specific knowledge

of the professional sub-area in which the search is being conducted.

We believe that there should be a clear agreement between the department and the

Dean's office that searches be automatically continued if they are not successfully

• ?

concluded in a given year owing to a declination or the lack of an appropriate

candidate.

Undergraduate Program

The undergraduates whom we interviewed were an articulate group who presented

their goals and concerns well and who were very positive about their educational

experience at SFU. From all of our contacts during the review process it was clear

that the faculty, technical staff, and lab instructors are dedicated to offering a high

quality undergraduate program and are working well to accomplish this. The

physics laboratories are regarded by the students as challenging and requiring

perhaps more time than is ideal, but most importantly they are seen to have very

significantly advanced the students understanding of physics. What appeared to

impress the students was the process of learning by "doing" through their personal

involvement in the laboratories. From an educational point of view the process of

extended laboratory experience is superior to that of "just taking data". The

principal academic concern of the undergraduate students was that they find that

their prerequisite mathematics courses in the areas of differential equations, vector

calculus, and linear algebra provide them limited preparedness for applications in

physics. The few comments which we received from the students concerning the

Co-op program were mostly positive, although jobs having greater science and

engineering involvement would have been appreciated in one case. The Co-op

program is also seen by faculty as an important reason the students come to SFU.

On the social side, there is a need for better facilities in the student's common room.

The department should make a significant effort to improve this undergraduate

space.

It should be possible to introduce some streamlining in the undergraduate

curriculum. A number of courses are given more than once in the same year. (For

example, in 1997, in addition to multiple offerings of first year courses, PHYS 211

and 221 were given three times, 244, 324, 326 and 385 were given twice). Perhaps

this has its historical origin in the needs of the semester system and Co-op program.

The financial constraints on the University and the Department are now such that it

is highly desirable to streamline the program offerings. Our recommendation is that

each course be given only once in each calendar year. Because of the requirements

of the Co-op program, and in order to maintain the current high quality of the

physics offerings, this will require considerable planning in cooperation with other

departments in the Faculty of Science and in the Faculty of Applied Sciences.

Perhaps a broad based committee reporting to the Deans of Science and Applied

Science could accomplish these objectives. One of the first uses of the savings

realized should be to reduce the teaching load in physics which, as noted elsewhere,

is above the norm for physics departments of North American research universities.

6. Graduate Program

The graduate students we met impressed us with their articulation of interests and

directions for research. Some students have indicated a need for greater breadth in

course offerings and this was reiterated by a number of faculty. One of our

concerns is the above normal level of teaching responsibilities of the faculty and

consequently adding to the core graduate curriculum is not a recommended

solution. Rather it might be possible to have special topics courses offered by

adjunct faculty or visitors, as has been done in the past. Directed independent study

for small groups might be arranged to gain specific technical skills at an advanced

level, such as in many body theory. Possibly some courses taken off-campus could

complement the present program. Additional seminar courses might be organized

to provide breadth in the course offerings. The required graduate seminar is an

excellent program. In addition a faculty seminar would be advisable to give first

year graduate students an introduction to the research programs in the department.

Some of the graduate students have asked for more contact with the faculty early in

the graduate program to help them focus on areas of interest and to make them more

familiar with research in the department as a whole. Such programs are the norm in

many institutions.

The time for completion of the Masters program, on average, is 9 semesters which

is high in comparison with other physics programs but better than average for many

other disciplines at Simon Fraser. However, we feel that 9 semesters is too long.

Specifically the time spent in the Masters program adds significantly to the total

period before graduation with a Ph.D. for those students who continue with their

graduate work. The average time in the Ph.D. program alone is 4.8 years, which

combined with the 3 year average in the Masters program, leads to a relatively long

period in graduate study. For the physics department at Simon Fraser to be

attractive to the best graduate students this period should be shortened. We note

that this issue was raised by the previous review committee who recommended a

cap in funding to ensure that the time for completion be decreased. We urge that the

department reconsider the problem and directly confront their traditional goals for

the Master's degree, and balance these with the present requirements of 17 semester

hours of course work, a thesis based on publishable original work, and a relatively

heavy teaching assistantship responsibility of 14 hr/week (department self-study

7. Facilities and infrastructure

Computing resources

The decentralization of computing services occurring at many universities is

perhaps also in the process of taking place at SFU. One possibility that should be

considered as a part of the decentralization of resources is to have a systems person

associated with the Faculty of Science available to help faculty with computing

setup, maintenance, and software installation, possibly on a partial cost recovery

basis. In this respect it should be noted that the physics department has been

extremely successful in hiring high quality technical staff and maintaining and

fostering a productive spirit and attitude among its technical staff. It would be an

opportunity therefore to have the physics department play a significant role in the

hiring and supervision of such a systems person.

Library services

The central library services appear to be well managed. The fact that arrangements

have been made to have many scientific journals available 'on-line' is an indication

that the library staff is well acquainted with recent developments and is reacting

efficiently.

Instrument Shops

Instrument shops play a significant role in modern research laboratories.

Continuing institutional support for central shop facilities is crucial for forefront

work in the experimental sciences and in particular in condensed matter

experimental work. At the present the central machine shop has a reasonable staff

and the back log of approximately one month is fairly typical of other institutions.

However, special attention from the central administration needs to be paid to

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ensure that such facilities are viable. The student machine shop is very important to

the physics department and it is equally important that there are skilled technical

staff available in the department who help the students learn the fundamentals of

design and construction of equipment using both the student shop and the main

instrument shop facilities. Active use of instrument shops is a key to successful

graduate student training in experimental physics.

The availability of an electronics shop is also very important to the Physics

Department's experimental programs. The glass shop is less used by physics

researchers but is important nonetheless.

8. Staff: technical and professional

We found the technical staff, including laboratory and administrative staff, to be

very competent and effective. Dr. Rangnekar, the Departmental Assistant, is

responsible for much of the administrative management and performs this crucial

job superbly. One concern is that there may not be sufficient cross-training or

back-up such that in Dr. Rangnekar's absence the department can operate smoothly.

Consequently the department might consider either new, or possibly shared support

for an additional staff person, or perhaps redirection of effort in order to provide

this important additional administrative function.

We met separately with the laboratory and technical staff and, as noted above,

found that they have a clear commitment to supporting the department's mission in

teaching and research and that their level of expertise is very high. The department

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is very fortunate to have these individuals. Their role in the teaching laboratories is

crucial. Also of particular note is the personal interaction the staff have with the

graduate students which

of substantial help in the technical training of

small in number, are very efficient, as was

abundantly clear, for example, in the arrangements made for the review process and

the external committee's visit.

9. Diversity

The department has one assistant professor and one joint appointment at the

assistant professor level who are women, among the 23 faculty positions. This is

1.5 more women faculty than were in the department in 1990, but is still

remarkably low compared to the pool of women Ph.D.'s in North America. It was

pointed out specifically to us by the graduate students that there are only 3 women

in the 50 graduate students in the department. While this may be a fluctuation, we

note that the small numbers in the department might be a cause for concern with the

interview and admissions process for graduate student appointments. This may

also be the case for faculty appointments, particularly so with the large number of

new faculty positions that are foreseen. Consequently we believe that additional

attention needs to be paid to diversity in hiring. Given the small numbers of

women and minorities in the department at present at both faculty and graduate

student level recruitment of the best of these populations may be difficult and will

need special planning and some creative approaches. We did not separately

interview any women faculty or graduate students or other traditional

underrepresented groups, and so we cannot comment on any possible

discrimination that may have been faced by these populations, but it appears to us

that

he atmosphere in

the

department is very collegial and quite professional. Since

there is an expectation of women faculty membership on a number of university

committees, women faculty members become unfairly overloaded with committee

work compared to their male colleagues. The administration, as well as the

department, need to take this into account in their committee assignments and in

tenure cases.

Review committee:

William P. Halperin (chair), Northwestern University

Cherry Murray, Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies

Michael B. Walker, University of Toronto

Paul Percival (internal member), Chemistry Department