Department Chairs Conference

For more than a decade, APS and AAPT have jointly organized a biennial conference for chairs of physics departments to discuss current developments in physics research, education, funding, and public policy, as well as departmental management and local institutional concerns. These conferences have helped maintain an open dialog among physics department chairs on a wide spectrum of issues.

Date: Friday, June 6 (evening), to Sunday, June 8, 2008 (noon).

Registration Fee: $330 (includes the conference, meals and transportation from the hotel to the American Center for Physics).

Note: APS will sponsor a “lobbying day” for Chairs on Friday, June 6. Please come a day early and meet with your members of Congress.  Staff has planned, arranged transportation and will brief at 8:00 am Friday morning at the hotel before your visit to Capitol Hill.

Location

The Saturday and Sunday portions of the meeting will take place at the American Center for Physics, College Park, MD; the Friday evening session will be at the conference hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn, Greenbelt, MD.

Theme and Format

  • The 2008 theme will be “The role of physics in informing and advancing energy research and solutions.”
  • General topics for discussions include: energy research and education, undergraduate physics education, graduate physics education, diversity, teacher education, and an initiative to double the number of undergraduate physics majors
  • The list of breakout sessions has been finalized with input from registrants (see list of breakout session topics.)

::  Program ::

Organizing Committee

  • Ed Bertschinger, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Dale Van Harlinger, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Catherine Mader, Hope College, Michigan
  • Daniel Marlow, Princeton University
  • James Miller, University of Alabama in Huntsville
  • Michael Pechan, Miami University, Ohio
  • Quinton Williams, Jackson State University, Mississippi
  • Judy Franz, APS
  • Charlie Holbrow, AAPT

Hotel

Hotel accommodations and car rentals are the responsibility of conference attendees. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hilton Garden Inn, located at 7810 Walker Drive, Greenbelt, MD 20770 for the fee of $99 + tax if reserved by MAY 31. Mention the conference code: "AAPT6" when registering to obtain the conference registration rate. Make a reservation online or call (301) 474-7400.

Car Rental

For your convenience, AVIS is offering a special discount rate for Physics Chairs’ attendees. To make reservations, contact AVIS at 1-800-331-1600 and use the worldwide discount number J945158, or reserve online at http://tinyurl.com/2cnm4c (Busing to and from the hotel to ACP will be provided).

If you have any questions, contact: Roxanne Muller at eo@aapt.org.