Section 4.2 Preparing for a Faculty Vote on Changes in Requirements for the Major and Minor
Although the faculty had voted unanimously in June to implement the proposed revision of the upper-division courses, there had not been time to present and vote upon associated changes in the requirements for the physics major and minor. As one of the Paradigm 2.0 committee members reflected later, they had talked “with everyone about everything in advance” of the spring unanimous vote on the proposed reforms and similarly they “talked with numerous people during the summer” about the upcoming vote on associated changes to the requirements for the physics major and minor.
Near the beginning of fall term, one of the Paradigms 2.0 committee members prepared a document describing the proposed changes to the requirements. After receiving feedback from the other committee members, this member discussed the document and the proposed changes to the major and minor with the new head of the department, who then emailed the document to the faculty. The document provided a one page executive summary that stated questions for four categories of issues to be discussed: requirements for the BS degree, for options for the major, for the BA degree, and for a physics minor. A table of contents provided guidance for finding the details about these changes in this complex 17-page document.
At a faculty meeting during the first week of fall quarter, the author of this document facilitated a discussion of the proposed changes. The discussion mostly focused on an emerging concern about how the faculty would handle the increasing numbers of majors if a thesis remained a requirement for the major. In a series of three votes, the faculty approved the proposed changes to the general requirements for the BS degree, the BA degree, and the detailed requirements for the various options for a major. At a second faculty meeting during the first week of the term, the faculty also voted to approve a proposed specialty course in astrophysics as well as the proposed changes to the physics minor.