Hi everyone,
I hope you all had a chance to enjoy the great weather we had over the weekend! Please read below for notes from the undergrad meeting last week as well as things that are going on this week. Also for a heads up, I'm going to be out of town May 16-30 returning on May 31 so if you want to meet about classes or anything else, please catch me before vacation as I will not have email access while I'm gone.
Mtg Notes:
Changes in Physics degree requirements and course prerequisites. The new Physics degree has been in progress for several years, but will officially be effective Autumn 2011. These new changes will not impact any currently declared students, so if you're not also declared a Physics major, you should consider declaring this spring or summer. The new Physics major will be split into different tracks: Comprehensive, Applied, Biophysics and Teaching. The changes will mean ~7 additional physics credits to complete both Astronomy and Physics. Physics course prerequisites are also changing (ex: Phys 227 for Phys 321 instead of Phys 228). While these prerequisites will allow students to schedule courses a bit easier, I still caution you to make sure you are prepared with adequate course content prior to enrolling in upper-division courses. Again see me if you have questions about these.
MRO and ASTR 481. Chris Laws will be holding a cleaning party at Manastash Ridge Observatory this spring. Details about this will be sent out soon so watch your inbox!
Autumn quarter class list: available on the web now!
Building Safety Reminder: With the arrival of spring, comes spending more and more later hours in the Physics/Astronomy building, especially students observing with ASTR 480. Please be sure that you are being careful and following personal safety tips such as: stay in well-lit areas, avoid walking alone, carry a safety whistle (available free from UW Police), be aware of what's going on around you, follow your gut instincts and don't be afraid of appearing rude. If you are feeling uncomfortable in any situation, leave. Call 911 if you feel unsafe or suspect a suspicious person.
End of quarter clean up: The computer lab is a space for undergrads to work, study and collaborate! This space is best when it's clean and organized which it tends to not be during the quarter. Stay tuned for details on an end-of-quarter clean up!
Physics GRE Studying: A study guide for the Physics GRE is available to students interested in studying this summer. The Department will assist with organizing a study group and invite faculty, postdocs and grads to visit to help with answering questions. We'll send out a formal email about the study group in mid-June.
GRE exam changes: The general GRE exam scoring is changing. Because of the changes, score reporting will be delayed. Those needing reports prior to Nov. 2011 must take the GRE before August 1, 2011. Exams taken Aug 1 - Nov reporting will occur in Nov. 2011. Normal score reporting will resume Dec. 2011.
Undergrad Symposium and AAS poster talk prep session: We did this in January and are going to hold another session on May 11 at 3pm in Phys/Astr A216. If you are presenting a poster at the UW Undergrad research symposium or the AAS spring meeting, please bring a electronic copy of your poster and we can help you figure out your 1-2 minute poster talk! This is a great way to prepare for the meeting, since you'll get TONS of people asking you to tell you about your research. Many just want a quick overview of the importance of your research so we'll help you create this spiel and also give feedback on your poster before printing.
Grad/undergrad Pizza Lunch: on May 10 at Noon, join the graduate students in the reading room for a pizza lunch! Pizza will be $1/slice. This is a great chance for you all to meet our graduate students and chat about life as an astronomer. More details will be sent out soon, including an RSVP link so we know how many people will be attending.
Astrolunch: Want to know why you've been getting spammed with email about computing issues in our Department? Attend this week's astro lunch talk! Our IT director, Richard Coffey will give a talk on "The Astro SAN Meltdown and How We in Astronomy Manage Risk". Tuesday at Noon in the reading room, B356A.
Colloquium: Thursday at 4pm in Phys/Astr A102, Heather Knutson (UC Berkeley) will give a talk on "Exploring the Diversity of Exoplanetary Atmospheres". Join us for coffee, tea and cookies in the foyer at 3:45!
Page O'Announcements: http://pageoannouncements.blogspot.com/ Updated with a great post-bachelor's degree astronomy job!
Have a great week!
Best,
Sarah
No comments:
Post a Comment