Note: This fictionalized anecdote provides a representative sample of actions that departments we interviewed have taken to respond to particular, case-specific metrics, and does not represent any actual departments.

The administration at a regional public institution announced that they were implementing a fast-tracked program prioritization committee to broadly rank programs, and that the physics department was under threat.

Over the ensuing month, department faculty took several effective actions. They proactively questioned the administration’s projected employment statistics and, after noting their pre-engineering program was not included, had the numbers adjusted. The department was also under scrutiny due to the small number of majors it was graduating. With four professors, it averaged 40 majors and eight graduates per year.

After realizing that the administration was comparing their program to others on campus, physics faculty downloaded

To sustain momentum and build their program, physics faculty developed a strategic plan to devote greater focus to their recruiting and retention efforts, re-energize the departmental Society of Physics Students chapter, explore liaisons with other departments to develop a new track in computational physics, and reassess their curriculum and experiential learning options to better serve students who will directly seek employment after graduation.