The broad mission of educators in the Physical Sciences is to share a dynamic method of inquiry that has been trained over centuries via an iterative process of observation, modeling, prediction, experimentation and observation of the fundamental constituents of the observable universe. Although it can be argued that this tradition is as old as humanity itself, its fruits have never been more impactful to our day-to-day lives than now; both directly in the form of increasingly accelerated technological advancement, and indirectly by serving as a kind of method testing-ground for modeling systems outside of the traditional physical sciences. The broad purpose of the Community College system is to provide a mechanism to enable people to enter the workforce with specific skills required for particular types of jobs and/or to prepare people to continue on to more education and training before entering the workforce. At Butte College specifically, our mission is to provide quality education, services and workforce training to students who aspire to become productive members of a diverse, sustainable and global society. Melding these two imperative missions in a meaningful way that can be used to contextualize our plans for the future requires a split mission: Our mission for STEM career track and non-STEM career track pathways. For the STEM skills career track student (~80% of PS FTES): It is the mission of the Butte College Physical Sciences department to provide students with: a robust and program-informed schedule that allows for published pathways that we serve to be completable by a dedicated student within advertised timelines, and a maximally-inclusive and high-quality educational experience in the physical sciences dedicated to increasing the access of STEM fields to people with diverse ways of thinking and various backgrounds under the operating assumption that science is a reflection of humanity�s understanding of the cosmos not a reflection of the cosmos itself. We will know that we are successful when we have determined that all students have been afforded the achievable opportunity to take their next steps with confidence. For the GE students seeking non-STEM career tracks (~20% of PS FTES): The Butte College Physical Science department will provide our General Education students with a mindful and welcoming effort to match their changing interests and behaviors with experiences that highlight the processes, products and power of the culture of the Physical Sciences and how they will continue to play a central role in creating a sustainable future for humanity.
Overview:
The Department of Physical Sciences enjoys an excellent reputation within the campus community. The Chemistry, Geology, and Physics programs offer lower-division courses for science and engineering majors as well as preparatory courses for the nursing and respiratory therapy career programs and the Physical Science program offers general education courses for all majors. Students that have been through our programs return on a regular basis to reflect on their experiences, and the sense of collegiality they felt while in our classes. This is also reflected in student evaluations. Full-time faculty members Colin Ferguson, Penny Lillie, Jason Trento, Danielle Gray and Bob White are former Butte College students and decided to return to the department and give back some of what they received. We work with other departments (specifically Mathematics, Biology, and Computer Science) to create a student-friendly schedule with accessible offerings in a number of different formats. Most sections in all four programs tend to close before the end of registration, many with full wait lists, reflecting a high degree of demand for our programs as well as a solid reputation for our courses.
Outside of the classroom our department is involved in a number of project/activities that serve our mission.
We work closely with Butte College�s Supplemental Instruction (SI) Program which is run with love and skill by April Hennessy and Tina Day and facilitated by our students to provide a community of learning around our more challenging �gateway� courses. Every semester ~7 of our instructors participate in this program. In addition to the obvious benefit of the students that use SI the training and experiences that the facilitators get often helps them get into world-renowned institutions as they move on to their educational goals.
Elizabeth Wannenmacher and Michael Panunto serve as faculty advisors for the Science and Math Club. With regular and awe inducing contributions of demonstrations and technical presentations from our Chemistry Stockroom Magician Dave Carr and periodic tours of local science-based businesses among other typical club social events the Science and Math Club offers a no-stakes opportunity to create community around a common interest. Rusty Bogart is active in connecting students with projects in our maker space bringing the classroom into the production environment.
Delving in deeper into the details of the Physical Sciences Department (~ 6% of total college FTES):
Chemistry (60% FTES of PS Department, 4.41% of campus as of Fall 2019)
Through the pandemic and online modalities, chemistry has nearly maintained the same level of offerings with labs now fully back face to face. By maintaining these numbers chemistry continues to be at near capacity in our building. While enrollment across campus is somewhat declining, the demand for chemistry courses continues to rise.
Martin Wallace tracks Chemistry Demand by Enrollment Day and history shows that CHEM 11, and CHEM 51 attain full enrollment within days after opening. With the Covid pandemic our numbers still remained strong with full enrollment by the first day of instruction.
Despite the demand for courses such as CHEM 51 and 11, and now for PSC 10, 11 and 12, we simply do not have the full-time faculty to cover these classes without faculty volunteering for overloads on a regular basis with our associate faculty teaching at their limits. Plans for the new science building need to take into account this demand and allow for more lab rooms to meet demand and offer more sections during prime class time(9am-2pm).
The Chemistry program has two important needs: more full and/or part-time faculty and laboratory setup staff; and more money for equipment and supplies. From Fall 2008 to Fall 2019, chemistry sections increased from 19 to 31, yet this increase in course offerings is not consistent with budget increases over the years or support staff for these classes. The money increases we are asking for need to cover the cost of new hires, increased costs of chemicals and quantities being used, an increased need for student graders and assistants, and a need to being purchasing and updating equipment that will not be used immediately, but will, instead, be held for the new building.
Physics (14.4% FTES of PS Department 1.06% of campus):
Enrollment in the physics program has stagnated due to a lack of support in the Engineering program. A new engineering instructor has been hired starting the Fall of 2019, and the physics department is teaching Engineering 17. We have added a section to the Spring 2020 schedule and foresee the demand for physics to increase as the engineering program improves. Our increased offerings of PHYS 21, 22 and 43 every semester have met the current demand and now our course offering are on par with similar community colleges. We now have five full time physicists that have allowed us to meet our current demand and help teach much needed engineering courses. However, the physics program currently subsists on two lab rooms that it shares with geology and physical science programs which does not allow for any more growth due to lack of lab space. In addition, we anticipate ever increasing supply and equipment budgets to update antiquated lab technology, and begin stocking up for the new science building.
Geology (6.5% FTES of PS Department 0.48% of campus):
The geology program is quite strong considering we only have a single full-time instructor. We have a full schedule of Physical Geology (GEOL 32) and we continue to offer Historical Geology (GEOL 34) each Fall. We added a FA/SP Earth Science with Lab (PSC 11) at the request of counseling and the Child and Family Development Department as part of an early education AS-T that filled at its first offering and is currently being taught by a part-time instructor. The program's greatest needs are a commitment from administration--in light of the recently approved AS-T degree and Geology and added demand for Geologists in service to other departments--to offer more sections and hire a full-time instructor sometime in the near future. We still need a full-time Geology instructor added to cover the growth in Geology and Physical Science.
Physical Science (19.1% FTES of PS Department 1.41% of campus) :
Enrollments in the Physical Science program are very good--most classes fill well before the semester begins. The Weather classes (PSC 50 and 51) are very strong at both the Chico Center and the Main Campus. We finally added a new course, Natural Hazards (PSC 53), in Summer 2015. It was successful and is now being offered regularly each Fall semester. Environmental Science (PSC 10) continues to be extremely popular with demand now at two sections per term. We currently offer one section of 24 students that closes during the first week of registration. We would like to offer more sections but lack faculty to do so. We added FA/SP sections of PSC 12 and PSC 11 and we have not yet met the demand with many on waitlists. To meet the need of the lecture-only physical science course offering, the physicists have created a lecture-only version of the Introductory Astronomy course (PSC 30) called A Survey of the Universe (PSC 27). The goal is to meet the demand of the lecture-only physical science course previously met by PSC 20 with a popular offering that does not have the intimidating mathematical demands of the lab portion of PSC 30 and can also be offered in the online modality. We are unclear on how many sections of PSC 27 to offer as it may draw students in our other face to face courses.
Our latest program review was 2013-14. The Validation Team issued twelve (12) recommendations. Their status is outlined below. We have acheived most of the recommendations. We need to do a new program review.
New science building: A timeline has been established for the completion of the building.
Counseling: We would like a dedicated STEM counselor with the implementation of AB 705. We have discussed this within our STEM leadership meetings.
Long-term savings: With the restructing of department budgets, we hope to increase our funding.
Hire an additional geologist: We need an additional physical science hire now to meet growth demands for environmental science and physical science for liberal studies. This will allow us to increase our student access further to meet still apparently latent demand.
Smart room upgrades: With the reality that our new building is approximately a decade away, we are requesting Smart-room upgrades to bring us up to the institutional norm of classroom technology. We still need new computers in our building.
Improved scheduling using all five days: This is something we have no control over. The faculty outside of physical sciences at large have convinced themselves that by only meeting their students four days per week instead of five somehow improves student success and access.
Tracking graduates: In progress. This will be closer to completion as the campus shifts from course to program thinking.
Projects involving students: In our engineering physics series we have been implementing two project based aspects of the curriculum. In Physics 41 the students have a semester project called the Group Goldberg machine. It is an extended Rube Goldberg Machine that the whole class participates in. In Fall 2017, the Group Goldberg machine was triggered in the basement level of the library and it was a public success. In Physics 42, students have an individual “motor challenge” where students construct an electric motor out of a specified set of materials then get points for speed of rotation. Both of these projects are well liked by the students, provide an opportunity for community outside normal curriculum and is a low risk way to get experience with the frustrating and fulfilling process of creation moderated by the real constraints of nature …not arbitrary human assessment. Students now tour the new maker space and are using it to create the Rube Goldberg Machine and motor challenge parts.
Strategy 1 - Twelve-month Senior Laboratory Technician and Part-time Technician
The senior physical science laboratory technician is currently serving on a ten-month contract. This individual is responsible for the equipment, lab facilities, and supply and grader budgets of three (3) of the four (4) programs in the department: physics, physical science, and geology. A successful senior laboratory technician is one who is orderly, punctual, self-motivating, and knowledgeable in the physical sciences in the broadest sense. Most importantly, however, this position demands someone who enjoys seizing the initiative and working on projects that enhance student success and whose benefits might not accrue for several semesters. As we increase the number of sections, the responsibilities of the senior laboratory technician will inevitably increase as well. When we move into the new science building, this will only become a larger issue. Given our needs now and our anticipated needs in the long-term, we want to recharacterize this position into a twelve-month one. The chemistry program has seen extensive growth over the last decade, and now has ten full-time faculty and 31 sections and requires more support in this area.
Increasing demand in physics and the uncertainty surrounding the overall space allocations for the entire department in the near future have greatly added to the senior laboratory technician's normal duties and job stress level. These duties include: maintaining and servicing all the laboratory and demonstration equipment for the three programs; overseeing and dispersing monies from the supply and grader budgets for those programs; summer school support; and, working on various building and laboratory projects that enhance students' experiences, provide safer work environments, maker space help for student projects and help the department as a whole operate more efficiently. The time available for these routine duties, however, is slowly eroding due to the ever-increasing time the technician must devote to help the physics program grow. The technician's absence from the college for two months each summer exacerbates this problem, making it very difficult for him to accomplish many long-term projects since many of his routine duties are being squeezed into ten months. While the department does have another full-time senior technician, the physical science tech position has duties unique to the position.
A bulleted list of duties that currently are NOT being performed at only ten months include:
•end of year inventory of equipment and consumable supplies.
•cleaning and calibrating laboratory equipment.
•pricing and purchasing new laboratory equipment and supplies.
•designing and building new laboratory equipment.
•researching and helping develop new laboratory experiments and demonstrations.
•developing new skills that enhance work: lathe work; chemical safety; soldering; milling; Datatel.
•organizing physics and physical sciences stockroom.
•setting up purchase orders.
Strategy 2 - Equipment
What our department makes the college in terms of FTES due to lab hours is slightly offset by the cost of running labs (though a thorough accounting of the money made by our students after leaving our programs we believe would show a return on investment more than acceptable by taxpayers). We have extensive equipment needs and no dedicated equipment budget. Some of this is to replace outmoded and/or unserviceable equipment, and some of it is upgrades, and some of it is simply to acquire more units due to more sections of a given class. Finally, we anticipate further needs in the future to equip the new science building. As we have grown, the usage of the equipment we have accelerates and increases the frequency of replacement and maintenance requirements. With recent growth (~6 more lab sections in last year) we anticipate a commensurate increase in our equipment repair and replacement needs at the very least.
The Physical Sciences only work when students perform experiments. Therefore, specialized equipment and dedicated facilities are key components in every class we teach. Equipment must be maintained and calibrated and we have to continually replenish consumables like chemicals, glassware, carbonized paper, electrical components, testing samples, housekeeping materials, etc. Relentless improvements in technology, along with continual software upgrades, means we constantly need to improve the way we use our equipment, or replace it, or completely change the way we do experiments. All of this requires a large supply budget, a budget that increases over time.
Strategy 3 - Student Grader and Student Lab Assistant Money
As we continue to add sections and try to fulfill other tasks for the college (e.g., SLO assessment), it is becoming even more important for us to have sufficient and ongoing funds available for student graders and student assistants. Recent reinstatement of the ability to gain student funds from small mark-ups of the lab manuals has decreased the long term concern for maintaining the meticulous and proven pedagogy used by the Chemistry instructors but we remain uncertain about where the funding levels will normalize. Consequently, to avoid breaking a working model of evaluation of student work, the Chemistry program needs continued monies to continue with this proven pedagogical choice. Last year the college graciously awarded us more monies toward this cause, but we anticipate our grading needs to continue to increase with the addition of 3 more full-time chemists and this support must continue at least in the short-term. Increased minimum wage, more glassware and lab prep require more monies for student assistance helping in set-ups and cleaning glassware that our senior lab technician can’t keep up with.
Mastery of the physical sciences requires focused attention on detail and the nurturing of analytical skills. Hence, grading lab reports and other work is necessary, yet very time-consuming for the instructors especially since many of us are on overload. Employing our successful students as graders yields three great benefits: 1) Students receive significantly more feedback with an increased level of detail and in a more timely manner than the instructor would be able to provide alone. 2) Instructors are better able to focus on student success and learning outcomes in their courses. 3) The student graders receive valuable training in analytical skills and physical intuition, as well as a source of income with a highly flexible schedule. An increase in minimum wage and increase in the sheer volume of labs require more student assistants and hence more monies.
Strategy 4 - Professional Development Travel Funds for STEM Instructors
Technology and scientific advancement as well as advancements in STEM teaching strategies are all in a era of rapid and accelerating change. The nature and global ubiquity of the importance of STEM tends to make the nature of conferences at the cutting edge of the scientific and technological endeavor to be more national in nature than local. When this fact is coupled with generally available funds to all faculty it results in a situation where our STEM instructors are less able to keep skills updated with their fields because to do so would require travel to areas further from home. As our campus culture shifts to design with the end in mind our STEM instructors have to keep abreast of the end more regularly since Science and Technology is changing more rapidly than other transfer fields. STEM instructors need more travel funds to keep even with the campus at large in professional development.
See above
Strategy 5 - Budget Increases
The college needs to fully supporting moving forward the department budgets in our area. With no increase in any budget, it is becoming impossible to run our programs. We need increased support to maintain, and order new equipment to include ongoing costs of what we have to support.
See Above
Strategy 6 - Hire a Geology Instructor
Our request is for a full time Geology instructor.
We asked for a Geology instructor two years ago by labeling the job description as a Physical Science hire. The postion was then converted to a Physics hire. We are still in need of a full time hire in geology to meet the demand of the liberal studies major requirement of PSC 11 which requires a geology degree to teach. We also need instructor for growth in PSC 10. Currently, geology disciplines teach this course. This was also linked to our program review in 2014 and will again be added to our next program review. This position will teach combined lecture lab structure courses which has improved student success for all students.
Lecture and laboratory space. This will continue to be an issue until we move into the new science building.
The department currently has external funding sources from the sales of lab manuals. These funds are deposited into foundation accounts.
| Original Priority | Program, Unit, Area | Resource Type | Account Number | Object Code | One Time Augment | Ongoing Augment |
| Description | Supporting Rationale | Potential Alternative Funding Sources | Prioritization Criteria | |||
| 1 | Chemistry | Equipment | $12,000.00 | $0.00 | ||
| ChemDraw: Chemistry Drawing Tool | Our license expires this year. We need money to renew the license. This is a critical software tool that is used to support all chemistry courses. |
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| 2 | Chemistry | Equipment | $20,000.00 | $0.00 | ||
| Mass Selective Detector | Our current Agilent 5973 Network Mass Selective Detector is no longer supported by the manufacturer. We need to replace this machine to support our program. |
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| 3 | Chemistry | Equipment | $30,000.00 | $0.00 | ||
| FT-IR Spectrometer | Our current PerkinElmer Spectrum One FT-IR Spectrometer is no longer supported by the manufacturer. We need to replace this unit to support Chemistry. |
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| 4 | Geology | Operating Expenses | $0.00 | $1,800.00 | ||
| Increase in annual supply and travel budgets | The current Geology budget is $643 for supplies and $290 for travel. This amount has not changed in at least six years. We seek an ongoing increase of $767 ($357 for supplies and $410 for travel) as well as the creation of a dedicated equipment budget (there currently isn't one) funded at $1000. Maps, scratch pads, glass plates, and other consumables continue to increase in price. We ask for a travel money increase since the field trips are very popular with the students and assessments have shown that they improve student success. |
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| 5 | Physical Science | Equipment | $6,000.00 | $0.00 | ||
| Lab Chairs | Studio classroom pedagogy requires more time sitting in the lab room. The chairs need to swivel, adjust height and be chemical proof. The current chairs are uncomfortable and students spend most of their time standing. |
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| 6 | Chemistry | Operating Expenses | $0.00 | $5,000.00 | ||
| Student Assistant Money | Increased lab offerings have lead to more glassware that student assistants wash freeing up time for lab techs. Minimum wage continues to increase every year. |
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| 7 | Physical Science | Equipment | $1,000.00 | $0.00 | ||
| Anemometer | We were able to repair the anemometer at the weather station. We need a replacement. The unit is very old, the speed bearings are not in good condition, so it will likely need to be replaced soon. |
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| 8 | Physics, Physical Science | Equipment | $5,000.00 | $0.00 | ||
| High Speed Camera | To achieve the analysis of many types of motion a high speed camera is needed to observe phenomena that happen of milliseconds. A camera with 4000 fps is versatile enough for these observations. This camera would be used in all physics and astronomy labs. |
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| 9 | Geology/Physical Science | Personnel | $0.00 | $100,000.00 | ||
| New Full Time Geology Instructor | We asked for a Geology instructor two years ago by labeling the job description as a Physical Science hire. The postion was then converted to a Physics hire. We are still in need of a full time hire in geology to meet the demand of the liberal studies major requirement of PSC 11 which requires a geology degree to teach. We also need instructor for growth in PSC 10. Currently, geology disciplines teach this course. This was also linked to our program review in 2014 and will again be added to our next program review. We think this position can be funded through Student Equity and Achievement Program. The position meets the following two criteria: 1. Expands access to and/or improves effectiveness of educational planning, career counseling, or transfer counseling by meeting demand in PSC 11 and PSC 10. 2. Reduces or eliminates student equity gaps by teaching in a pedagogy proven to eliminate student equity gaps in lecture lab cohorts. (Data from dashboard on Student Success in PSC 10 and PSC 11) |
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| 10 | Physics | Operating Expenses | $0.00 | $4,517.00 | ||
| Increased supply, grader, and equipment budgets | The current Physics budget is $5708 ($2763 for supplies, $2720 for student graders, and $225 for student assistants). The program has NO dedicated equipment budget. We ask for ongoing increases in the supply and student grader budgets of $237 and $280, respectively, and the creation of a dedicated equipment budget of $4000. The increases for supplies and graders reflect increases in the costs of consumables and increases in the minimum wage. Also, as we add sections to the schedule and full-time faculty take on overloads, they need more student graders. The new equipment budget will help us begin purchasing expensive, yet necessary, equipment for the new science building. (Some of this equipment is listed as separate augmentation requests.) Also, current equipment costs are covered by the supply budget or offset by using Foundation money (since we no longer receive profits from the sale of lab manuals, our Foundation accounts inexorably decrease). Examples of new equipment include: optics benches; liquids lab materials; and circuit labs. Finally, more sections means increases in printing costs, which are currently covered by the Chemistry program. |
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| 11 | Physics and Physical Science | Equipment | $9,000.00 | $0.00 | ||
| Six Speed of Light Systems | Updating this lab to modern technology. Our old measuring systems are unreliable and do not give acceptable results. |
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| 12 | Physics | Equipment | $4,600.00 | $0.00 | ||
| Six Centripetal Force System | Our current systems are outdated and breaking down. |
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| 13 | Physical Science | Operating Expenses | $0.00 | $3,336.00 | ||
| Increased budgets for supplies | Like Geology and Physics, this program has NO dedicated equipment budget. The current budget is $1304 ($824 for supplies, $340 for student graders, and $140 for travel). We seek ongoing increases of $676 for supplies, $660 for student graders, and the creation of an equipment budget funded at $2000. These increases cover the increase of printing and student grader costs as we continue to add sections. The new equipment budget will help us begin purchasing equipment for the new science building. |
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| 14 | Physics | Equipment | $4,700.00 | $0.00 | ||
| Six Ampere Law Apparatus | This equipment will replace outdated and poorly functioning equipment we currently have. |
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| 15 | Physics | Equipment | $550.00 | $0.00 | ||
| Pasco Demonstration motor/generator | This demo is needed to demonstrate many electromagnetic ideas used in physics and engineering. |
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| 16 | Physics | Equipment | $3,700.00 | $0.00 | ||
| Six Ideal Gas Law systems | Currently, we do not have an experiment to explore the ideal gas law. This equipment is needed to support our lab program. |
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| 17 | Physics | Equipment | $3,700.00 | $0.00 | ||
| Six Steam Generators | Our current steam generators are falling apart and need to be replaced. Having working equipment that boils water is also important for student safety. |
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| 18 | Physics and Physical Science | Equipment | $6,500.00 | $0.00 | ||
| Ulimaker 3D Printer | Our students need to be using the latest technology in designing and building projects for our classes. |
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| 19 | Physics | Equipment | $700.00 | $0.00 | ||
| Hot Plates | We are in need of new hot plates. We do not have a set for physics. |
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