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The Director's Corner
June 16, 2008
Greetings!
The weather has turned scary hot in many places and just plain scary in others, with tornadoes and flooding and worse. I hope that all of y'all are able to avoid the worst of it. If you know those that are burdened by the weather this season, please let me know if you have ideas how the physics community can assist.
SPS is seeking someone with a little physics in their background to assist with its publications and website here at the American Center for Physics! If you know of anyone who might fit the bill, please forward this to them. In addition, we are looking for off-site, part-time Assistant Editors for The Nucleus, so keep us in mind!
These two items are at the top of the list of things below, but there is more, from electronic mentoring opportunities to the Edmonton AAPT meeting and Physics Jeopardy to Congress issues (see 3 below). I hope you find something here to interest you. Gary
SPS is hiring a web/publication Production Specialist...details below or check out the job announcement online.
Wanted: Assistant Editors for The Nucleus this summer---$250 stipend. If you've already seen what The Nucleus has to offer, you probably know a good candidate; if you haven't, check it out and see if you are interested (see waaaay below for details).
Chapter reports are coming in from all over the country...the official deadline was yesterday, but we'd still love to know what your chapter is up to, so go ahead and send it if you haven't already!
BTW, if you've got a great picture showing members of your Sigma Pi Sigma chapter in action, send it directly, with a caption, to slopez@aip.org for possible use in SPS publications.
Come to Congress! The Sigma Pi Sigma Congress at FermiLab, that is, November 6-8, 2008.
It's a rare physics meeting that brings together students, faculty, and physicists who have moved into other sectors of the real world, and the Congress does better than most!
Hear Nobelist Leon Lederman on scientific citizenship, Margaret Murnane on her path to cutting edge optical science, and Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor on Einstein and racism.
You can participate by mapping your own career trajectory in the poster sessions, by submitting a photograph into the art contest, or by voting on the recommendations for The Society during the citizenship workshops.
Read more about the Congress here. Your chapter can apply to be SPS Reporters and get some travel funding!
The Sigma Pi Sigma Congress...It promises to be the physics event of 2008
If you are planning to attend as a Sigma Pi Sigma alumnus, now is a great time to contact your chapter and see how things are going, and to volunteer as a "One & One" voting delegate at the Congress. If you'd like current contact information for your chapter, please write to Kendra Rand at krand@aip.org.
-The One & One Campaign-
At the Congress, attendees will formulate recommendations for action by the Society and its members on issues of scientific citizenship. These will be taken to a vote of endorsement. Each chapter in attendance will receive up to two votes, ideally one vote to a student delegate and one vote to an alumnus delegate. Therefore, all chapters are encouraged to send a minimum of "One & One" to the 2008 Congress, one student and one alumnus. Of course, every chapter should send as many students and alumni as possible to engage the important questions of scientific citizenship!
The Congress website has detailed information on the "One & One" Campaign and the latest meeting information, please visit.
Join us at the summer AAPT meeting in Edmonton, Canada, July 19-23, 2008. For a travel award, first submit your abstract to the AAPT website at http://www.aapt.org/Events/abstractForm.cfm, then follow the directions at http://www.spsnational.org/meetings/calendar/2008/aapt_summer.pdf ...if a few people from your chapter are planning to be at the meeting consider applying for an SPS Reporter Award to get a little travel funding and to see your name as a byline in our next meeting report...just send me an email at gwhite@aip.org if your chapter is interested. And there will be Physics Jeopardy, too, so if you just want to attend and play, let me know!
Check out what the SPS interns are doing this summer!
6) Looking for that perfect part-time summer job?
Tutors are needed---get paid, and feel good.
Already, over 100 SPS members have started the tutor sign-up process---keep it going, I think it's worth it, and so do the others that are now tutors. So, be an on-line physics tutor; it's the perfect part-time physics job!---SPS has partnered with Tutor.com to bring better physics to more students across the country. If you're interested in becoming an on-line physics or math tutor, apply here.
Need advice as you prepare to graduate? Need a mentor for that hard career decision?
SPS has expanded it's partnership with MentorNet so that now all SPS student members can be partnered with a mentor regardless of which school they attend! If you want to bounce things off of an experienced mentor for a few months or more, check out MentorNet and the new partnership arrangement with SPS, http://www.mentornet.net/
If you're in a position to serve as a Mentor, even better, they are looking for a few good scientists!
Take care,
Gary
0) Here come the details about the open positions:
SPS is hiring a web/print publications Production Specialist to work at the American Institute of Physics! Here's the scoop:
POSITION: Production Specialist, Society of Physics Students
LOCATION: College Park, MD
DIVISION: Education/SPS, American Institute of Physics
REPORTS TO: Education Communications Coordinator
Essential Functions:
The American Institute of Physics is seeking a Production Specialist for The Society of Physics Students to produce Education Division publications, particularly the SPS Observer, Radiations magazine, the Journal of Undergraduate Research in Physics (JURP), and the SPS Information Handbook. The successful candidate will manage all elements of the production and print cycles, as well as coordinate all players involved with production and deadlines. He/she will contribute to the design, content and development of Education Division print and electronic media and other Education Communication Team efforts. Will provide written content for publications and websites, create promotional flyers, certificates, annual calendars, etc. and assist the staff on special projects as requested.
Qualifications:
A bachelor's degree and at least two years relevant work experience in desktop publishing and graphic design, with a background in physics, physical science and/or physical science education is preferred. Must be a highly motivated self-starter, with the ability to meet deadlines and think strategically and analytically; and have excellent organizational skills. Strong computer skills: working knowledge of word processing, graphic design, and desktop publishing software on a Windows platform as well as experience with web editing/design software, layout and design, media file formats, and printing process is preferred. The ideal candidate must have excellent written communication skills and be a team player.
If you feel you have the qualifications and would like to apply for this position, please forward your cover letter and resume to the Human Resources Division at aiphr@aip.org.
The American Institute of Physics is an Affirmative Action and
Equal Opportunity Employer
6/11/08
More details about Assistant Editors, finally!!!!
Are you interested in making a more significant contribution to The Nucleus? We are looking for interested students to work as Assistant Editors in the collection. The Assistant Editors will be responsible for keeping things running on the site, as well as generating traffic. We are looking for people interested in working in the following areas:
Scholarships Clearinghouse
Research Opportunities Clearinghouse
Outreach and science demos/SOCKs,
Student Clubs,
Future Faces of Physics,
Book Resources,
Lounge Development, and
Blogging.
Associate Editors will receive a $250.00 stipend for work over the summer or during a long semester of the academic year. We are looking to fill positions immediately for the summer, 2008 term. Anyone who is interested should send an e-mail, indicating interest and qualifications, to editor@the-nucleus.org. Please indicate your top three preferences from the list above…even more (tentative) details follow…
Nucleus Assistant Editor Job Descriptions
All assistant editors would be expected to participate weekly in discussion forums of their choosing. In addition, they would each be responsible for one of the areas and associated duties outlined below. Assistant editors will be expected to document all of their activity and report their activity to the collection editor at the end of each month via email.
Assistant editors are strongly encouraged to investigate how tools such as YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, blogs, podcasts, videos, Second Life, etc. could be used in addressing the needs outlined below. The assistant editor might also recruit students/special guests to host discussion threads.
Assistant editors would receive $250.00 per semester, students would be expected to act as assistant editors through the end of the summer, with re-appointment during the 2008-09 possible for effective assistant editors.
Outreach / SOCKs (SPS Outreach Catalyst Kits)
Assistant editors would be responsible for recruiting students/chapters to host discussion threads related to outreach activities. For example, chapters that have won Outstanding Chapter Awards for their outreach programs could be asked to host an outreach advice thread, a SOCK user could host a thread on how to use the SOCK, etc. The moderator would also be responsible for investigating how the Lounge could assess and address student/chapter needs related to SPS outreach activities.
Research Opportunities
The research opportunity search is one of the most popular features on the site. The assistant editor would be responsible for investigating how students that visit the site only for the research opportunity search could be made aware of the other features the site has to offer. In addition, he or she would be responsible for recruiting students to post about their research experiences and to host a discussion thread for students thinking about applying for research experiences.
Scholarships
The assistant editor would be responsible for investigating how students that visit the site only for the scholarship listing could be made aware of the other features the site has to offer. The assistant editor would be expected to add five new scholarships to the database each semester. The assistant editor would also be responsible for investigating how the site could assess and address students needs related to SPS scholarships and monetary needs.
Student Clubs
The assistant editor would be responsible for assessing the number and use of the SPS chapter threads and identifying their value. In addition, he or she would be responsible for investigating the presence of SPS on Facebook and MySpace and recommending to the Nucleus committee whether (and if so, how) SPS national should take advantage of this presence. The assistant editor would also be responsible for investigating how the site could assess and address students needs related to local SPS communication needs.
Future Faces of Physics
The assistant editor would be responsible for assessing how the “Future Faces of Physics” theme could be represented and promoted through the Nucleus. The assistant editor might recruit students/special guests to host discussion threads on diversity-related issues, suggest diversity-related contests to the editor, etc. The assistant editor would also be responsible for investigating how the site could assess and address diversity issues.
Book Resources
The assistant editor would be responsible for integrating new book resources into the collection. This would include integrating existing metadata, assisting in the re-design of the book section, and soliciting and/or writing reviews.
Lounge Development
The assistant editor would be responsible for the continuing development of the Lounge section of the collection. This would include the development of new polls, contests, and challenge problems, as well as ideas for integrating blogs, Facebook, YouTube, etc. into the Lounge.
Blogger
The assistant editor would be responsible for maintaining a blog on the collection. Topics for the blog would be cleared by the collection editor.
Gary White
Director, Sigma Pi Sigma and Society of Physics Students
Assistant Director of Education
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse
College Park, MD 20740
Tel: 301-209-3007
FAX: 301-209-0839 |
