From a field of 96, the UTD Society of Physics Students won 2020’s Outstanding Chapter Award, the third consecutive year for them to win that distinction.
“We’ve won chapter distinctions eight years in a row, and the last three of those consecutively have been at the highest level,” said Dr. Jason Slinker, associate professor of physics, UTD SPS chapter adviser and SPS’ 2019 Outstanding Adviser award winner.
Chapter president Victoria Catlett said the award was “based off our 2019-2020 Chapter Report, which summarized our activities throughout the school year.”
Reviewers include a team of four SPS National Council members, including Zone Councilors and Associate Zone Councilors, as well as the SPS office staff.
Criteria for SPS Chapter recognition in each zone include:
• Chapter involvement in local, zone and national SPS meetings and other professional meetings
• Participation in SPS programs
• Outreach efforts to the grades K-12 or the general public
• Participation in community service
• Contributions to student recruitment and retention
• Participation in social events
• Interactions with the department’s alumni
In addition, Catlett recently won the Future Faces of Physics Award for activities that promote physics across cultures.
She proposed a two-part physics boot camp to inspire high school women to pursue physics, understand what such studies would entail, and give them foundational programming tools needed to succeed in a modern physics environment.
Whoosh!
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