Recruiting Physics Faculty With Your Departmental Web Site

Steve Remillard, Applied Physicist

Recruiting Physics Faculty With Your Departmental Web Site

I have spent the past 2 years looking for physics departments that are a good match for me. I have learned a lot about the variety of departments and understand fully that matching faculty to the department is hardly a one-size-fits-all exercise. My research into the various departments is conducted primarily by viewing web sites, and even occasionally by visiting the department. Because this is how most prospective faculty do their searches, it behooves your departmental web master to produce the best possible web site, not just for recruiting students, but also for recruiting faculty. Here are some elements of a web site that I look for.

Who is on the faculty? This is what I look at first. What are their credentials, their specialties, their seniorities. Especially with seniority, I like to see all levels present in the department.
How active is the faculty research? Does each faculty member have a research web site? Are recent publications displayed there?
How abundant are the student research opportunities? Are last summer's research projects reported and next summer's research projects advertised? Is it clear that this department is engaging students outside the classroom?
Does this department have students? Many web sites neglect to indicate that they have any majors. Show us pictures of their smiling faces. Is there an SPS chapter? Make sure there's a page about that.
What are the department's academic strengths? Some departments offer concentrations in, for example, optics, astrophysics, biophysics or applied physics.
Who are the Alumni? I want to know where the alumni go and how successful they are. Passing references to graduates going on the grad school at U of X doesn't impress me much. Show me the data. Have an alumni page listing them by name with web links.
Who visits the department? Keep the seminar schedule up-to-date. Are seminars given by visitors or only by locals? This should show how well plugged-in the dapartment is.

Here are some links to some of the best done physics department web sites I have viewed.

Calvin College. The best I've seen. It answers all of the above questions. It's also my alma mater. (No bias, honest.)

University of Akron. The web site makes it clear to you how this 9 member department plays on its strengths. http://nebula.physics.uakron.edu/

I will add some more favorites later, so check back.