Physics students receive national recognition

January 5, 2022 – The chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls has won an Outstanding Chapter Award from the SPS National Office.

The UW-River Falls chapter has been recognized 23 times with this award, an honor recognizing the chapter for its excellence as a top-tier student-led physical sciences organization. This designation is given to fewer than 10% of all SPS chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and internationally.

SPS is a professional association designed for students and membership is open to anyone interested in physics and related fields. It operates within the American Institute of Physics (AIP), an umbrella organization for professional physical science societies.

The UWRF chapter is advised by Physics Professor Glenn Spiczak and is led by student officers. The 2020-21 officers are:

Ian Carter, president (ian.carter@my.uwrf.edu) 
Gretchen Hibbert, vice president (gretchen.hibbert@my.uwrf.edu) 
James Bowers, secretary (james.bowers@my.uwrf.edu) 
Collin Gartner, treasurer (collin.gartner@my.uwrf.edu)
Megan Rhea, social media manager (megan.rhea@my.uwrf.edu) 

“Credit for the success of SPS at UW-River Falls goes to our students,” said Spiczak. “They are engaged and excited about physics in and out of the classroom. Recognition at this level is certainly worthy of their efforts.”

SPS chapters are evaluated on their level of interaction with the campus community, the professional physics community, the public and with SPS national programs. 

The Outstanding Chapter Award recognizes high levels of outreach as well as unique approaches to fulfilling the mission of SPS to “help students transform themselves into contributing members of the professional community.”

In 2020-21, the UWRF SPS chapter was limited in its outreach efforts to the community due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most years the chapter hosts on-campus events such as the Science Olympiad, Haunted Lab at Halloween, Exploration and Development of Space, 3M Super Science Saturday, Hudson Women in STEM+, and Physics Day with the Minnesota Twins.

For more information, email glenn.spiczak@uwrf.edu.

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