Welcome
Department Address
Mission Statement
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Physics students John Trapasso and Robert Marchitelli measuring the radioactivity of lake sediment. (July 25, 2001) |
Welcome to the Saint Vincent College Department of Physics web site. This site has been built to give easy access to the departments many activities. In addition, we want to especially welcome those visitors to our site who are prospective Physics students. We hope that you find the site useful and enjoyable to use. Please do not hesitate to contact us by phone, e-mail, fax, or regular mail. Individual faculty members and students contact information is listed under the appropriate page on this site.
Saint Vincent College Physics Building
Department of Physics
300 Fraser Purchase Road
Latrobe, PA 15650
FAX: 724-537-4554
Dr. Smetanka with students in Astronomy Laboratory - Spring 2001
Mission Statement
The overall mission of the Physics Department works in concert with the mission of the College and begins with the cultivation of a love for learning and an appreciation of the inherent beauty in the study of the natural world. The department serves three populations of students each with specific goals; (1) Physics majors, (2) Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Engineering majors, and (3) non-science majors.
(1) The Department's mission is to prepare Physics-majors by developing skills in experimental, theoretical and computational physics so our students are prepared to enter graduate programs in Physics and related fields (for example, Astrophysics, Material Science, and Engineering), obtain a professional and/or technical position in industry, or teach at the high school level.
(2) For students who major in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics or Engineering the Department's mission is to develop the ability to apply the experimental, theoretical and computational principles of Physics to their specific disciplines.
(3) The Department's mission is to fulfill the goals of the core curriculum for student who are non-science majors by promoting scientific literacy, developing a familiarity with the scientific method and creating an awareness of the impact of science on society.
For all students, the Department's mission is to stress the conceptual understanding of Physics through discussion, demonstration, and experimentation and to develop the ability of the students to effectively communicate their understanding to others.
Students in the Interdisiplinary Summer Research Workshop conducting an experiment in the Saint Vincent College Wetlands (July 24, 2001)
Left to Right - Jeremy Dalletezze (Economics), Robert Marchitelli (Physics), Caton Goodman (Chemistry)