Invited: The EP3 Initiative and its role in advancing departmental change efforts

The Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) initiative (ep3guide.org) is a grassroots effort developed for, and by, department leaders and change agents. Its goal is to facilitate departmental-led efforts to improve physics programs based on practices deemed effective either through research or by community practice. The next phase of this initiative involves (1) investigating how individuals and programs have used the EP3 Guide’s content to improve elements of their department and (2) learning how to better support departments in using the EP3 Guide.

This “How Departments are Supporting the Future of Physics” session, sponsored by the APS Forum on Education, highlights a range of change efforts that departments have successfully implemented. Following a brief overview of the EP3 Guide, we will explore some of the strategies that will be highlighted in this session’s presentations and examine their alignment with the EP3 Guide’s content. In highlighting the success these physics programs have had, we will identify ways departments have implemented the EP3 Guide’s content.