Growing Undergraduate Physics Programs: What SPIN-UP Tells Us Works

In the early 2000s, the National Task Force on Undergraduate Physics, with funding from the ExxonMobil Foundation, visited 21 thriving undergraduate physics programs to understand why those programs were growing while most physics programs had experienced a substantial decline in the number of undergraduate majors in the 1990s. The ensuing SPIN-UP Report provided guidance to physics departments that sought to enhance their programs. With recent funding from the National Science Foundation, the American Association of Physics Teachers has been hosting SPIN-UP Regional Workshops to work with physics departments to develop strategic plans to grow their programs. This talk will give an overview of the SPIN-UP report and the experiences of the more than 70 physics departments that have participated in the regional workshops.