OPTYCs Town Hall

You're invited to a community discussion on the needs of two-year college physics and astronomy faculty, and the future direction for OPTYCs!

The current grant that funds OPTYCs came in being through ideas and discussions within the community during pandemic lockdowns and regular Zoom gatherings. During the summer of 2021, a working group of 30 volunteers helped to define our community's needs, and brainstormed a vision for TYC physics. From that basis, a small group crafted the grant proposal.

We're now halfway through our grant, and it's time to chart the next part of the journey. OPTYCs is about community and we need input to remain relevant and impactful.

Three virtual session and one in-person session are planned in the upcoming months to maximize opportunities to share your feedback. As always, you can contact us if you have any suggestions.

Click here for registration and dates 

OPTYCS programs

• Leadership Institute: The AAPT and OPTYCs present the TYC Leadership Institute an innovative fellowship specially designed for Two-Year College Physics faculty, aiming to develop and enhance their leadership skills. Building upon the solid foundation of previous TYC physics initiatives, the primary objective of this program is to nurture current and future leaders within the TYC physics community. Applications for Cohort 2 are currently accepted here until October 21, 2024.

• CERES: Creating Environments that Reach Every Student Program. The goal for this two-year-long program is to create a capacity-building learning community among two-year college physics-related teaching instructors to support efforts to improve student success by creating welcoming learning environments. This program builds a cohort of supportive peers who are committed to self exploration, self improvement, and working in challenging spaces so as to create classroom and institutional spaces where students feel a sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and encouragement towards growth and success. Applications for Cohort 2  (Click here) are open until 15th October, 2024. 

• Sensor-Based Physics Tools Workshop (In conjunction with the AAPT Winter Meeting in St. Louis, MO) Saturday, January 18th, 2025. This workshop aims to provide two-year college faculty with tools and skills to not only create more sensor-based activities for use in their own classes, but also to lead future workshops on the same topic in their local communities. Two-year college faculty who are selected for this workshop will be reimbursed for reasonable travel costs. There is no registration fee for this workshop for accepted participants. Apply here.