washington

The University of Wyoming is considering closing its physics and astronomy department, a move that would make it the only state-run university in the United States not to award degrees in physics.

The plan is still in draft form and is not scheduled to go to the university's board of trustees for approval until July. But physics department chairman Paul Johnson acknowledges that his programme, which has seen a heavy fall in student numbers over the past few years, is facing a “severe threat”.

A five-year academic plan drafted by the university administration calls for the closure of the masters and PhD programmes in physics and astronomy, and for the university's Wyoming Infrared Observatory (WIRO) to be sold or leased. The observatory's 2.3-metre infrared telescope is the third largest in the country.

The plan recommends that consideration be given to scrapping the bachelors degree programme and offering physics courses only as a ‘service function’ to other departments, such as engineering and geology. The philosophy department and some language programmes are also targeted for closure.

According to the plan, “numerous external reviews, including the most recent WIRO review, have questioned the [economic] sustainability of the physics/astrophysics program”. The number of physics majors has dropped from 40 in 1993 to 25 today, and the number of faculty members is down from 17 two years ago to 13, with only five expected to remain after September.

A recent outside review of WIRO identified deficiencies including infighting among the astronomy faculty members. Although acknowledging past problems, Johnson says the move to eradicate physics reflects a “new climate in academia” focused on cost-benefit calculations. “It flabbergasts me that something at the core of science” could be dropped from the university, he says.

The WIRO review pointed out management flaws and a need for more modern instruments, but it concluded that the observatory is an “important and competitive facility⃛ which has the potential to excel in certain key scientific niches”.

Johnson says he would like to see the observatory run by a consortium of universities. The observatory is negotiating with Denver University in Colorado and other institutions.

Harley Thronson, who heads NASA's Origins programme to study evolution in the Universe, was a member of the faculty at Wyoming until the mid-1990s. He says the department, although small, has produced independent-minded scientists who have risen to “some of the most senior positions in the astronomical community”.

James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, drew national attention in 1995 when it proposed — but later shelved — a plan to shut its physics department. Patrick Mulvey, who tracks data on university degree programmes for the American Institute of Physics in Washington, says he has noticed no trend in the number of physics departments closing down. In a typical year, he says, one or two colleges eliminate or scale down their physics programmes while another one or two expand.

But if the plan is approved, Wyoming would become the only state without a college offering physics degrees. That would make it a scientific backwater, says Johnson. Thronson agrees: Wyoming would lose its influence in astronomy at a time when the field is enjoying a golden era, he says.