SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma
The Society of Physics Students
The Society of Physics Students (SPS) is a professional physics association designed explicitly for students. Membership through collegiate chapters requires only an interest in physics. Besides physics majors, our members include majors in chemistry, computer science, engineering, geology, mathematics, medicine, and other fields. Within the SPS, Sigma Pi Sigma, a nationally-recognized scholastic honor society, elects members on the basis of outstanding academic achievement. This two-in-one society operates within the American Institute of Physics (AIP).
The SPS exists to help students transform themselves into contributing members of the professional community. Course work develops only one range of skills. Other skills needed to flourish professionally include effective communication and personal interactions, leadership experience, establishng a personal network of contacts, presenting scholarly work in professional meetings and journals, and outreach services to the campus and local communities.
Locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally, the SPS offers the opportunity for these important enrichments to the student's experience.
The Society of Physics Students at UT
The SPS chapter at The University of Tennessee is largely autonomous. Only those items specified in the national SPS constitution are limiting factors. Thus SPS is your society and deserves your active participation and support. We urge you to use your membership in SPS to participate in the physics community, both at UT and on the regional and national levels. To join SPS, contact Dr. James E. Parks, UT's SPS advisor. See the UT SPS Web site for more information and list of the group's activities
Sigma Pi Sigma
Sigma Pi Sigma was founded as a local honor organization at Davidson College, North Carolina, on December 11, 1921. The local society was so successful that a movement for nationalization was started in 1925. By 1968 there were 170 chapters. On April 22, 1968, Sigma Pi Sigma joined with the American Institute of Physics (AIP) Student Sections to form the Society of Physics Students (SPS). It continues to operate as a fully-recognized honor society within the SPS, a unique arrangement in student organizations. The society is national in scope with chapters located at colleges and universities across the country. Over 400 of the 613 SPS chapters now include an active Sigma Pi Sigma chapter. The total membership is more than 58,000.
Membership
Sigma Pi Sigma chapters are restricted to colleges and universities of recognized standing that offer a strong physics major. The chapters receive into membership undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members and a few others in closely related fields. Students elected to membership must attain high standards of general scholarship and outstanding achievement in physics.
Requirements for Membership in Sigma Pi Sigma at UT
The UT chapter of the Society of Physics Students screens all UT physics students for eligibility for initiation into Sigma Pi Sigma. Every effort is made to identify those persons who meet the physics course completion requirements. All qualified students are invited to join the Sigma Pi Sigma physics honor society. Any interested students must meet the following requirements:
Undergraduate Students
- Must have a junior standing
- Must have a minimum of six credit hours of physics courses numbered 300 or above
- Must have an overall grade point average of 3.25
- The grade point average of all physics courses must be at least 3.5
Graduate Students
- Must have met the same UT requirements at their undergraduate institution OR
- Must have completed one full year of graduate study in physics with 6 graduate level courses in physics completed. Seminar, thesis, and independent study courses are excluded from the 6 courses.
- Must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 for all physics courses
- Must have a minimum GPA of 3.25 for all graduate courses
Any UT student who meets these requirements and would like to join Sigma Pi Sigma should contact Dr. James E. Parks, Advisor to SPS. Call 865-974-8952, or send e-mail to jeparks@utk.edu.