Physics NSF-REU Site Director Workshop: What Did We Learn and What Questions Remain?

The Research Experience for Undergraduates program, traditionally funded by the National Science Foundation and by other agencies (including the Department of Defense), has been a great success. Every year, hundreds of students have the chance to participate in research activities at Universities and research entities other than their own. These extended experiences have helped the students develop confidence in their abilities as practicing physicists, train on state of the art instrumentation, work on communication skills through presentations, and frequently reach a publication milestone. The REU program's impact is manifold and complementary to the strong work done at the home institutions by faculty advisors and instructors. In this presentation we will discuss the current state of the program as determined by the recent (and first) meeting of the Physics REU site directors. In particular we will focus on the strengths of the program, shared good practices, data gathering, and some changes the new Steering Committee might implement. The intended audience should be current REU directors and faculty research supervisors; students who might be interested in the program; faculty at institutions who might be thinking of applying to become a site; and anyone attentive to undergraduate research in general.