December 2015 Science Journal

College News
Staff Highlight: Selders Provides Critical
Support
Faculty Highlight: Robinett’s Advising
Enhances the Student Experience
Department heads may hold
one of the toughest positions
in academia, but they do not
have to do their job alone thanks to excellent
administrative support coordinators like the
Department of Astronomy and Astrophyics’s
Christine Selders.
Administrative support coordinators and
department heads oversee and execute all academic
and administrative functions. Selders
has seamlessly facilitated the implementation of
both drastic and small changes for four department
heads over the past 25 years.
“Christine has been instrumental in developing
how the department works,” said Donald
Schneider, head of the department. “Her experiences
and judgment are extremely valuable.”
As the main point of contact for administration,
Selders balances a wide variety of complex
administrative and office functions. She develops
and manages various budgets, creates department
policies, advises department head and
faculty of University policies and procedures,
fills open departmental positions, trains new
employees, oversees department spa ce allocation,
and manages renovation projects.
“It’s difficult to find a part of the infrastructure
that does not depend on Christine,” said
Suvrath Mahadevan, assistant professor of
astronomy and astrophysics.
Selders has a busy schedule, yet she takes
on additional projects in times of need. For example,
when there are job searches in progress,
Selders covers some of the responsibilities of
those former staff members.
“The department was down two people at one
ning very smoothly, without any diminution in
the effectiveness of the office. I don’t think the
faculty realized the magic that was going on behind
the curtains,” Schneider said.
Schneider admitted that even he, as an assistant
department head, did not realize everything
Selders does for the department until he
became department head himself. Now he views
their working relationship as a partnership and
said that she is a tremendous asset to the department,
college, and University.
An important component of Selders’s role is
her intermediary communication between faculty
and the department head. Former Department
Head Lawrence Ramsey said he noticed
faculty feel comfortable approaching Selders
with issues so she could pass them on to him.
“Sometimes I was unaware that faculty members
were upset if I did something wrong, so
Christine was a very valuable conduit to me.
When Christine comes and talks about something,
we respect it,” Ramsey said.
Faculty members are grateful for efforts like
this from Selders. Mahadevan especially appreciates
Selders’s attentiveness to assisting with
grants, a meticulous process tasked to principle
investigators of a study.
“Faculty teach, mentor, and have service. So
without the support of very capable, competent
people like Christine, we couldn’t do our jobs,”
Mahadevan said.
“My position is always challenging, and sometimes
bordering on overwhelming. But I know
that is just a temporary state of mind,” said
Selders. “We’re a small department, but we’re
nationally and internationally recognized, and
In the Department of Physics,
each of the 160 physics
undergraduate and 25 graduate
students receives compassionate support
and excellent guidance from their one-man advising
unit, Richard Robinett, associate head
for undergraduate and graduate students and
professor of physics.
Robinett, who started at Penn State as an assistant
professor in 1986, has been a member
of the physics department administration since
1996. He has held multiple positions, and even
substituted for two associate deans during their
extended absences.
Physics Department Head Nitin Samarth
said that Robinett is “passionate, inspiring, energetic,
and completely dedicated to the welfare
of the students.”
Under Robinett’s advising over the past
15 years, physics undergraduates have won
roughly half of the major academic prizes at the
Schreyer Honors College Medals Ceremony.
Yet extraordinary students are not the only
ones receiving Robinett’s attention. Carol
Deering, the department’s graduate coordinator,
said, “He checks on the students to see how
they’re making out and make sure they’re on
track. When students are struggling, he doesn’t
dismiss them. He recommends alternatives.”
Colleagues say that Robinett’s empathetic
nature is key to his success as an adviser and
mentor. He makes a concentrated effort to get to
know his students as individuals. He recognizes
their unique potential for success and motivates
them to achieve their academic and career goals.
Robinett’s advising has contributed to the
participation in experiential learning and pedagogical
experiences in the college, according to
the past two annual graduating-seniors surveys.
Colleagues say that Robinett has a talent
for matching undergraduates seeking research
experience with researchers in the college.
Robinett has encouraged several students to
apply for highly selective internships. Five students
have participated in a first-class international
experience with CERN, the European Organization
for Nuclear Research, working with
the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest
and most powerful particle accelerator.
Robinett supports other co-curriculars by advising
the Penn State chapters of the Society of
Physics Students and Sigma Pi Sigma physics
honors society. Colleagues say he is heavily involved
in these clubs’ outreach activities, advocating
for their funding and giving them advice
on how to host successful events.
Although advising occupies most of Robinett’s
time, he still manages to teach two courses: PSU
016: First-year Seminar Science, a requirement
of all first-year students, and PHYS 44: Topics
in Contemporary Physics, a course designed to
help juniors and seniors plan their next steps.
Aside from working directly with students,
Robinett participates in the University Faculty
Senate, multiple committees including the Undergraduate
Education Advisory Committee,
and professional associations. He has also beenpublished
in refereed journals and textbooks.
“Richard never turns anything down,” said
Samarth. “I don’t know anyone other than him
who has the energy, passion, and empathy with
students to excel at this job.” —Samantha
point this summer, but Christine kept it run-
I’ve been a part of it."
—Samantha Schwartz
Department of Physics’s second highest rate of
Schwartz
36 Penn State Eberly College of Science SCIENCE JOURNAL December 2015
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