VIGRE administration and assessment in the Department of Mathematics at Texas A&M University

The VIGRE grant is managed by a committee consisting of the following individuals. (David Sanchez, an original VIGRE PI, has since retired.)

• Harold P. Boas (VIGRE PI)
• Al Boggess (VIGRE PI, Department Head)
• William B. Johnson (VIGRE PI)
• David R. Larson (Associate Head for the Undergraduate Program)
• William Rundell (Former VIGRE PI, Department Head 1992-2002)
• Thomas Schlumprecht (Associate Head for the Graduate Program)
• Jay R. Walton (VIGRE PI, Associate Head for the Graduate Program 1992-2001)

In managing the VIGRE program, this supervisory committee consults with three standing departmental committees.

• The Executive Committee is the main steering committee for the department and makes all hiring decisions. In hiring VIGRE postdocs, the Executive Committee attempts to match applicants with faculty mentors who have a strong track record of supervising junior faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. While there is a need to offer all research areas an opportunity to recruit VIGRE postdocs, priority is given to areas with significant numbers of graduate students and with an active program of both "upper" and "lower" seminars.
• The Graduate Programs Committee is responsible for the recruitment and annual review of graduate students. It selects graduate students to receive VIGRE fellowships.
• The Undergraduate Programs Committee advises undergraduate mathematics majors and supervises the undergraduate curriculum. It recommends undergraduate students for VIGRE fellowships.

The assessment plan for the VIGRE grant includes both subjective and objective components. During the early stages of the grant, there is insufficient data from which to draw any statistically significant conclusions. Interviews with the participants, however, have revealed a high degree of satisfaction with the program.

We are tracking various criteria that eventually will lead to objective quantification of the results of the VIGRE project. For the postdocs, such criteria include publication productivity and subsequent positions held. For graduate students, criteria include the strength of the incoming students, the participation of students in the seminar courses, the length of time to degree, and positions held after graduation. For undergraduate students, criteria include the participation of students in the seminar courses, the number of students presenting research papers at conferences, the number and percentage of students pursuing graduate study in mathematics after receiving the B.A. degree, and the quality of the graduate program entered.

As part of our ongoing assessment of the VIGRE project, in spring 2002 we solicited the advice of an external review committee consisting of Peter Bates (chair of the Department of Mathematics at Michigan State University), Daniel P. Maki (chair of the Department of Mathematics at Indiana University), and B. A. Taylor (immediate past chair of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan). We prepared for this committee a 250 page report on the progress of our VIGRE program to date, and the committee visited the department from April 28 to May 1, 2002, to meet with students, faculty, and administrators. The visiting committee commented on the successes of our VIGRE program and suggested some mid-course corrections and possibilities for future improvements in the program.