UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES COMMITTEE MINUTES

2001:Apr 10, Sept 12, Nov 13, Feb 5

05 March 2002

Members Present: Allen, Hensley, Larson (chair), Lowe, Mogilevsky, Pilant, Stecher, Straube

Members Absent: Boggess

The meeting began at 2:15 pm. There were six topics put up for discussion: Career Fair on April 6, Proposed Accelerated BS/MS Program, APMS Subcommittee Report, Recruiting Subcommittee Report, Summer Educational Enrichment (SEE) Math Program, Other Business. Below is a summary of each.

Career Fair on April 6. The first annual Mathematics Career Fair will be held on April 6, 2002 in Rudder 601. Dr. Larson suggested the possibility of Dr. Allen giving a talk tþat he had previously done titled, "Math Goes to Hollywood" and also contacting Blue Sky Productions to see if they could participate. The Architecture Department has hosted this company in the past and it was successful. Dr. Larson is also contacting a representative from Siemens in New Jersey to see if they would be willing to come to town for a few days and give a talk. Dr. Pilant is pursuing a local contact in the software business. It was suggested that we provide the presenters with a nice dinner on Saturday evening and perhaps a certificate, and other tokens of appreciation for their participation. Suggested items included T-shirts, mugs, pens, etc.

Proposed Accelerated BS/MS Program. The proposal is to establish a program similar to the Engineering program by which students can earn a BS in 4 years and with only one additional year of study, receive a MS. In order to accomplish this students would receive some credit by examination, as well as enrolling in graduate level courses beginning their junior and senior years, and taking courses as electives that are prerequisites for graduate-level courses. Students were informed of the new program at the Math Majors meeting in February and several students have expressed an interest. There will be a meeting in the coming month with the students to go over more details. The committee discussed the possibility of stipends for students during their 5^th year in the program. The proposed GPR requirement for the program is 3.25 overall and a 3.40 Math GPR.

APMS Subcommittee Report. Dr. Larson reported that the plans for the Scientific Computation option are going well and there should not be any problem working with the Computer Science department on this option.

Recruiting Subcommittee Report. Dr. Lowe reported that four schools had responded that they would like the department to come and speak, but they could not offer any good time for such a presentation. Dr. Larson eluded that getting one's foot in the door has always been a problem in the high schools. Committee members discussed working on a presentation first then working on making contact with the schools. It was suggested to contact Vince and Janie Schielack for contact names in the surrounding area school district math departments.

Summer Educational Enrichment (SEE) Math Program. Dr. Philip Yasskin has agreed to run a 2-week math camp for middle school aged children from the local and surrounding areas. The program will run from July 15-26 from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Anticipated enrollment is between 30-50 children. Faculty helping with the program are: Drs. Peter Kuchment, Mila Mogilevsky and David Manuel. The use of graduate students is also being considered. The College of Science will fund the major expenses of the program and the Math Department pick up the minor ones. It was suggested that each child receive a cap or some other token for participating in the program. Also, Mila Mogilevsky suggested that they would like to have a reception on the final day for children and their parents. Food and drinks would be provided and various faculty members would be invited to speak to the group.

Other Business. Dr. Stecher received the list of nine National Merit Scholars who are interested in Mathematics. It was decided to include a scholarship offer in the standard letter that will be sent to each student. Dr. Larson suggested that the department might consider a 'miscellaneous' proposal to NSF for a grant to fund the High School Math Contest and the SEE Math Program in the future.

The meeting adjourned at 3:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna L. Hoffman