UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES COMMITTEE MINUTES
2002:Feb 5, Mar 5, Apr 2, Sept 23, Oct 30, Dec 4
2003: Feb 19, Mar 26, Apr 23, Sept 17, Oct 22
2004: Feb 10, Mar 9, Apr 13, Oct 12 , Nov 9 Dec 7
27 January 2005
Members Present: Allen (chair), Geller, Lewis, Mogilevsky, Sivakumar, Stecher
Ex-Officio Members Present: Aurispa, Manuel
Members Absent: Pilant
The meeting began at 4:00p.m. There was one announcement and six topics put up for discussion: Announcements – Scholarship Rules and Regulations Topics – Actuarial Modeling Course, APMS Computation Area of Emphasis, Revised Honors Program Plan, STEP Program Proposal, Upper level math and honors course availability, Course substitutions for Math 410. Below is a summary of each.
Announcement -
Scholarship Rules and Regulations. The members of the Scholarship subcommittee, Allen (chair), Stecher, Geller, Straube, and Brophy met on January 25 and adopted new scholarship rules and regulations. A copy was distributed to each committee member. A link to the complete document can be found at: Scholarship Rules and Regulations.
Topics -
Actuarial Modeling Course. Dan Lewis reported on a new Math 489, Special Topics in Actuarial Modeling, that is in the approval process. The course will be listed in Catalog 128 for next fall. The text will be N. L. Bowers' Actuarial Mathematics. The course will cover Chapters 1-6, which makes up about 1/3 of the first actuarial exam and is a resonable introduction to the material. It was recommended that the instructors of Math 411 and 425 announce the course to their students and a mass email be sent to all majors. Committee unanimously approved the new course. Bruce Lowe has expressed an interest in teaching other actuarial courses in the future. A link to the course syllabus can be found at: Special Topics in Actuarial Modeling.
APMS Computation Area of Emphasis. The Computation Area of Emphasis was approved in recent years and a general degree plan appears in the catalog. The process of developing a more specific degree plan has been ongoing. The most recent version of the plan can be found at: APMS Computation Area of Emphasis. Changes will still be made so it better matches the plan in the catalog. There was a discussion about possibly building a computer science minor into the plan by adding CPSC 321. CPSC 321 has a prerequisite of ELEN 220, and that would add more hours to the plan. Typically only CPSC majors may take courses above the 200 level, so that will have to be discussed with Bart Childs in Computer Science. Math 412, 415, 433 were suggested as courses to be recommended during advising sessions with students following this plan.
Revised Honors Program Plan. Sue Geller provided committee members with a coopy of the new version of the Math Honors Program plan. One of the more significant changes from the previous plan is the omission of Math 171H, due to low enrollments in the past. Students wanting Honors Calculus I will be enrolled in Math 151H. Recruitment for Math 172 will be done by reviewing midterm grades from Math 151H and regular Math 171 classes. Also added were 15 hours of honors math courses, making junior college transfer students eligible by taking five 400-level math courses. A minor change in wording of numbers 2-5 was suggested and approved. The plan was approved with the understanding that courses can be added without the committee having to re-approve the change to the plan. A link to the Honors Program Plan can be found here: Honors Program Plan.
STEP Program Proposal. The College of Engineering has NSF funding for a new bridge program, or “boot camp” for incoming freshman. They are looking initially to have 200 engineering students on campus the last 3 weeks of the last summer term for lessons in algebra, trigonometry, pre-calculus, study skills, and time management, etc. They are looking for the college of science to add ~150 students to this camp. The only cost to the student will be a $25.00 application fee. The department's involvement would be in advertising this opportunity to students deemed 'at risk', providing instructos, and followup mentoring to the math participants. Don Allen suggested the option of a streaming video in the students home rather than bringing them on campus. After discussion, the committee agreed it would be worthwhile to participate and David Manuel will meet with Dr. Webb in Engineering and relay all suggestions and comments.
Upper level math and honors course availability. Mike Stecher voiced a concern for our majors being able to get into the 400 level math classes they need. In particular, Math 425, 442, 414, 433, 467 were noted as highly demanded classes by other majors as well as our math majors. It was suggested that in the future we set a lower seating capacity and utilize the force requests to better server our majors needs. After a discussion, it was decided that Sue Geller and Mike Stecher would meet with Mike Pilant about this situation.
Course substitutions for Math 410. Mike Stecher addressed the committee on suitable substitutions for Math 410, which is a requirement for BS Math and BS APMS Math option majors. Math 446 is a typical substitution. The committee approved allowing any other 400 level math course, as deemed appropriate by advisors, as a substitute for Math 410.
The meeting adjourned at 4:50p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna L. Hoffman