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
12 October 2004
Members Present: Allen (chair), Geller, Lewis, Mogilevsky, Pilant, Sivakumar, Stecher
Special Guests: Marta Kobiela, David Manuel
The meeting began at 10:00 a.m. There were eleven topics put up for discussion: Welcome, Overview of Program Office, Demographics of Majors, Scholarship Committee, Honors Program, New Programs and Options, Math Talent Search Program, Majors Survey Form, CAEN 101 as Free Elective, New Courses, New Business. Below is a summary of each.
Welcome. Dr. Allen introduced new members, Dan Lewis and Mila Mogilevsky, to returning members.
Overview of Program Office. The Progam office is manned by David Manuel, Mike Stecher, and Donna Hoffman. Each spoke briefly on their duties.
*David Manuel – New Student Conferences, freshman and sophomore advising, SHIP and VIP conferences, visitors, Math Contest, SEE Math Camp
*Mike Stecher – Junior and senior advising, substitutions and degree audits, Math Contest coordinator, HS Math Camp
*Donna Hoffman – Administrative support for advisors, REU and VIGRE programs, student travel, childrens holiday party, recruiting
Demographics of Majors. Dr. Allen reported the following statistics for Fall 2004: Math Dept. enrollment – 330 (Math-220, APMS-110) Freshman class – 6,700, College of Sci. freshman – 659, Freshman Math majors – 74, Total fall enrollment – 44,500. The fall Majors meeting was held on September 28th with several faculty members speaking-Dr. Jay Walton on Math Biology, Dr. Sue Geller on Honors Program, Dr. Doug Hensley on Putnam Exam, and Dr. Vince Schielack on Teacher Certification. Math Club officers also engaged the majors in a lively presentation on upcoming club activities.
Scholarship Committee. The scholarship committee is chaired by Mike Stecher with other members being Sue Geller, Emil Straube, and N. Sivakumar. The committees charge is to develop a plan for administration and selection of scholarships and awards.
Honors Program. Dr. Geller is the first appointed head of the Math Honors Program. Committee members are Dr. Geller (head), Dr. Harold Boas, Dr. Dave Larson, and Dr. Jay Walton, and ex officio members are Drs. Don Allen and Mike Pilant. The first task of the committee is to determine what each honors course entails. This includes all honors courses offered by the department, not just courses taken by our own majors. The review process starts with the lower level courses. One of the goals is to target potential honors students as early as possible and funnel them into the program. The committee will need help identifying students who should be taking honors courses. Once identified, students should be sent to Dr. Geller for counseling. Another goal is communication between honors instructors particularily in the 151/152 series, to ensure continuity. Dr. Geller will also meet with students in General Studies to encourage them to become math majors. Faculty should also target top studnets in 131/141 honors courses as well for potential majors. Dr. Geller added Math 365 to the list of courses considered for honors sections at the request of Dr. Mogilevsky. The target will be courses that will grow our program. Honors sections of both Math 171 and 172 in fall 2005 are in the works to accommodate incoming freshman with AP credit for Math 171.
New Programs and Options. The new joint effort between Math and Biology could potentially evolve into a new area of emphasis in Mathematical Biology that would be very attractive to incoming students. New course development that is 'off the main line' is essential to getting this plan going. An area of emphasis in Scientific Computation is still being investigated as well. Dr. Allen asked Dr. Dan Lewis to look into the possibility of an Actuarial Program. Dr. Lewis is studying UT's program and the courses required to develop a three semester program targeting passing Actuarial Exam III. This program would be a joint program between undergraduate and graduate students, with undergraduates deciding to enter the program in the fall of their junior year. Major considerations are textbooks required and who will teach the courses. Dr. Geller brought up the changes to the teacher certification courses that came up last semester. All math majors seeking teacher certification will be able to do so with modifications made last semester to the BA Certification degree plan. Work is underway to revamp the teaching series, Math 365-8 which will help with the influx of enrollment in these courses.
Math Talent Search Program. Dr. Allen proposed a new program, the Math Talent Search, to be used statewide to challenge the brightest high school and middle school students with math problems. Other universities have successful programs, including Duke, Maine, Rutgers and Wisconsin. Dr. Allen suggested the name, "Great Texas Math Talent Search" as a possibility. Faculty that have shown an interest in developing the talent search program include Drs. Doug Hensley and Peter Kuchment. A committee will be convened in the near future to select a director, start planning, and seek funding.
Majors Survey Form. An online survey form is in the works that will assist in the tracking of our majors for possible scholarship and awards nominations. The online form will request information about the student, their existing scholarships/awards, research/internship experiences, and career plans, etc.
CAEN 101 as Free Elective. CAEN 101 is now considered a legitimate University course, with subvention paid by the State. Currently, students can not use CAEN 101 to satisfy degree requirements. A proposed change would allow 2 hours of free elective credit for CAEN 101. The issue at hand is whether CAEN 101 should be graded or taken as S/U. After a discussion, the committee unanimously decided to vote that if CAEN 101 is used for 2 hours of free elective credit, then it must be on an S/U basis.
New Courses. New course requests from last spring for Math 451 and 427 have been submitted. Math 451 has been approved and will be offered in spring 2005. Math 427 is still in the approval process. Dr. Paulo Lima-Filho is working on a new Topology course, Math 436.
New Business. Measurement and Research Services recently sent out a “Frequently Failed Class List” that gives percentages of students receiving D, F, W or Q in a class. Math 150 had a failure rate of 41%, Math 151 a rate of 35%. Math classes made up 7 of the top 10 most frequently failed classes. Committee members were given an opportunity to view the list and have a copy sent to them. Dr. Pilant reported that tracking of Regents Fellows is being handled in the Student Affairs office. An Early Warning System is in place that monitors grades before midterm. The system automatically sends an email to a students NEO account if the system detects a need for the student to attend a help session, for example. Future business – W courses, and Maple Program, Math camp with Engineering.
The meeting adjourned at 11:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna L. Hoffman