UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES COMMITTEE MINUTES
2002:Feb 5, Mar 5, Apr 2, Sept 23, Oct 30, Dec 4, Feb 19, Mar 26, Apr 23,Sept 17
22 Oct 2003
Members Present: Geller, Larson (chair), Lewis, Lima-Filho, Sivakumar, Stecher
Members Absent: Pilant
Special Guests: David Manuel
The meeting began at 4:15 p.m. There were eight topics put up for discussion: 2+2 Program, New Courses and Course Changes, Aggieland Saturday, High School Math Contest, Transfer Student Procedures, Freshman and Transfer Student Mentoring,, Spring Career Fair, and Other Business. Below is a summary of each.
2+2 Program. David Manuel updated the new committee members on the 2+2 Program, explaining that Blinn students would complete their first two years at Blinn and then transfer to Texas A&M. David circlulated to the committee a handout of a paragraph that will accompany the degree plan. The revised plan has Blinn students starting out in Pre-Cal and continuing the next three semesters with Calculus I, II, III. Then students would begin their TAMU career in Math 220. The major concern that committee members have with this revised 2+2 program is how successful a Blinn student starting in Pre-Cal will be here at TAMU. The committee approved using the paragraph tha explains that the Math Department strongly suggests that a student "...greatly increase his or her chances of success in the field of Mathematics if he or she demonstrates sufficient mathematical background...to begin college with Calculus I." Click here to view the full paragraph.
New Courses and Course Changes. Dr. Larson informed the committee of several courses that are being created or changed. A summary of each follows.
*Math 451 - Change course number to Math 351 due to lack of enrollment in Math 451. Course will be equivalent to Math 308, but geared towards math and science majors. Classes will be smaller than Math 308 classes.
*Math 489 Putnam Challenge - Change course number to Math 490. Content remains the same, a seminar-style class.
*Math 491 Research - New course modeled after the Chemistry Research course. Will be variable credit, with a maximum of 4 credits allowed. Research will be done under direction of faculty member. Approval procedures are still being addressed.
*Math 481 Seminar - New course modeled after the Chemistry Seminar course. Will be variable credit, with a maximum of 4 credits allowed. Will be used as a continuation course for VIGRE research projects.
*Math 489H - Change course number to Math 446, Analysis on Metric Spaces. Course description is still being addressed, along with the content of Math 447.
*Math 436 - New course that existed in the past and will be revived. Paulo Lima-Filho will assist with the syllabus. Goal is to get in the catalog for Spring 2005.
Aggieland Saturday. Dr. Larson reported that out of the 100 names taken at last years event, eight came to Texas A&M as math majors. Only two of the eight had applied online for information about our program, so Aggieland Saturday is an excellent recruiting tool. The November event is open to prospective students and is an excellent opportunity to promote our program. The event is held in Reed Arena. Donna Hoffman will send out an email to the committee asking for volunteers to work a shift between 9:00 - 2:00pm.
High School Math Contest. Dr. Stecher reported that 120 students have registered so far for the November 15th event. Doug Hensley will not be able to oversee the Buzz Contest, so Dr. Sue Geller will be his replacement. Attendance is expected to be back up into the 400's since it is not a home football game day. Plans are to offer two $1,000 scholarships to the top two winners in the Best Student competition.
Transfer Student Procedures. In the past the Dean's office made decisions to either admit or not admit a student who wanted to change their major to Math. Effective this fall, the Dean's office is now allowing departments to make these decisions. Students will visit with either Dr. Stecher or David Manuel and they will give instructions to Donna Hoffman and she will be the contact person with the Dean's office. Donna will also be responsible for obtaining contact information from the students.
Freshman and Transfer student mentoring. Dr. Larson reported that 84 freshman and transfer students were assigned a faculty mentor in October. Donna e-mailed the students and let them know the name of their mentor. Faculty mentors were provided with students names, SAT scores and current schedules. Mentors are contacting students via e-mail to let them know they are there if they have any problems, questions, etc. Mentors are instructed to refer students to advisors if the student is having problems.
Spring Career Fair. Dr. Larson voiced a concern that previous career fairs have not been well attended by the majors. In an effort to accommodate the students, the fair will be held in the Blocker Building, rather than the MSC or Rudder. Dr. Geller expressed a need for faculty to know the date of the event before the Spring semester so that no tests or quizzes will be planned for that date. Committee members agreed that the first or second week of February would be the best time, since classes will have just begun.
Other Business. Dr. Larson proposed that the GPR requirement for the BS degree plans be tightened up. Dr. Larson suggested that to aid a student with a GPR below 2.5 in getting a job, a minor should be added to the BS degree. This topic will continue to be discussed later in the fall. Dr. Stecher reported that there is a need to create a Math 289 course to prepare students for Actuarial Exam 2. He suggested that the course could be taught by a graduate student who has passed Exam 2. He has spoken to Thomas Schlumprecht and he supports the effort.
The meeting adjourned at 5:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna L. Hoffman