UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES COMMITTEE MINUTES
2002:Feb 5, Mar 5, Apr 2, Sept 23, Oct 30
04 December 2002
Members Present: Hensley, Larson (chair), Lima-Filho, Lowe, Mogilevsky, Pilant, Stecher
Members Absent:
Special Guests: David Manuel
The meeting began at 2:00 p.m. There were seven topics put up for discussion: VIGRE Site Visit, Departmental Honors Program, Recruiting Update and New High School E-mail Listserv, Fast Track Program, High School MathCcontest Report, Undergraduate Program Web Site Reconstruction, Other Business. Below is a summary of each.
VIGRE Site Visit. Dr. Larson announced that a review of our VIGRE grant will be conducted by an NSF committee on Wednesday, December 11th. Dr. Pilant distributed a copy of the VIGRE Report to the committee for review. Dr. Pilant stated that the report was favorable in regards to undergraduate participation in VIGRE, but improvement could be made in the areas of awareness and communication. Dr. Boggess held a luncheon meeting with the eight undergraduate members of the VIGRE team to brief them on their meeting with the review committee on December 11th at 3:00 p.m. The meeting went well and the students appreciated the opportunity to voice their opinions on the VIGRE program.
Departmental Honors Program. Dr. Pilant presented his plans for establishing a Departmental Honors Program to the committee. A subcommittee composed of Dr. Mike Pilant, Dr. Sue Geller, Dr. Harold Boas, and Dr. David Larson is working on formalizing plans for the program. Dr. Pilant proposed that Departmental Honors distinction be comprised of 24 hours of honors courses culminating with one of the following: a) participation in an REU program, b) a senior thesis, or c) participation in two semesters of VIGRE courses. Dr. Pilant also explained that Departmental Honors will not appear on a student's transcripts, but the department would provide a certificate to each student meeting the requirements. Ideally, the program will begin in Fall 2003 with 10-15 freshman, including some Engineering majors, who move through the program under the guidance of a faculty mentor. This will provide a natural pipeline for the VIGRE and Fast Track Masters Programs.
Recruiting Update and New High School E-mail Listserv. Dr. Bruce Lowe has contacted a teacher at Plano East High School who spoke to Dr. Larson at the Sigma Xi Research Conference about the possibility of a site visit by our department. No response to the e-mail has been received to date. Recruiting for the new Departmental Honors Program will be done during summer conferences. Dr. Larson suggested that committee members telephone contacts at top high schools for a list of their top graduating seniors, with the goal being to make contact via e-mail with the students. The possibility of inviting area math teachers and several of their top students to a gathering for presentations and a meal was discussed as a means of recruiting. Dr. Mogilevsky suggested that the Math Department employ some of the better Engineering students as graders, etc. as a way of getting them more interested in Math.
Fast Track Program. The committee discussed the need to formalize the Fast Track Program. Some of the difficulties were discussed, including the ability of student's to test out of certain courses, and the need for undergraduate/graduate course pairings. The desire of the committee is to establish a program that will allow undergraduates to receive their B. S. in 3.5 years and a masters after 5 years. This will then better prepare them to go on to other graduate schools.
High School Math Contest Report. Dr. Stecher reported that 344 high school students participated in the contest on November 16th. All participants were asked to fill out a Student Registration Form for the first time. A spreadsheet in Excel has been built that will enable mass e-mails to be sent to those students who gave their consent to receive information about our program. Some of the prizes that were given away this year were MAPLE software, Lego Robotics kits, TI-83 calculators, and a $2,000 scholarship was awarded to the top two winners in the Best Student Open contest.
Undergraduate Program Web Site Reconstruction. Dr. Stecher reported that the Undergraduate Program web pages have been redesigned. He asked committee members to look at the site and offer suggestions for improvement.
Other Business. Dr. Larson announced that Dr. Paulo Lima-Filho has been selected to join the Undergraduate Studies Committee. Dr. Stecher announced that he recently met with Dr. Ken Poenisch to discuss our major's grades. Dr. Stecher suggested that we flag lower level students who are having grade difficulties. This would allow them to be advised early in their career about their future in math.
The meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna L. Hoffman