UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES COMMITTEE MINUTES

2001:Apr 10, Sept 12, Nov 13

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

2005: Jan 27, Mar 10, Oct 26, Dec 9

15 February 2006

Members Present: Allen (chair), Geller, Lewis, Mogilevsky, Pilant, Rojas, K. Smith, Stecher

Ex-Officio Members Present: Bergstresser, DeBlassie

The meeting began at 10:00a.m. There were two annoucements and eight topics put up for discussion: Announcements – Operation Rescue, Biological Sciences Area of Emphasis. Topics – The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Expanding Math 170 to 2 Hours, Advising Awareness, Spring Mandatory meeting for Sophomores and Juniors, GPR Requirements for Graduating Seniors with 3rd D, Revisions to Math 433, Math 367 for Math Majors, Recruiters in the Classroom, and Other Business. Below is a summary of each.

Announcements-

Operation Rescue. Dr. Allen reported that letters are now going out to all students in good standing who transfer out of Mathematics.  The letter is designed to make them aware of other ways to incorporate Math into their new major and to offer assistance in the event they decide to return to Mathematics.  A sample letter can be viewed by clicking Letter.

Biological Sciences Area of Emphasis. The new Biological Sciences Area of Emphasis will appear for the first time in next fall's catalog, Catalog 129, but not in great detail.  To see the current version in detail, click Undergraduate Biology and Mathematics.

Topics -

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.  To keep the committee apprised of student's rights, Dr. Allen distributed a handout titled, "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) What Faculty and Staff Should Know."  To view the PowerPoint document, click FERPA .

Expanding Math 170 to 2 Hours.  Dr. Allen proposed expanding our 1 hour Math Retention Lab to a 2 hour course.  The extra time would be spent with faculty giving brief talks on current topics to increase their appreciation for math and its scope.  The goal is to allow students to get to know faculty, aid our retention,  and increase the quality of the student experience in the early going of their career.  The new topics would also help fulfill a requirement of a proposal for new scholarship funds.   The  students would lose an hour in free electives, but the benefit could outweigh the cost.  The committee also discussed the possibility of creating a new course instead of changing Math 170 to 2 hours.  This course could then be taken by all students, not just those in Math 171/172.  One suggestion was to develop a course titled, "Math Appreciation," that would be a precursor to Math 220, a course that could only be taken by those who have not taken Math 220.  It was suggested that the class focus on elements of logic, and graph theory, etc.  A subcommittee was established to explore the possibility of a new course in Math Appreciation and members are Drs. Rojas, Geller and Mogilevsky.

Advising Awareness.  Dr. Allen asked that advisors be especially cautious when advising freshman at new student conferences to take AP credit for Calculus I and start in Calculus II (regular or honors.)  There are topics not covered in high school that are covered in the first week of Calculus here, such as Vectors.  Dr. Allen expressed concern that a student placed in a course that is too advanced, could become discouraged and leave the major, whereas a student who retakes Calculus I and is successful, will potentially be more confident and enthused.  Dr. Smith added that if students are retaking Calculus I, the instructors need to be aware, so that the advanced students can be challenged.

Spring Mandatory Meeting for Sophomores and Juniors. Tabled.

GPR Requirements for Graduating Seniors with 3rd D.  In recent years the department has implemented some 'internal' GPR rules for the majors to follow that are not inherent in the current SIMS system.  This last fall, Dr. Stecher reported, a student who was to graduate did not meet the rule that states a student must retake a course if he makes a 3rd D in a 300-400 level course.  After a brief discussion, the committee agreed that if this situation occurs in the future it will be handled on a case-by-case basis; ie, there is no need to implement any new rule in this regard.  To see the current GPR requirements, you may click here.

Revisions to Math 433. The subcommittee of Drs. DeBlassie and Smith reported to the committee that the catalog desciption for Math 433 is very outdated and needs to be realigned to the way it is being taught. The proposed text change to the catalog description is: “An introduction to groups, rings, fields with emphasis on modular arithmetic; applications to number theory, coding theory, cryptography, and other areas.” Dr. Lewis mentioned that this drastic change in the course description may require that a “Change in Course Curriculum” form be completed and approved. The desciption change was approved and will be made during the revision process for Catalog 129. If a question is raised, action will be taken at that point to submit a course change request.  In the event the change is not made in Catalog 129, the instructors for Fall 2006 will be instructed in advance, so the First Day Handout will be correct.  For a copy of the complete report on Math 433, click here.

Math 367 for Math Majors. Dr. Mogilevsky reported on several issues with Math 367, including the text book and the fact that math majors are not allowed to take it as a free elective. After a discussion with some of the Math 367 instructors, she discovered that none have been using the text book, mainly because it is too formal.  She proposed the development of a solid Euclidean Geometry course that would be suitable for both BA math majors and non math majors seeking middle school certification.  After a discussion, it was decided that Drs. Mogilevsky and Allen would work on the development or revision of a new Eucledian Geometry course, bearing in mind that the Education Department would need to have some input and not be in favor of any major changes to the current Math 367.

Other Business. Dr. Pilant brought up revisions to Math 302 that have been requested from the Computer Science Department.  This item was tabled, to be discussed at the March meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 11:20 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna L. Hoffman