Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 New Faculty Orientation Fall 2006

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Going around the Table: Introductions…

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Some Facts About UTEP –Founded in 1913 as the Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy. –Became Texas Western College in 1949, and finally was named UTEP in 1967.

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 UTEP Today –Enrollment projection for Fall 2006: more than 20,000 students –About 150 Bachelor’s programs, 60 Master’s programs and 12 Doctoral Programs. –Classified by Carnegie as “doctoral research-intensive” –Strategic Goal to become a “Tier 1 University” (=research expenditures of more than $100M per year)

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Enrollment at UTEP

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 UTEP Student Profile –24 years of age (undergraduate student average) –34 years of age (graduate student average) –55% Female –72% Hispanic (Mexican American) –12% International (incl. 9% Mexican) –82% from El Paso County –98% commuter –81% employed –54% first generation university students

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 UTEP Student Profile –67% One-Year Retention Rate –27% Six-Year Graduation Rate

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Our Department: Faculty 26 Tenure/tenure track faculty 16 Lecturers The department is offering about 160 courses per semester

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Departmental Research Strength: –Algebra/Combinatorics –Analysis/Topology –Applied Mathematics –Mathematics Education –Statistics

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Our Department: Students 126 Undergraduate Majors BS in Mathematics BS in Applied Mathematics BA in Mathematics (College of Liberal Arts) 63 Graduate Students MS in Mathematics MS in Statistics MAT in Mathematics MS in Bioinformatics (interdisciplinary) Planned: Ph.D. in Computational Science (interdisciplinary)

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Most Popular (Populated?) Service Courses: –Developmental Math Sequence* Math 0310 (Beginning Algebra) -> Math 0311 (Intermediate Algebra) –Calculus Sequence Math 1508 (PreCalculus) -> Math 1411 (Calculus I) -> Math 1312 (Calculus II) -> Math 2313 (Calculus III) or Math 2326 (Differential Equations) or Math 3323 (Matrix Algebra) –Business/Social Science Sequence Math 1320 (Math for Social Sciences I) -> Math 2301 (Math for Social Sciences II) –Core course: Liberal Arts/Education majors: Math 1319 (Math in the Modern World) * Not taught in the Math Department

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Teaching Classes: Syllabus –At least: Name, contact information, office hours, course content, your attendance policy, your calculator policy, grade computation –Department needs a copy of your syllabus!

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Teaching Classes: Grades –A, B, C, D are passing grades –F is a failing grade –Students need a C or better in all core courses (1319, 1320, 1508) and all courses that are prerequisites for other courses they need to take. –A D usually does not transfer to other institutions. –W means “withdrawn” – not used for GPA –I means “incomplete” –You need to assign grades to ALL STUDENTS

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Teaching Classes: Grades –Students can drop a course on their own up to the “W-drop deadline”. You can drop students up to this deadline with a W as well. –After the drop deadline, students can ask you to be dropped from the course, or you can request to drop students from the course. In these cases you assign a grade of W or F. Students need to provide documentation why they want to drop. Drop forms need the signature of the chair.

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Teaching Classes: Grades –Students can completely withdraw from ALL their classes up to the last day of classes. In this case it is customary to give students a W. This process is initiated by the Registrar’s Office. –Students can request a grade of I if they do not complete all requirements to pass the course. They have to make up all work missed within at most a year after taking the course. A grade of I should only be given in rare cases (surgery, advanced pregnancy, etc.). If the student does not complete the work within a year, the I automatically changes to an F – most of them do! –All grades can be changed only up to one year after the end of class (3 months after graduation).

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Teaching Classes: Repeating a Class –Students can take a class at most three times (A W counts as an attempt!). They need their Dean’s permission to take the class more than three times. –A student taking a class for the third time (or more) pays an additional fee of $100 per credit hour.

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Teaching Classes: Special Students –Disabled Students –Athletes

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Teaching Classes: Academic Dishonesty –Do not take action yourself. Document what happened. –Talk to the chair, then report the incident to the Office of the Dean of Students. –Alert students to the rules about plagiarism (e.g., copying from the Internet) if you give written assignments.

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Teaching Classes: The Real Issues How do we ensure that student learning continues outside of the classroom?

Department of Mathematical Sciences August 18, /20 Teaching Classes: The Real Issues How do we engage students in their learning?