Mathematics & Statistics 2017 APR Self-Study & Documents
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ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW SELF{STUDY, SPRING 2017 Department of Mathematics and Statistics College of Arts and Sciences 1 Contents Abbreviations 3 Introductory Section and Background Information 4 0.A. Executive summary 4 0.B. Brief history of each program 7 0.C. Organizational structure and governance 7 0.D. External program accreditations 8 0.E. Previous Academic Program Review 8 Criterion 1: Program Goals 10 1.A. Vision and mission 10 1.B. Vision and mission of the Department in relation to UNM's vision and mission 11 1.C. Overall learning goals for undergraduate and graduate programs 11 1.D. Communicating learning goals to students 12 1.E. Primary constituents and stakeholders 13 1.F. How satisfaction of program goals serves constituents 13 1.G. Examples of outreach or community activities 13 Reflective question 17 Criterion 2: Teaching and Learning: Curriculum 19 2.A. Detailed description of curricula for each program. 19 2.B. Department teaching contribution. 21 2.C. Modes of delivery used for teaching courses 24 Reflective questions 26 Criterion 3: Teaching and Learning: Continuous Improvement 28 3.A. Assessment and evaluation of learning outcomes { preparatory MATH and STAT 100- and 200-level courses 28 3.B. Synthesis of the impact of the program's assessment activities 32 3.C. Assessment of the undergraduate program 32 3.D. Assessment of the graduate program 33 Criterion 4: Students (Undergraduate and Graduate) 36 4.A. Student recruitment, admissions, and transfer articulation 36 4.B. An analysis of enrollment trends, persistence, and graduation trends 37 4.C. A description of program advisement for students 38 4.D. Student support services 39 4.E. Student success and retention initiatives taken by the Department 39 4.F. A summary of the success of graduates of the program 43 Reflective questions 44 Criterion 5: Faculty 45 5.A. Composition of faculty and their credentials 45 5.B. Professional development activities of faculty 52 5.C. Summary and examples of research work of faculty members 52 5.D. Abbreviated vita or summary of experience for each faculty member 57 Reflective question 57 Criterion 6: Resources and Planning 58 6.A. Engagement in resource allocation and planning 58 6.B. General budget 61 6.C. Staff composition 61 6.D. Library resources 64 Reflective questions 66 2 Criterion 7: Facilities 67 7.A. Facilities associated with the unit and associated programs 67 7.B. Computing facilities maintained by the unit 70 Criterion 8: Program Comparisons 72 8.A. Quality measures and peer comparisons 72 Criterion 9: Future Directions 81 9.A. Summary of strengths and challenges 81 9.B. Strategic planning efforts 82 9.C. Strategic directions and priorities 83 Reflective question 84 Appendix A: UNM Catalog 2016-2017 Descriptions A1 Appendix B: MS and PhD Graduates B1 Appendix C: Lecturer vitas C1 Appendix D: Tenure-stream faculty vitas D1 Appendix E: Plan for Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes E1 Appendix F: Rubrics for Cources F1 3 Abbreviations. ALEKS -- Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces AMS -- American Mathematical Society ASA -- American Statistics Association APR -- Academic Program Review CBMS -- Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences College -- College of Arts & Science CTL -- Center for Teaching and Learning CTLB -- Collaborative Teaching and Learning Building DA -- Department Administrator DARPA -- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARS -- Transfer Evaluation System DMS -- Division of Mathematical Sciences DOE -- Department of Energy HSC -- Health Sciences Center IAS -- Institute for Advanced Study ICM -- International Congress of Mathematicians IMS -- Institute of Mathematical Statistics IT -- Information Technology JMM -- Joint Mathematical Meetings LANL -- Los Alamos National Laboratory MPM -- Material-Point Method MaLL -- Mathematics Learning Lab MCTP -- Mentoring Through Critical Transition Points MRN -- Mind Research Network NIH -- National Institutes of Health NOAA -- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NNSA -- National Nuclear Security Administration NRC -- National Research Council NSF -- National Science Foundation NMAS -- New Mexico Analysis Seminar NM HED -- New Mexico Higher Education Department PARCC -- Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers PDE -- Partial Differential Equations PI -- Principal Investigator PLF -- Peer Learning Facilitators RA -- Research Assistantship SBAC -- Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium SIAM -- Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics SLO -- Student Learning Outcome SMLC -- Science and Mathematics Learning Center SNL -- Sandia National Laboratories STEM -- Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics SUnMaRC -- Southwest Undergraduates Mathematics Research Conference SCC -- Statistics Consulting Clinic TA -- Teaching Assistant UHC -- Undergraduate Honors Committee USNWR -- U.S. News and World Report WCOAS -- West Coast Operator Algebra Seminar 4 Introductory Section and Background Information The section should provide a brief introduction to the self{study. This self-study fulfills one requirement of the University's Academic Program Review (APR), with site visit scheduled for March 22-24, 2017. Following the format mandated by the sixth edition of the APR Manual (see http://apr.unm.edu/assets/documents/apr-manual-2015.pdf), this document describes our efforts, successes, and challenges in performing our duties in research, teaching, and service. In each section (or criterion in the parlance of the Manual), we have included in italicized font relevant directives from the APR Manual for each criterion. The present introductory section summarizes the entire self-study, draws attention to salient issues, and provides context. Criterion 0.A includes the document summary and a quick view of our Department. Criterion 0.B is a short history of the Department and each of its programs. Criterion 0.C describes the Department's organizational structure and governance. Criterion 0.D is a placeholder for external program accreditations; there are none. Finally, Criterion 0.E describes the previous 2008 Academic Program Review, listing its resulting recommendations. 0.A. Executive summary. An executive Summary that provides a one to two-page summary/ab- stract of the information contained within the self-study. 0.A.1. Summary of the self-study. The organization of this document is as follows. Criterion 1 focuses on the Department's program goals, as reflected primarily in our mission statement and student learning outcomes. Criteria 1.A and 1.B describe our Department's mission in relation to both our programs and the University's broader mission and vision. Criterion 1.C states goals for our undergraduate and graduate programs. This section only makes broad state- ments; it points to Appendix E for details. Criterion 1.D considers student awareness of expected learning goals. Criteria 1.E and 1.F respectively define our constituents and demonstrate how our program goals serve them. Criterion 1.G is an extensive list of our outreach and community activities. Criterion 2 describes the curricula of our degree programs, our service in support of the gen- eral education core and other departments, and the procedures (\modes of delivery") by which our courses are taught. The descriptions in Criterion 2 are somewhat intricate. Indeed, as seen in the quick view below, we support 13 versions of 3 basic degrees (BS, MS, and PhD), an Undergraduate Honors Program, (undergraduate and graduate statistics) Minors, and a graduate Certificate Pro- gram in Computational Science and Engineering. Added to this complexity is the reality that we are a service department maintaining gateway courses taken yearly by thousands of undergraduates. Criterion 3 describes our recent efforts toward program assessment. From the standpoint of guidelines set by the College's Assessment Committee, our Department's (undergraduate and graduate) program-level assessment mechanisms are admittedly embryonic. We do not imply that they are absent. Indeed, excellent internal metrics for evaluating both student performance and our programs have been in place for years, particularly for our graduate programs. Further ev- idence of internal undergraduate assessment appears in Criterion 4. Our current challenge is to ensure that these metrics comply with University guidelines. Criterion 3 starts with an overview of undergraduate assessment, describing recently codified Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and their use as assessment measures. Details are relegated to Appendix E. Criterion 3 also describes internal assessment mechanisms for the graduate programs (in mathematics and statistics). We have not yet documented how we evolve in response to program-level assessment. Criterion 4 focuses on students. Among other considerations, it describes recruitment and admissions, enrollment and graduation trends, advisement, and support services. Criterion 4.A summarizes our recruitment and admissions efforts. Criterion 4.B is an account of enrollment, persistence, and graduation trends, with relevant conclusions highlighted graphically. Criterion 5 4.C describes advisement of students. For Criterion 4.D, a mandated entry on student support services, we point to Criterion 4.E where we also discuss student success and retention initiatives taken by the Department. It catalogs both support activities and other initiatives. Criterion 5 considers our faculty. Criterion 5.A lists them and describes their credentials, with a compositional breakdown in terms of gender and ethnicity.