OATdb Archive - Sam Houston State University

OATdb Archive

2014 - 2015

Mathematics MS

Goal

Develop Research Skills

Students who choose to complete a thesis will develop research skills

Objective

Demonstrate Graduate-Level Research Skills

Students completing the MS with a thesis will demonstrate skills in completing original research.

Indicator

Thesis Defense Rubric

The attached rubric will be used to rate student research during the thesis defense.

Criterion

Rating On Thesis Defense Rubric

MS students choosing to complete a thesis will score either a "fail", "pass" or "high pass" on their thesis based on the given rubric.

Objective

Participation In Colloquia

Faculty will hold a regular colloquium series and graduate students will be encouraged to participate in that series.

Indicator

Consistent Colloquium Series

The Faculty Colloquium series will have 3 or more meetings per month. One or more talks during the school year in the colloquium series will be given by graduate students. At least half of the graduate students will attend that colloquium on a regular basis.

Goal

Emphasize Written Communication Skills

The curriculum will provide students with opportunities to develop the skills typically required of professionals in the area of study.

Objective

Communicating Mathematical Ideas-Written

Students will be able to write rigorous proofs of mathematical statements, read mathematical research manuscripts, write formal mathematical papers, and use critical thinking skills to solve research problems.

Indicator

Comprehensive Examination

Students in the MS program will take a written comprehensive examination in the areas of abstract algebra, analysis. The examination will be scored by a committee of faculty.

Criterion

Examination Criteria

At least two-thirds of our students will pass their comprehensive examinations on their first attempt.

Objective

Students Will Be Proficient At LaTeX

Graduate students will become proficient in the use of LaTeX for mathematical writing.

Objective

Conversation On Teaching

Graduate faculty and graduate students will regularly discuss the teaching profession.

Indicator

Teaching Seminar

Graduate faculty will lead a teaching seminar with participation from graduate students. This seminar will meet at least monthly.

Goal

Develop Consistent & Stable Cohort Size

A fall cohort of ten supported graduate students allows us to maintain a healthy program with consistent class sizes, class schedules and graduation rates above 7 students per year.

Objective

Support Ten New Students Each Year

We will support ten new graduate students each year, as many as twenty in the two years of our program. Support should be such that fulltime students are supported by at least $10,000 more than the cost of tuition and fees.

Objective

Focus On Fall Cohorts

We will focus on strong Fall term cohorts of 10 students. We will rarely allow students to enter during the Spring term. Students will not be allowed to enter in the Summer term.

Goal

Improve Graduate Student Support

We will increase graduate student support so that our program attacts good students who can study fulltime.

Objective

Graduate Assistants Should Not Need A Second (Outside) Job

We will increase graduate student support so that students in the program, including international students, can earn $1000/mo over tuition and fees. This will eliminate the need for our teaching assistant grad students to take a second outside job. (A second job + TA + 3 classes is difficult for domestic students and is illegal for international students.)

Goal

Improve Instruction By TAs

We will improve our instructional support for TA instruction in 1000-level classrooms.

Objective

Mentoring Of 1000-level Instructors

We will actively mentor graduate students teaching 1000-level classes.

Objective

Conversation On Teaching

Graduate faculty and graduate students will regularly discuss the teaching profession.

Indicator

Teaching Seminar

Graduate faculty will lead a teaching seminar with participation from graduate students. This seminar will meet at least monthly.

Objective

Participation In Colloquia

Faculty will hold a regular colloquium series and graduate students will be encouraged to participate in that series.

Indicator

Consistent Colloquium Series

Objective

Stable Teaching Program

We will develop a consistent and stable teaching schedule and program for TAs teaching 1000 level classes.

Goal

Improve Graduate Student Environment

We will increase and improve the graduate student environment, including office space and quality of office space, desks, tutoring area.

Objective

Increased Office Space

We will increase office space to comfortably handle 20 MS-Math students, each with their own desk and access to personal file cabinets.

Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement Comprehensive exams continue to improve and become more consistent and rigorous. We now offer 5 classes per semester but struggle to get 5 students into some second-year classes.

Stipends continue to be unreasonable, while tuition and fees skyrocket, now over $7000 per year for in-state students. Inconsistent and changing university policies led one student to be charged out-of-state tuition despite promises to the contrary; she has now left the program due to inability to pay that tuition. The number of assistantships and their values is declining, despite our best efforts and we need significant university support if we are to maintain our current level of 20 students in the MS-Math program.

Plan for continuous improvement Current stipends and assistantships mean that many international applicants (approx 20/year) do not enter the program and some that come do not stay. International students are poorly supported by the campus. Meanwhile many domestic applicants have poor math preparation and struggle in the program.
(3 of 9 Fall 2015 grad new assistants either did not arrive in August or left shortly after classes began.)

We need to increase domestic recruiting of local students (Houston, SHSU) and see if we can build a domestic cohort while still recruiting a few students from pipeline countries like Sri Lanka.

We need the university to implement a tuition waiver for high quality, personally recruited minority students.

We need to begin a Bachelors+Masters 5 year program that will move some of our good math undergraduates into our program in a seamless manner.