SPECIAL REPORT of the ACADEMIC PRIORITIES, GRADUATE AND PROGRAM AND BUDGET COUNCILS concerning REVISION OF THE MASTER S DEGREE IN MATHEMATICS WITH A CONCENTRATION IN STATISTICS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS Presented at the 767 th Regular Meeting of the Faculty Senate April 6, 2017 COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP ACADEMIC PRIORITIES COUNCIL Faune Albert, Richard Bogartz (Chair), Nicholas Bromell, Leslie Button, Elizabeth Chilton, Kathleen Debevec, Jean DeMartinis, Piper Gaubatz, Bryan Harvey, Deborah Henson, Shaw Ling Hsu, A Yęmisi Jimoh, Sangeeta Kamat, Stephen Magner, Roberta Marvin, Katherine Newman, Esther Oh, Lucas Patenaude, MJ Peterson, Monroe Rabin, James Rinderle, Jack Wileden GRADUATE COUNCIL Neal Abraham, Jessica Adamick, Sonia Alvarez, Maria Barbon, Lori Baronas, D. Anthony Butterfield, Leslie Button, Canan Cevik, Hayley Cotter, Catherine Dimmitt, Steve Goodwin, Mark Hamin, Neil Immerman, Cynthia Jacelon, A Yęmisi Jimoh, Arthur Kinney, David Kotz, John Lopes (Chair), Michael Malone, John McCarthy, David Morin, Angela Niazmand, MJ Peterson, Sarah Poissant, Frederic Schaffer, Patrick Sullivan, Nathan Therien, David Vaillancourt, Tilman Wolf PROGRAM AND BUDGET COUNCIL William Richards Adrion, Joseph Bartolomeo, William Brown, D. Anthony Butterfield, Elizabeth Chang, Nancy Cohen, Patricia Galvis y Assmus, Bryan Harvey, Eddie Hull, Moira Inghilleri, Michael Leto, Lisa Liebowitz, Talia London, Andrew Mangels, Ernest May, John McCarthy, Lynn McKenna, Esther Oh, Anthony Paik, MJ Peterson, Alex Phillips, Margaret Riley, Stephen Schreiber, Anurag Sharma (Chair), Jessica Williams, Donna Zucker
ACADEMIC PRIORITIES COUNCIL Sen. Doc. No. 17-047 On February 24, 2017, the Academic Priorities Council endorsed approval of this proposal. GRADUATE COUNCIL The Academic Standards and Curriculum Committee (ASCC) of the Graduate Council met on October 5, 2016 and reviewed the proposal for the Master s Degree in Mathematics with a Concentration in Statistics. The ASCC recommended this proposal for approval. On Wednesday, October 12, 2016, the Graduate Council unanimously approved the Revision of the Master s Degree in Mathematics with a Concentration in Statistics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Proposal #2792 in the Course and Curriculum Management System. PROGRAM AND BUDGET COUNCIL This proposal presents a new set of requirements for a Master s Degree in Mathematics with a Concentration in Statistics. The change is in response to recent changes in curriculum reflecting the modern development of Statistics. It better meets the need for advanced computing and theoretical knowledge. There is no cost or requested resources associated with this proposal. At its meeting on February 15, 2017, the Program and Budget Council unanimously approved the proposal for a Revision of the Master s Degree in Mathematics with a Concentration in Statistics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. It was submitted as Proposal #2792 in the Course and Curriculum Management System. MOTION: That the Faculty Senate approve the Revision of the Master s Degree in 24-17 Mathematics with a Concentration in Statistics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, as presented in Sen. Doc. No. 17-047.
Proposal to Revise a Concentration Sen. Doc. No. 17-047 I. Concentration 1. Title Master s in Mathematics with Statistics Option 2. Proposed Starting Date Fall 2016 II. Proposal Development 1. Briefly describe the Proposal We are proposing a new set of requirements for a Master s degree in Mathematics with a Concentration in Statistics, to replace the existing requirements. 2. Provide a brief overview of the process for developing the proposal The Statistics faculty in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics met and agreed on a proposal, which then passed by the Graduate Affairs Committee of the Department. III. Purpose and Goals Describe the proposal s purpose and the particular knowledge and skills to be acquired. The proposal is in response to our recent changes of graduate curriculum which reflect the modern development of Statistics. Students will be equipped with advanced computing and theoretical knowledge in Statistics when they graduate. IV. Resources If this proposal requires no additional resources, say so and briefly explain why. If the proposal requires additional resources, explain how they will be paid for. For proposals involving instruction, indicate how many new enrollments are expected and whether the courses have room to accommodate them. No additional resources are needed. All the new required courses are already in place. Curriculum Provide a curriculum outline showing degree program requirements, requirements of any existing concentrations, requirements of proposed concentration, and how they relate. You may include this outline and any additional documents as attachments below. Please see attached.
Proposal to Change Requirements for MS in Mathematics with Options in Statistics The M.S. option in statistics is designed to prepare students for positions in industry or government. It also serves as a basis for future work towards a Ph.D. in Statistics or Biostatistics. This program is designed to provide the student with a background in basic theory along with experience in various applications, including computational aspects. In addition to courses offered within the department, the program allows room for the students to take statistics courses in other departments on campus. The requirements for the M.S. degree involve coursework, a project and qualifying exams. The main proposed changes are to replace two required courses with one required and one elective course, and add one option for the qualifying exams. The reasons for the changes are two fold. One is by adding a required course in statistical computation and a choice of qualifying exam in applied statistics, we emphasize more hands on nature of modern statistics. The other is we believe the new set of requirements gives our students more flexibility in choosing courses and therefore better prepare themselves to be competitive in the job market. Statistics is a widely applicable field and a good statistician not only knows about statistics, but also knows the subject fields where statistics is applied, such as biology, engineering, finance, ecology, computer science etc. The new requirements give students flexibility to pursue statistics in their fields of interest. Current MS requirements: The student must complete 30 hours of coursework with grades of C or better, including at least 24 hours with grades of B or better. In addition, the student must have at least an overall B average. The required 30 hours must include: 1. Stat 697R: Regression Modeling 2. Stat 526: Applied Experimental Design 3. Stat 607-608: Probability and Mathematical Statistics I, II 4. Stat 705: Linear Models I 5. At least three other courses which are either Statistics courses numbered 600 or above, from within the Department. Some graduate courses from outside the department can be used as one of these three courses, subject to prior approval by the Statistics coordinator. Some, 500-level courses (e.g., S526 or 511) may be counted towards the 30 hours but other 500-level courses (such as S501, 515 or 516) would not count towards the 30 hours. Basic Exam Students doing the M.S. in Statistics are required to pass two basic exams, one in Probability and one in Statistics, which are based primarily on ST607-608. The Basic Exam is given twice a year, in January and in August. A student seeking only a Master's degree will normally take the Basic Exam at the beginning of the second year Project The project is completed under the guidance of a faculty member. This project must have prior approval of the Graduate Program Director and involves 3-credit hours which may be used to satisfy the 30 hour coursework requirement. The project can take many forms; an expository
report on a particular area, an examination of methods through simulations or a detailed statistical analysis of real data. A final report is required. Proposed MS Requirements: Courses The student must complete 30 hours of coursework with grades of C or better, including at least 24 hours with grades of B or better (Pass or fail grades cannot be used to satisfy this requirement). In addition, the student must have at least an overall B average. The required 30 hours must include: 1. Stat 697R: Regression Modeling 2. Stat 607-608: Probability and Mathematical Statistics I, II 3. Stat 597A: statistical computing 4. At least five other courses which are either Statistics courses numbered 526 or above, from within the department, or some courses outside the department numbered 500 and above subject to prior approval by the Statistics coordinator. Basic Exam Students doing the M.S. in Statistics are required to pass two of three basic exams we offer: applied statistics, probability, and statistics, which are based on ST697R and ST597A, ST607, and ST608, respectively. The Basic Exam is given twice a year, in January and in August. Project The project is completed under the guidance of a faculty member. This project must have prior approval of the Statistics coordinator and involves 3-credit hours which may be used to satisfy the 30 hour coursework requirement. The project can take many forms; an expository report on a particular area, an examination of methods through simulations or a detailed statistical analysis of real data. A final report is required. This requirement is typically satisfied by the successful completion of the project seminar course Stat691P. Sample MS Program: Fall year1: 607, 697R, 597A Spring year1: 608, elective, elective Fall year2: elective, elective Spring year 2: 691P, elective In summary, we propose to make the following changes: 1. Removed the required courses Stat526 and Stat705 2. Add a required course Stat597A 3. Increase the minimum number of elective courses to five. The allowed elective courses are Statistics courses number 526 or above from within the department or courses number 500 and above from outside the department 4. Add one option for basic exam called applied statistics exam. We believe these changes more accurately reflect what is required for a modern statistician in this data era.