Minutes of Math Issues Committee
May 13, 2005
Central Connecticut State University, Nutmeg Room

 
The meeting convened at 10:40 a.m.
 
Present — Pat Hirschy (Asnuntuck), Miguel Garcia (Gateway), Rachael Schettenhelm (Gateway), Mark Leach (Housatonic), Kathy Bavelas ( Manchester ), Diane Hillyer ( Manchester ), Alice Burstein (Middlesex), Elaine Dinto ( Naugatuck Valley ), Jean-Marc Cenet (Tunxis)
 
Minutes from the April 1, 2005 meeting — Approved.
 
MATYCONN Annual Math Contest —
Committee Members discussed the Math Contest, including additional campus funding for local winners and incentives for student participation. The Department, the Foundation, faculty, or Student Government currently allocate money for certificates and local prizes. Some colleges offer review sessions for the contest, some do not; some instructors offer an incentive such as a free quiz grade for participation.
 
Professional development —
This being the sixth and last year of the Fractal Geometry Summer Workshops, Miguel suggested looking into a professional development activity for summer 2006, including exploring grant opportunities. One suggestion made is reform curriculum for College Algebra, similar to Calculus reform, a project by Dan Small, US Military Academy (formerly at Colby). The group discussed the problem of how we define College Algebra at colleges and universities, i.e. if we include conic sections, arithmetic and geometric sequences, matrices, and if College Algebra courses together with Trigonometric Functions courses differ in content from Precalculus.
 
Common Numbering Issues/Preserving the integrity of the Math Common Numbering matrix —
Miguel will speak with and email Paul Susen regarding the status of the recommendation made by Math Faculty at the Professional Staff Day, September 24, 2004, for new course proposals and course description changes.
  
The System-wide Professional Day —
Scheduled for September 24, 2005, for local activities. Miguel will contact Paul Susen to determine if the following issues might be included on the day's agenda: (1) 4-year college transfer information and transition of high school students to college: (2) clarification of the process for how to keep the Community College Course matrix updated (see above).
  
Course Transfer —
Although the Connecticut Community College System has converted to Common Numbering, there are discrepancies in course transfer to 4-year institutions. A suggestion was made for Committee members to visit colleges/universities in their local areas to determine what specific courses they accept for transfer. For example, in the case of Intermediate Algebra at the CC level, there may be no credit, elective credit, a general education requirement, or particular program credit; do the 4-year schools accept Intermediate Algebra for placement into college level courses? Do they require that students take the placement test or use SATs for placement? Starting with the Math Department, we could unofficially determine courses that transfer, and whether Statistics is taught under the Math Department or a separate department. While a compiled list would not be official, it would give some sense of what the 4-year colleges want. Perhaps information could be posted on the MATYCONN website, with the name of the person who provided the information, date it was provided, and based on what.
    
Statistics Course transfer with CSU —
The Connecticut State University System, through the Math Basic Skills Committee of Connecticut, has been very receptive to working on the Statistics course transfer issue with the CC System, and supportive in discussions. Pat did a phenomenal job on this – thanks from the entire MI Committee! Note: (1) Pat and Elaine will reestablish contact with Kate regarding UConn Statistics transfer issues; (2) MAT* 165 should remain unchanged, as per Manchester and Tunxis; (3) MAT* 123 is a great introductory Statistics course for a 2-year degree, but, recognizing the importance of high academic integrity for transfer courses, the committee agrees it is not intended as a transfer course; (4) the math course matrices need to be updated. Perhaps the CSU –CC agreement on Statistics courses can be posted as Practices at CSU-CC as of Spring 2005?
 
Discipline Review — The Developmental Math Discipline Review at  Naugatuck Valley has been completed. If any college is scheduled to do a similar review and would like information about the Review at NVCC, please feel free to contact Elaine.
 
Support Instruction Program — Members discussed a support program, initially funded by a grant, whereby a former student sits in on a course as if a student, takes notes, does homework, and meets for an hour after class with students in that course who want extra help. While this would only benefit students in a couple of sections, not the entire student body, it is an interesting concept to explore further.
 
Calendar for Fall 2005 — First meeting of the fall will be held either on the System-wide Professional Day, September 23, or in conjunction with the first MBSCC meeting, September 16, at CCSU.
 
The meeting adjourned at 12:44 p.m.
 
Respectfully submitted by
Elaine Dinto