Strategic Plan

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics currently has 324 undergraduates and 62 graduate students. The Undergraduate Program provides a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics with options in Pure Mathematics/Secondary Teaching, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics. The Graduate Program provides a Master of Science Degree in Mathematics with emphases in Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, and Mathematics Education. In addition to the Undergraduate and Graduate Programs, the Department serves a significant number of students through a wide range of General Education, Service, and Remedial courses. Given present growth trends and demands for ever greater mathematical competence, it is reasonable to expect that the present trend of increasing student enrollments will continue into the next decade. It is then critical that we prepare for this growth by adapting our program to the needs of the 21st century in order to better serve our students, university, and the community.

Goal 1: 

We will advance excellence in teaching, learning, and scholarship using our polytechnic learn-by-doing approach.

Some of the objectives critical to the department’s mission are to provide the capacity for maintaining a productive teacher-scholar model, adequate coverage of courses, and proper department operations. The Department of Mathematics and Statistics plays a central role in the STEM disciplines and is the sole provider of GE Area B4 and mathematics remediation. As a consequence, service to other departments exceeds 80% of the courses offered by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. The department is dedicated to providing quality education to all students of Cal Poly Pomona.

Strategic Directions

1. Position our department for the future Department of Mathematical Sciences by targeted hiring of faculty.
2. Conduct a major review of our curriculum in order to align the department with the demands of the 21st century.
3. Remodel and acquire appropriate space.
4. Improve interaction with part-time faculty and graduate teaching associates in order to improve our service to students of Cal Poly Pomona.
5. Improve the working environment for our part-time faculty.
6. Increase the portion of Service, General Education, and Remedial courses instructed by the tenure-line faculty.
7. Improve departmental student support.

Indicators of Progress

1. Continued hiring of 2 to 3 new tenure-line faculty each year for ten years.
2. Development of new minor programs and courses to meet the demand for new knowledge in the mathematical sciences.
3. Increase in the research programs of the faculty.
4. Increase in the level of external grant funding.
5. Remodeling and acquisition of new classrooms with adequate seating, computer interface, and configuration allowing for multiple teaching styles.
6. Allocation of space for a student Mathematics Work Room.
7. Acquisition of adequate office space for our faculty and space for visiting faculty.
8. Hiring of adequate staffing to maintain quality service to students and faculty.
9. Progress toward annual schedules of course assignments for part-time faculty.
10. Development of a program of mentored faculty support groups based upon course sequences.
11. Development of a regular series of faculty seminars and symposia on mathematics and statistics pedagogy.
12. Development of a quarterly department award given for excellence in teaching and service.
13. Improvement to departmental advising and scholarship programs.

Goal 2:

We will strengthen our diverse, learning-centered community to enhance interactions and embrace the future.

Mathematics, science, and engineering disciplines are rapidly evolving and are becoming more and more interdisciplinary. It is important to have a program that is flexible so that it can quickly meet new demands.

Strategic Directions

1. Include in our undergraduate options and graduate emphases important fast growing areas such as Actuarial Science, Mathematical Biology, Biometrics, Computational Mathematics, and Econometrics.
2. Investigate structural revisions to facilitate interdisciplinary courses and activities.
3. Investigate ways to incorporate greater efficiency and flexibility in our degree programs.
4. Investigate the establishment of a Doctoral program in partnership with an existing program such as the one found at the Claremont Graduate University, University of California--Irvine or University of California--Riverside.

Indicators of Progress

1. Inclusion of new and interdisciplinary undergraduate options and graduate emphases.
2. Offering of interdisciplinary courses and activities.
3. Progress in establishment of Doctoral program partnership.
4. Continued ability to attract high quality faculty.

Goal 3:

We will deepen our engagement in the multiple communities we serve - our city Pomona, our region, our state, our nation, and our world. The Department currently prepares future teachers in mathematical content and pedagogy for primary, secondary, and community college teachers. The department at present is state certified to provide content competency for the Secondary Mathematics Credential.

Strategic Directions

1. Develop a certification program for teachers seeking content competency up through Algebra II.
2. Continue growing as a community resource for mathematics education.
3. Develop a Center for the Mathematical Sciences, providing consulting services, professional training, and cooperative research areas.
4. Provide opportunities for students to gain hands-on work experience in the mathematical sciences.

Indicators of Progress

1. Increase in numbers of students in our teacher certification programs.
2. Development of new curriculum programs.
3. Enhanced in-service programs.
4. Increase in the number of educational grants.
5. Increase in research in Mathematics Education.
6. Increase in the level of consulting work.
7. Development of a medium-size computing cluster.
8. Allocation of space for consulting services.
9. Development of research laboratories.
10. Development of a resource library.