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The issue we are trying to address The
students in our doctoral program come from a variety of domestic and
international backgrounds and it is often difficult to gauge what they
really know. Our basic graduate courses assume knowledge of a certain
body of undergraduate mathematics, so it is imperative that students
possess this knowledge. Too often, we belatedly discover a serious
deficiency in a student's background only when that student starts to
show real signs of struggle in our basic first-year courses.
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How we know that this is an issue Too
many students get off to a bad start and never recover. Many appear to
have solid backgrounds on paper, but they don't perform well in basic
courses and are unable to pass qualifying examinations on the first
try. These students often feel frustrated at the end of the first
semester and convinced that mathematics is hopelessly difficult.
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The innovation that is intended to address the preparation gap We
hope to procure funding from our administration to launch the Graduate
Bridge Program. We already have a small amount of private funding.
Students will come two weeks before the semester starts, fully
supported with room and board, to be assessed by faculty, bond together
and review some basic material, if necessary. This will be in an
intensive, but fun environment.
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Why we selected this approach We
feel that is the only way to ensure that students have the proper
background for our graduate courses. Upper division courses in
mathematics vary widely in level and content, and one only really knows
if we speak to the students at length. What better way than to have
them on campus for an intensive encounter with members of the faculty
and each other?
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The intended effect of this innovation by Wayne Raskind, Professor and Department Chair We
expect that the Graduate Bridge Program will reduce our dropout rate
and shorten the time to degree. It will make for better esprit de corps
among our current students. It will allow us to use our resources much
more effectively and possibly leverage more, so that we can attract
higher quality students as a result of the greater success and
popularity of our doctoral program. It will energize us to be similarly
proactive in other matters.
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The data or evidence that will demonstrate the effect of our innovation Exam
scores should increase in our basic first-year courses and it will
contribute to our having a higher percentage of students who complete
our program. At present, fewer than 50% of the students who enter our
Ph.D program actually complete that degree. We aim to increase the
completion rate to at least 75% for the class to enter in 2005. For
these students, time to degree should be reduced from about 5.3 years
to less than 5 years.
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