Alumni Newsletter: Spring '99

The Chair's corner: math at UR and the Renaissance Plan

The past three years have brought changes in the Math Department at Rochester that nobody could have foreseen in 1995. The Renaissance Plan, with its emphasis on bringing stronger undergraduates here, has been a godsend to us. Starting with the class of 2000, interest and ability in mathematics among our students has increased dramatically. Here are so-me indications of this.

Current total enrollment in all of our calculus classes is 15% HIGHER than it was four years ago, when there were 25% more students than there are now; you do the math.
The class of 1999 has 12 math majors. We know of 24 in the class of 2000.
Last summer an astonishing ten percent of all freshmen signed up for honors calculus, three times the historical average.

The high enrollment in honors calculus means that UR now has a group of students seriously interested in mathematics that very few schools can match. Last fall we asked them to design a T-shirt. It says

If you really like calculus, PROVE IT!

Meanwhile our mainstream calculus courses have been greatly enhanced by WeBWorK, our locaily produced (by Professors Michael Gage and A mold Pizer) homework grading software package, which more than a dozen other universities have expressed interest in using. Before its advent it was impossible for us to grade homework, so there was no way we could make most students do it. Now homework counts for 30% of the grade in each of those courses. We are looking for a way to sell WeBWorK to high schools.

The mathematical community has been watching Rochester closely ever since 1995-96 when the threat to our graduate program made us a cause celebre. On numerous occasions I have been asked to speak to professional groups about what has happened here since then. The story keeps getting better and better.