DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICAL AND COMPUTER SCIENCES
UW-WHITEWATER
Minutes of the General Departmental Faculty Meeting
October 10, 2006. 11 AM HE 102
Revised and Approved October 24, 2006
Present: Ahmadi, Arriola, Baica, Bryan, Chen, Drucker, Gunawardena, Harris, Kane, Letellier,
Ley, Nam, Nguyen, Park, Rao, G. Samaranayake, S. Samaranayake, Sheth, Siemann, Stamm
The chair, Bennette Harris, called the meeting to order at 11:04 AM.
Ahmadi requested that the minutes of the September 26, 2006 be modified: 1) courses labeled
000, 100, 200 , i.e., 299 and lower are approved to have grades A, A+, etc, to take effect Fall
2007, with the remainder in effect for Fall 2008. 2) He is not the chair of the MAA WI section,
rather chair elect. With these noted modifications, the minutes of the general departmental
faculty meeting of 09/26/2006 was unanimously approved. (Letellier/Drucker)
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Harris announced that a grand master key was lost and re-keying will affect all buildings on
campus. After night classes have concluded, (approximately 9:00 PM) doors will be locked.
Faculty needing to enter buildings on weekends should call 920-988-5274. For nighttime entry,
you will need to call campus police at 472-4660. In either case, you will need to show your
university ID. Faculty who have keys for buildings other than Baker need to contact Marni in
order to obtain validation for entry into those buildings.
End of announcements
NEW BUSINESS:
Ahmadi/Kane made a motion to retain the current makeup/composition of the search and screen
committees for the Math Ed and Math Stats position. The motion was passed unanimously.
Ahmadi/G. Samaranayake made a motion to have the Math Ed position deadline be January 17,
2007. Discussion followed. Kane concurred with the date so as to have the chance of meeting
possible candidates at the upcoming joint meetings. Ahmadi felt that this deadline allowed for
the possibility of a larger candidate pool. Drucker mentioned that from the previous math stats
search, the past committee felt that they were behind in bringing candidates for an on campus
interview. There would be more time for interviews if the deadline were set in December. The
motion for the Math Ed position January 17 deadline was passed unanimously.
Kane/Sheth made a motion to leave the Math Stats position deadline as December XX. The
respective search and screen committee could meet and determine the appropriate date. The
department would accept their decision on the deadline date. Kane requested that an addition be
made to the job qualifications section. Specifically, preference would be made to candidates
having background in actuarial sciences. The motion was passed unanimously.
Harris requested that Letellier, Nam, and G. Samaranayake leave the room due to the upcoming
discussion of their sabbatical proposals. Ahmadi/Arriola proposed that the three 2007-2008
sabbatical proposals be voted on simultaneously. Considerable discussion ensued.
Kane asked whether the department can support two sabbatical positions per semester. Harris
suggested that academic staff not be burdened with additional teaching responsibilities. The
tenured/tenure track faculty should take responsibility for the increased workload. Suggestions
were made to increase the capacity (by approximately 6 per section) of 141 (26 sections Fall 05)
and 143 (23 sections Fall 05). Ahmadi questioned whether there were 41 seats available in each
of the affected classrooms. Another possibility is that Math 143 could be taught in Heide 100,
which has 100 seats available. Assuming that the Dean could provide funding, the department
could hire student graders. Drucker suggested that if this format were taken, there should be set
aside 1 discussion session per week. Ley asked if a full year sabbatical could cross the fiscal year
boundary. It was suggested that multiple choice questions be used, with partial credit, so as to
minimize difficulties that could occur between student graders and instructors. Stamm noted that
at Michigan State, the college algebra and trigonometry sections had approximately 125 students
per section. Student graders were provided for grading homework and quizzes. Instructors had
the responsibility for grading tests, with assistance from the graders. Additionally, students were
allowed to attend office hours of any faculty member teaching said course. Baica expressed
concern about the fairness to students with regard to having larger sections. Harris proposed that
the department, as a whole, prepare for and support the very real possibility of having 2-3
sabbaticals per academic year. Baica proposed that faculty teach higher level courses as an
overload. Harris did not feel that the Dean would commit to funding overloads to lower
enrollment, upper division courses. Gunawardena felt that the department should support 2-3
sabbaticals per semester. The administration should be convinced to support large departments
such as the Math/CS department. Baica requested that the issue of seniority of the sabbatical
applicants be taken into consideration. Additionally, Baica noted that the sabbatical proposals of
Letellier and Samaranayake were focused on teaching, whereas Nam’s proposal focused on
mathematics research. She asked whether a mathematics research focused proposal is of more
importance. Ahmadi made note that the department cannot carefully examine each proposal due
to the pending time constraints. Kane suggested that unpaid overloads could be team taught.
Arriola commented on the importance and long term implications of supporting sabbaticals.
Drucker called the department to vote on the proposals. Because of the intervening discussion,
the chair presented the question as follows: "The department supports all three sabbaticals with a
combination of increased class sizes (utilizing tenured and tenure-track faculty to the extent
practical), overloads, and possible part-time hires." The motion was passed unanimously.
Drucker noted that Dick Enstad has provided quality tutoring (unpaid) for the Math/CS
department in the past. He raised the question of the quality of tutors provided in McCutchan.
Harris stated that since there were so few students coming in for tutoring in Spring 2006, the
department was not able to justify continuing requesting his services.
Ley/Sheth motioned to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 11:57 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Leon Arriola