Creating and Sustaining a Dynamic Undergraduate Statistics Program Our (My) experience at BYU Bruce Jay Collings (02 August 2008)
Outline • Disclaimer • Brief Department History • Fortuitous Factors • Concerted Efforts by Department • Recruiting students • What did not work • What works • Retaining students
Disclaimer(s) • BYU may be atypical • Church university • Not quite a major research university • Not quite an undergraduate teaching university • My view • Adapt or Ignore anything I say
Brief Department History • Created in 1960 • No students, 1 faculty member • 1962: 1st BS degree, 3 faculty + 2 PT • mid 70’s: 20 majors, 12 faculty • mid 80’s: 50 majors, 15 faculty • 1990: ~100 majors, 16 faculty + 3 PT • 2000: ~160 majors, 16 faculty + 4 PT • 2008: ~ 200 majors, 17 faculty + 3 PT (about 20 masters students since early 70’s)
Fortuitous Factors - BYU • Collegiality – Early Department Faculty & Philosophy • BYU enrollment pressures • Stat faculty member as AAVP for Computing • Excellent department computing • University wide multi-media teaching rooms • Current Department Chair • Applied Statistics Account
(Not So) Fortuitous Factors - BYU • Very Heavy Service load • Nearly 15,000 student credit hrs/yr • No PhD Program • Harder to get external funding
Fortuitous Factors – In General • Service Courses • Business School screening tool • Satisfies University GE requirement • Increasingly required by other majors • Increased demand for Statisticians • AP Statistics exam
Concerted Efforts by Department • Department Mission Statement "... to provide (individuals) with the knowledge to perform meaningful work and service through rational evaluation of quantitative information ...“
Concerted Efforts by Department • Academic Program • Basic program outline Core – approx 40 hours 2 or 3 semesters of Calculus Intro stat (4 options) Stat methods, Math Stat, Sampling, Design, Statistical Computing “Specialty” stat courses (junior/senior level) Minor (or equivalent) in appropriate field
Concerted Efforts by Department • Academic Program (cont.) • Five degree programs; two sub-groups • Terminal degree (less math) • BS Stat: Applied Statistics & Analytics emphasis • BS Stat: Quality Science emphasis • “Pre-Professional” (more math) • BS Stat: Statistical Science emphasis • BS Stat: Biostatistics emphasis • BS Actuarial Science
Concerted Efforts by Department • Flexibility • Four entry classes: • regular, “baby” theory, Bayesian, quality science • “Minor” requirement (for degree programs) • allows individually tailored program • Limited cost to department • Very flexible Stat minor requirement • Adapt to student needs • Biostat added in 1997, now has 40+ majors • Act Sci added in 1990, grew to 20-25 by 1995 • Act Sci degree in 2001, now has 70+ majors
Concerted Efforts by Department • Weekly seminar series (w/ refreshments) • Speakers from across campus • Some off campus speakers • Some student only concerns • resumes writing • Interviewing • Most statistical research presentations • Draws students from other campus depts
Concerted Efforts by Department • Consulting Center • University citizenship • Student experience • Student involvement/employment w/ other depts • Good PR • Undergraduate mentoring • UG research groups • Even by non-stat professors (CS & Math) • College Spring Research Conference • Faculty dedicated to teaching (and research) • Employment – most majors are TAs or RAs
Concerted Efforts by Department • Actuarial Science degree • Relatively easy to start (two new courses) • Basic core (less sampling & design) • Theory of interest & Actuarial mathematics • Six courses from econ, finance, accounting, stat • Optional review class for Course 1 • Recent pass rate Exams P, FM, MLC, MFE ~70% • Adds visibility to Department • Very popular ~40% of undergraduate majors
Recruiting – What Didn’t Work • Freshman letter • 1500+ letters to high math scores on ACT/SAT • High quality incoming freshmen 400+ w/ 33+ ACT (1460+ SAT) and 3.9+ HS GPA • Science Day • Brought local/regional HS students to campus • Four Sat morning sessions about statistics
Recruiting Students – What Works • Word of mouth • Significant fraction of new majors are siblings, relatives or friends (even children) of current/former majors • High School outreach • Visits • AP and BAPS seminars • AP Stat exam grading (meet HS teachers) • Temporary Visiting HS Faculty • Take a couple of classes; teach a class or two • Refer their best students to us
Recruiting Students • Introductory Stat & other service courses • Honors/Majors Section (~75 students) is best recruiter • Evolution of Stat 221 (our Intro Stat course) • Early 80’s: ~200 students/sem + ~100 summer • Early 90’s: ~900 students/sem + ~200 summer • Late 90’s: ~1200 students/sem + ~400 summer • 2003: ~1800 students/sem + ~600 summer • 2008: ~2000 students/sem + ~500 summer Overheads -> PowerPoint -> Flash lessons • produced (and taught) by best teachers (over several yrs) • incorporates videos, applets, tables, calculators, etc. • Uniformity, simplicity, reduces faculty burden of 4500/yr • ¼ PT faculty to maintain/upgrade Requires Course Supervisor, several Course Assistants, and TA’s for 90+ labs per semester
Retaining Students • Academic programs and marketability • Student involvement • ASA, SQC, μσρ, Actuarial Club • Student employment • Semester long TA training course • Majors all TA/RA at least one semester • Graders/TAs for all courses • Invite top non-majors to TA Stat 221 • Most juniors & seniors work 10-15 hours for Dept • Good recruiting tool • “relatively” high paying
Retaining Students • Department Scholarships • Several endowed by faculty and dept • A few endowed by private gift • Mostly former students and families • Not lavish, most are half tuition • Majors only “labs” • Majors only computer lab (18-20 PCs, printer, software, etc) • Actuarial library/study room (office size)
Retaining Students • Physically located together (one floor) • Department office suite • Faculty offices • Graduate student offices • Student computing labs • Class rooms for Majors courses • Department servers • Computing support personnel
Retaining Students • Summer Institute of Applied Statistics (SIAS) • Outside speakers • Faculty professional development • Brings non-stat students to department • Applied Statistics Account • Funds SIAS and other “needs” • Endowed two Professorships, One mentoring Award • Allows faculty to fund students • Accumulated from variety of sources • University/College matching fund
Retaining Students • Modest sized MS only graduate program • Focus is on undergraduate program • Challenge undergrads with 1st year MS courses
