PFMF - February 13, 2002

Discussion with Edgar Beckham, representative of American Association of

Colleges and Universities

Prepared by Amylou Dueck

Mr. Beckham is on campus to speak with PFF and PFMF participants and

administrators. He wants to continue the programs and learn how the

programs can be enhanced and how they can grow. He is concerned with

whether the programs accomplish their goals from the perspective of the

participants. He asked for discussion of what our needs are as graduate

students in math and as graduate students in general, and whether PFMF

meets these needs.

Rick Archibald, PFMF participant in the 2000-2001 class, likes the

separation of the math PFMF from the university PFF. He feels that our

program is tailored to our need yet giving us access to all the PFF

functions that interest us.

We discussed our needs as mathematicians and how they differ from needs of

graduate students in other departments. We face a different job market

and face a necessity for post doc positions. We also do not face race,

gender, or diversity issues in classroom discussions. Mr. Beckham pointed

out that we do face these issues, just in a more subtle way.

Rama Chidambaram, PFMF participant in the 2001-2002 class, likes the

presentation of the timeline for hiring. This too differs from the

timeline faced by graduate students in other departments.

Mr. Beckham asked, "Is one year enough?" The university PFF program is a

two year program, while the math PFMF program is a one year program.

Generally, we felt that one year is enough since all discussions are

tailored to math needs. Additionally, we have the option to continue in

the second year of PFF if we desire.

Generally, we feel that PFMF reveals the expectations of being a faculty

member. We learn about teaching, tenure, hiring, workload (teaching,

research, and service), et cetera. Further, the PFMF program does not use

time to discuss what it will be like to teach because the math graduate

students are already experiencing teaching. The projects give us access

to personalize the program even more to each individual's needs. For

example, we can teach a course at a community college or teach an upper

division course.

Mr. Beckham mentioned that the American higher education system has

evolved to meet the social needs of the country based on groups as opposed

to individuals. He cites the existance of black colleges, women colleges,

religious colleges, and several other types of colleges. He suggests to

think about this in addressing students' needs.

Tim Lant, PFMF participant in the 1999-2000 class, wrapped up the session

with several views. "We like it!" He expressed that the participants in

PFMF really like the program. It allows us a forum for discussing all

types of issues ranging from becoming a faculty member to being a graduate

student. He feels that the program grooms prepared graduate students.

The program helps us avoid falling into a bad situation when becoming a

new faculty member. He feels that other science departments should have

similar programs to pull graduate students out of labs and encourage

interdisciplinary research.

Lastly, the entire PFMF audience in attendance expressed that we want to

see continued funding of the program.