This was a visit to the Scottsdale Community College, in particular, the department of mathematics. The main aim was to introduce the Faculty Roles at a Community College to PFMF students.

After a warm welcome from the chair of the department of mathematics, Scottsdale Community College, everyone in the meeting room introduced themselves. There was an open discussion about the students of the college, the department and the college.

Some of the points raised were:

Although the college is a two years college, many of the students stay in the college for years and years. Nearly 90% of the students are freshmen, who have accumulated less than 30 credits. There is a big percentage of students enrolling in lower level mathematics courses.

Students take placement tests produced by ACT before enrolling into courses.

The responsibilities of a faculty in the department, and in general in a community college, are primarily teaching. There is a high level of commitment for classes. It is very unusual to cancel classes. Since there is no benefit from publishing, and since the faculty does not have the time to do it, there is almost no publishing done. This was compared to the responsibilities of a faculty member in a research one university, like ASU, which includes a substantial amount of research, publication and conducting conferences. A typical teaching load of a faculty in the department is 15 hours per week; this might be 14 hours one semester and 16 hours the next semester. Adjoint faculties usually teach three classes per semester.

It was also discussed that a new "high tech" building is in construction for the department, which is expected to be functional in the next summer. The existing classrooms, offices, tutoring centers, etc are in constant changes and reconstruction to meet the current needs of the college.

Regarding hiring a faculty, the faculty advisory committee receives hiring proposals from departments when there are openings. And applications go through the district. It was mentioned that, for the selection of a faculty, a research Ph.D. does not carry as much weight as a Masters with teaching experience does.

At the end of the discussion, PFMF students and the faculty had some informal conversations and exchange of addresses for continual contact.