On July 1, 2009, the mathematics and statistics department will split into two.
According to senate minutes from the Oct. 6 meeting, the decision to split the two was initiated by a program review that allowed the department to consider its longer-term goals and objectives.
"This is just a natural thing to happen and it coincided with a departmental review," said Patrick Dowling, interim chair of the mathematics and statistics department.
Statistics, Dowling said, has matured over the years to become its own department just as others, such as computer science, have done in the past.
During the 2008 spring semester, University Provost Jeffrey Herbst appointed a partition team, consisting of eight members of the department of mathematics and statistics, who worked together to divide the department and explain the benefits of the split to the senate.
According to Dowling, there are enough students enrolled in Mathematics 151 and 153, as well as Statistics 261, to support splitting the departments.
At several other universities, such as Ohio State University and the University of Akron, Dowling said math and statistics are separated into different departments.
The split proposition produced no conflict at the meeting, Dowling said, and followed all of the guidelines required by the university senate.
According to senate minutes, the departments will remain in Bachelor Hall for at least a year or two because of budgetary issues, but will eventually move to a new space that is yet to be
determined. Currently, the department of mathematics and statistics is one of the largest departments on campus, according to John Bailer, professor statistics.
Bailer said with relocation a possibility, it will be easier to find a home for two relatively smaller departments than one bigger one. Although the location will be different, Dowling said students shouldn't be inconvenienced.
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"This is seamless-it should make no difference whatsoever for students signing up for courses," Dowling said.
The department change, Dowling said, will also have no effect on any current or incoming math or statistics majors, with the curriculum largely staying the same.
However Bailer said the make-up of the faculty will be altered.
"The new math department will include approximately 25 tenure-track faculty and the new statistics department will include approximately 11 tenure-track faculty," Bailer said.
No new faculty is being brought in at this point, and both Dowling and Bailer said that it is not likely any will be soon.
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