Meeting of the Board of Regents | October 2007

SUMMARY

Issue for Decision (Consent Agenda)

Should the Board of Regents approve a master plan amendment authorizing Dowling College: Brookhaven Campus to offer a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree program in Applied Mathematics?

Reason(s) for Consideration

             

              Required by State regulation.           

Proposed Handling

The question will come before the Higher Education and Professional Practice Committee at its October 2007 meeting where it will be voted on and action taken.  It will then come before the full Board at its October 2007 meeting for final action.

Procedural History

This action is required because this would be the Campus’ first baccalaureate degree program offered in the discipline of Physical Sciences.

Background Information

The Applied Mathematics program is intended to provide students with an outstanding quantitative foundation, preparing students for employment in industries that require strong analytical skills, including but not limited to, engineering, economic analysis, pharmaceutical research, biotechnology, aviation and scientific computer programming. The program is also designed to prepare students for graduate study in mathematics, both pure and applied.  Dowling College is currently receiving funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to produce more mathematics majors via the Computer Science and Mathematics Scholarship program. By providing more degree program options to students interested in quantitative areas, the number of mathematically oriented graduates from Dowling is expected to increase.

The Applied Mathematics major requires students to complete a core of 39 credits in mathematics and computing courses, plus an additional 24 credits in a concentration area chosen from computational mathematics, aviation science, mathematical economics or bioengineering.  Students applying for admission to the program are expected to have completed four years of high school mathematics including Precalculus.

Projected enrollment for the program is about five students at the Brookhaven Campus in year one, growing to about 15 students at the Brookhaven Campus in year five.  Most of the faculty and all of the computing resources expected to be required for this program are already part of the college.  Many of the courses are already a functional part of other programs and do not require new faculty or resources.  It is, however, anticipated that, due to program growth over the first five years, the college will need to employ two new FTE faculty - one for the main campus at Oakdale and one for the Brookhaven campus.

A canvass was conducted of the Long Island Region. There were two responses expressing support or no objection. A third response raised questions about the details of the program’s course offerings and was satisfactorily responded to by Dowling College.

The Department has determined that the proposed program, if approved, would meet the standards for registration set forth in the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education.

Recommendation

              It is recommended that the Board of Regents approve a master plan amendment authorizing Dowling College: Brookhaven Campus to offer a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Applied Mathematics.  This amendment will be effective until October 23, 2008, unless the program is registered by the Department prior to that date, in which case master plan amendment shall be without term.

Timetable for Implementation

If the Board of Regents approves the master plan amendment, the Department will register the program and the College will proceed to recruit and enroll program students.