Department of Mathematics
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Other Useful Links
Math Dept.
NKU
CINSAM
Note: The information provided here is specifically designed for NKU faculty/staff as well as those outside of NKU. If you are an NKU student, please click here to learn more about the consultation process with the Burkardt Consulting Center (BCC).
Question 1: What should I expect from the initial consultation?
After we receive your request for a consultation, you will be contacted to schedule an initial meeting held in our offices, usually lasting about 1 hour. During this meeting, we will ask you to describe your study/project and tell us what assistance you need. Depending on the complexity of your request, we may do one or more of the following:
- Handle your request immediately, whether that is giving you statistical/mathematical advice or doing a quick computation to solve your problem
- Assign the problem to a student consultant (with appropriate supervision)
- Assign the problem to a faculty consultant (ideally with student participation)
- Find the appropriate faculty member(s) in the Department of Mathematics to solve the problem (ideally with student participation)
- Direct you to other resources on-campus to assist you
- Terminate the consultation because of time constraints or insufficient expertise in the requested area.
Question 2: What do I need to bring to the initial consultation?
If applicable, please bring the following to the initial appointment:
- References related to your field which may familiarize the consultants with your research
- Samples of questionnaires or any forms used for data collection
- Some or all of the raw data
- Copies of any preliminary analyses of your data
- Computer program documentation for questions about particular software programs
- Fellow researchers and/or collaborators to help develop and refine questions of interest
Question 3: What information will I need to provide during the initial consultation?
- Your contact information
- A description of the problem
- Desired outcome: What are your research questions?
- Desired service: What would you like from the consulting center (advice, collaboration, statistical services, etc.)?
Question 4: When is the BCC open during the year?
We are typically open full-time during the academic year when classes are in session (late August thru early May). We may not be open during NKU breaks, although we typically try to at least keep up with e-mail communications during those times. Typically we are open part-time in the summers. We will do the best we can to accommodate you.