Excellent Teachers
We currently have 19 tenured/tenure-track faculty members in our department. Professors teach many of the introductory and all of the upper-level mathematics and statistics courses. Faculty members are highly committed to teaching and enjoy interacting with students both in class and out of class. Students find the faculty friendly, approachable, and willing to help. Many faculty members have open door policies. Student feedback on our courses and on instructors is highly valued.
Small Classes
The average class size is 24 students with many classes in the major having fewer than 20 students. General education classes typically have no more than 37 students. This small class size allows for ample in-class interaction. In addition, our classrooms are technologically equipped to present information in a variety of ways.
Diverse Programs
Contemporary Technology
NKU received funding from the National Science Foundation to provide calculus students with advanced graphic/symbolic calculators. We loan these calculators to all beginning Calculus students; professors assign creative and fascinating calculator projects to supplement traditional pencil-and-paper homework. Several courses also use software tools such as Mathematica, Minitab, or SPSS. There are two computer labs specifically tailored to the needs of students in our department which are regularly updated with both hardware and software.
Great Location
Affordable Tuition
The tuition at NKU is lower than neighboring universities, making NKU a great value.
Our Campus
The campus is also growing and changing. The new science center was opened in 2003, and the lake project renovation should be finished by the end of 2005. Ground breaking is scheduled to begin in the next couple of years on both a new student center and the Bank of Kentucky special events center.
Our Building
Co-op
The Cooperative Education Program provides students with an opportunity to obtain valuable work experience related to their majors while earning up to twelve semester hours of college credit. Students in the co-op program are very enthusiastic about it. They not only earn money and gain professional experience, but they can also assess the different types of jobs available to them. Frequently students are offered permanent employment at the same workplace, often at starting salaries higher than normally offered.
Scholarships
Several Scholarship opportunities exist for students studying mathematics. In addition to the university scholarships (President's, Achiever's, etc.), there are Greaves and CINSAM scholarships available to students in the sciences and mathematics, along with the Sehnert-Pugh scholarships which are available only to MAT or CSC or CIT majors. Applications are due near the end of the Fall semester, with decisions made in the Spring. For further information, contact the NKU Office of Student Financial Assistance.
Enrichment Activities
Majors engage in several activities out of class: some social, some academic. Social activities include a picnic to begin each new academic year, the Sehnert-Pugh Banquet and Lecture, and the new pizza lunches to allow students and faculty to interact outside of class in an informal atmosphere. Majors also compete in competitions such as the Virginia Tech exam in the Fall, and the Putnam exam and COMAP contests (there are two of these COMAP contests that happen simultaneously) in the Spring. Students also have opportunities to travel to conferences such as the KYMAA meetings, Miami (OH) meetings, the Joint Meetings of the MAA and AMS, and the Rose-Hulman conference. These activities allow majors to meet other majors and offers opportunities to see faculty in more relaxed settings.
Outstanding Reputation
Faculty in our department have been recognized with several awards. These include two College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Junior Faculty Member Awards, the MAA George Polya Award, and the MAA Kentucky Section’s Distinguished Teaching Award.