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
Mathematics department offices and classrooms are in the Applied Science and Technology building. All of our classrooms are equipped with “smart classroom technology,” and they all have a panoramic view of the campus. The computer laboratories are just upstairs. Around the corner from the Advanced Computing Lab is the Department’s Student Lounge—a hangout meant for the exclusive use of Mathematics students.
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.