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Actions for Renewing U.S. Mathematical Sciences Departments Conducting interdisciplinary research can be very risky for a junior faculty member. Unless a department has a tradition of valuing such research, a problematical tenuredecisionmayresult Traditional mathematics department faculties do not recognize research papers published in non-mathematics journals to be as valuable as those published in mathematics journals. Joint appointments can also present problems A department initiating a well-conceived plan of interdisciplinary research is a can- didate for seed money from its administra- tion for joint seminars, outside speakers, and release time for faculty. for faculty at all levels, especially if their extra-departmental activities are not valued by their colleagues. Finally, funding of interdisciplinary research projects is not always easy to secure. Even though some federal agencies encourage such activity, the review process is often conducted in an orthodox disciplinary fashion that undervalues inter- disciplinary proposals deemed not essential to the core discipline. To counter these potential problems, a department chair might take the following steps: ⢠Develop the support of the senior faculty for any interdisciplinary research plan. Ideally, one or more members of the senior faculty will participate in the program and play a mentoring role for junior faculty. Of course, a substantial core of the faculty must be enthusiastic about these research directions. A simple starting place might be to establish a periodic interdisciplinary research luncheon open to all mathematical scientists. In such a seminar non-mathematical scientists could present problems to which mathematicians can contribute, and collaborative avenues could be developed. One model for this is the series of Thursday luncheons organized by the Center for Pure and Applied Mathematics at the University of California at Berkeley.11 ⢠Recognize that interdisciplinary participants will have some publications in non-mathematics journals, and insist that standards be established 19
Actions for Renewing U.S. Mathematical Sciences Departments for evaluating these publications and weighing them in comparison with traditional mathematical sciences publications. ⢠Seek initial support from the university administration. This support might include funds ( 1) to initiate joint seminars, (2) to provide release time for faculty initiating interdisciplinary research projects, (3) to purchase and maintain computer equipment, and ( 4) to acquire additional space. ⢠Invite visitors from industry or government laboratories for short periods to deliver lectures and interact with faculty on applied problems. Some industrial employers will even allow regular salaried employees to teach special courses at universities with just a nominal charge to the school. ⢠Enlist the university administration to act as a proponent and to assist in finding and coordinating opportunities for interdisciplinary research. High-level administrators can sometimes more easily obtain an entr~e to local industry; university vice presidents for development and research can be key allies. The administration must also work with the department to help develop appropriate merit and promotion criteria. Ideas for interdisciplinary initiatives with reasonable promise of suc- cess can be found in the 1990 David report and in interdisciplinary publications of the Board on Mathematical Sciences, the Institute for Mathematical Statistics, the American Statistical Association, and the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications. 13 20
4 Altering the Reward System If college and university mathematicians are going to pursue a broader role in mathematics education at all levels, it will be necessary to introduce explicit criteria for measuring and rewarding contributions that fall outside the research domain. While this observation itself is not terribly controversial, it will be very difficult to carry out its intent. The measures of disciplinary research productivity (e.g., peer opin- ion, the quality and impact of papers, the ability to attract outside funding and speaking invitations, and listings in the citation index) are It will be necessary to introduce explicit criteria for measuring and rewarding con- tributions that/aU outside the research domain. all relatively well defined and broadly accepted. On the other hand, appropriate measures of other valued professional activities, such as teaching, recruiting, and service contributions, are more difficult to define so as to win broad faculty acceptance. Since most of the departmental improvements discussed in this document require pro- fessional mathematical scientists to apply some of their talents to non- research tasks, defining criteria to evaluate their effectiveness is fundamental. Criteria may be spelled out as part of the process of forging a particular department-administration partnership, so that both entities understand the skills that will be valued and how success will be measured and rewarded. While individual faculties will of course design their own standards, it is often useful to start by analogy to the standards for research: namely, to assess the impact the professional activity has had on the field by soliciting opinions of fellow professionals. From such a starting point, criteria can be developed for evaluating faculty creative- ly involved in such areas as ⢠curriculum development; 21
Actions for Renewing U.S. Mathematical SCiences Departments ⢠use of computers in the classroom; ⢠mentoring, advising, and developing undergraduate and graduate research activities; ⢠undergraduate and graduate recruitment; ⢠cooperative efforts with the K-12 community; ⢠preparing K-12 teachers at all levels; and ⢠participating in summer programs for gifted and/or minority students. The important factors are that these criteria be accepted as comparably rigorous to those used in research, and that colleagues who meet these standards receive concrete recognition and tangible rewards. These changes are crucial in encouraging more faculty members to contribute their efforts to the full range of professional activities. Mathematical sciences departments often argue that their college or university, and in particular their administration, will not accept or recognize contributions in areas other than research. While this is no doubt true in some cases, it is also often the case that such an attitude is entrenched at the departmental level and that the administration simply acquiesces. If a department is solidly behind a broadened reward system and produces a well-crafted set of criteria for assessing a range of scholarly work, it can usually affect the institution's reward system. 22
