Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences Announces Fall Survey for U.S. Universities and Colleges

The following announcement was shared by the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS).

Every five years starting in 1965 the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS) has surveyed departments in the mathematical sciences across the U.S. to gather enrollment numbers by course as well as information about course format and departmental programs. This is paired with the AMS survey of faculty information. The entire enterprise is done in collaboration with AMATYC, AMS, ASA, MAA, and SIAM, with funding from NSF, and with the support of RMC Research. Past survey data are available here. We are particularly interested to learn what has happened since 2021 (see Figure S.1.1 from the 2021 report for overall numbers).

The survey will be conducted with a stratified random sample of departments. Aware of the difficulties many chairs have encountered with past surveys, this year we have simplified the survey and will produce spreadsheets that chairs can turn over to their Institutional Research office to enter course enrollment numbers.

We cannot overemphasize the importance of full participation by those departments that are selected to receive the survey. This is an opportunity to take a snapshot of the state of undergraduate education in the mathematical sciences in departments of mathematics and statistics and in our two-year colleges. It identifies trends that can be helpful for chairs making the case for additional resources and issues that are ripe for further investigation.

The following are the people overseeing the construction and deployment of this survey. Feel free to contact any of them with questions:

• Ellen Kirkman <kirkman@wfu.edu>, Survey Director
• April Strom <april.strom@cgc.edu>, Director for the Two-Year Survey
• David Bressoud <bressoud@macalester.edu>, Principal Investigator for the NSF grant
• Charlie Steinhorn <steinhorn@vassar.edu>, Director, CBMS
• Chandra Lewis <clewis@rmcres.com>, Lead Researcher at RMC Research