The mission of the Department of Mathematics is the creation, discovery, and dissemination of mathematics on a broad front.
To accomplish this mission we must be involved in many activities including mathematical research, teaching a complete spectrum of mathematics courses, and performing service for the state, the nation, and our colleagues in the mathematics profession.
Teaching
We must be effective advocates for quality instruction by mathematically qualified people. Teaching for this department involves diverse activities with diverse clientele. To meet its teaching mission the Department is committed to the following:
- Offering a broad program in pure and applied mathematics for undergraduate majors that provides a rigorous and comprehensive foundation for a wide variety of professions.
- Directing a graduate program for master’s and doctoral students that provides students with a deep, broad knowledge of mathematics sufficient to prepare them for leading roles as educators, researchers, or industrial mathematicians at the state, national, and international levels.
- Providing mathematical instruction to meet the needs of students in other programs on campus.
Research
The Mathematics Department is dedicated to the worldwide effort to expand the corpus of mathematical knowledge by research in the core areas represented in the department and applications to a variety of physical, ecological, educational/instructional, and industrial problems. To further mathematical research the Department is committed to the following:
- Recruiting faculty with well-defined research programs who demonstrate either a promise or a record of quality results.
- Providing the faculty with the time, freedom, resources, and support staff needed to do research.
- Sponsoring meetings, conferences, and workshops in mathematics designed to facilitate the cross-fertilization of ideas.
- Encouraging mathematicians from around the world to visit the University of Tennessee to interact with our faculty and students.
Service
As the Mathematics Department at the flagship campus, we are in a unique position to exercise leadership in the education of students throughout the state of Tennessee and to act as a resource for students and teachers in the schools, community colleges, and other four year institutions as well as for government and industry. To serve the public the Department is committed to the following:
- Providing leaders in mathematical education, especially at the post-secondary level.
- Providing educational leadership for elementary and secondary education in the state of Tennessee through seminars, workshops, networking, and upholding the highest standards.
The Mathematics Department should act as a source of mathematical perspective for the University of Tennessee on all curriculum and research issues. To serve the university the Department is committed to the following:
- Furnishing faculty for membership on the various College and University committees.
- Promoting the position of Mathematics in the curriculum, reasonable teaching evaluation procedures, and research.
As a collection of researchers and scholars, we must make our voice heard on all educational and research issues that are discussed in the various national mathematical organizations and facilitate the health and vigor of the discipline. To serve the profession the Department is committed to the following:
- Encouraging faculty to act as editors and referees for national and international mathematics journals and as reviewers of journal articles and books in mathematics.
- Encouraging faculty to serve on committees and as officers of the national mathematics organizations.
- Participating on as broad a front and in as vigorous a way as is possible in the national debates on curriculum reform and research issues.
- Promoting the uses of mathematics and encourage interested students, especially women, minorities, and disabled persons, to pursue careers in mathematics.