College reconsiders quantitative requirements

Stephen Cheng Staff Writer

Last week, the Committee on Curricular Policy (CCP) passed a proposal to re-evaluate the current standards of the Quantitative Analysis Requirement. As the requirement currently stands, courses in a variety of disciplines ranging from the natural sciences to economics count towards the single unit quantitative requirement that each student must complete by their third year.

Under the proposal, CCP would create a permanent Quantitative Analysis Steering Committee to establish requirements for what type of coursework the Quantitative Analysis requirement would encompass, as well as how courses fulfill the requirement’s goals based on the amount of substantial course material directly related to quantitative reasoning.

The Committee will also develop ideas for new courses, recruit faculty, and hold annual workshops for professors that teach quantitative courses to exchange ideas and methods, similar to those conducted for Freshman Writing Course faculty.

Associate Professor of Computer Science Thomas Ellman brought the revisions proposal before CCP.

“The faculty is presently considering some changes aimed at improving Vassar’s program in quantitative education,” said Ellman. “The changes under consideration would keep the single-course requirement that can be fulfilled in a variety of different disciplines. Our aim is to improve the way the requirement is administered so that it is most effective in ensuring that all Vassar students engage in serious study of quantitative reasoning.”
Associate Professor of Mathematics Benjamin Lotto does not sit on CCP but was involved with drafting the proposal. Lotto said in an e-mailed statement, “As someone who is very concerned with quantitative literacy...I’m very pleased that there is an attempt to strengthen the quantitative requirement.”

Beyond Vassar, the issue of mathematical illiteracy, or innumeracy within the American student population has been discussed. In an April 3, 2007 article appearing in Youngstown State University’s The Jambar, author Jenny Boyce cited a study from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy which indicated that over 50 percent of students at four-year institutions of higher learning are innumerate.

After CCP passed the proposal, it then went to the Faculty Policy and Conference Committee (FPCC), and will then be presented to the faculty to vote on its implementation.

Additional reporting by
Amanda Melillo, Editor in Chief