The mission of the Mathematics Department is to meet the mathematics needs of all Butte College students by offering quality mathematics instruction. Our department serves three primary groups of students: non-transfer, transfer, and STEM majors. Through our commitment to excellent teaching in a supportive environment, our students develop mathematical expertise, comprehension, and confidence. A corollary to our mission is to accelerate transfer-bound students through preparatory math classes, enabling them to earn a passing grade in a transfer-level math class as quickly as possible.
The mathematics department offers a comprehensive two-year program leading to an Associate of Science Degree in Mathematics. The AS-T degree in Mathematics is designed for students who will transfer to a four-year institution to pursue a degree in mathematics. The program allows the students to transfer with all of their freshman and sophomore requirements completed. The mathematics department also offers courses designed as general education for other majors (complete list available) and preparatory classes for those who want these classes.
Mathematics Instructor (3)
As a result of these three hires, we were able to avoid cancelling approximately 20 sections of math for the 2018-2019 academic year. We also now have full-time representation at the Glenn Center. In addition, these instructors are participating in the crucial work the department is doing to respond to the demands of AB 705.
Four hundred eight-four TI-84 graphing calculators for use in Math 18 classes.
These calculators have been provided to twenty students in each Math 18 section to use for the entire semester. This represents half of the funding that was requested for these calculators. The original intent was to provide a calculator to all Math 18 students to use during the semester free of charge. We hope to continue to relieve the financial burden placed on our students by the SLO requiring the demonstration of the ability to use technology to carry out statistical analyses. It has been challenging to determine which twenty students in each class will benefit from the use of a free calculator. We hope to reach a point where we have enough calculators for all students so that we don't have to make that decision in the future.
Our goals are to increase students' understanding of math, increase the success rates of students in all of our classes, and provide the opportunity for students to complete their math requirements as quickly as possible without sacrificing their depth of understanding. We attempt to meet these goals by providing support for our students outside the classroom, offering accelerated and online options for Math 108 and Math 18, as well as maximizing the use of our facilities and personnel. We will also be complying with the spirit of AB 705 by providing the majority of transfer-bound students direct access to transfer-level math classes.
Strategy 1 - Transfer Acceleration
Mark Mavis piloted our first accelerated classes in fall 2012. Students enrolled in Math 124 and Math 18 back-to back in the same semester, earning a total of eight units and completing one developmental as well as one transfer-level math class. Over the years we have added multiple sections of this model and have seen success rates at or above our traditional model where each class is taken in a separate semester. Moving forward we will replace the Math 124 component with Math 118 (4-units), a class specifically designed to prepare students for success in Math 18. In addition, Math 18 has will become a 4-unit class. This combination will still provide students the opportunity to complete one competency-level math class and one transfer-level math class in a single semester. This option will best serve those students who feel the need for some preparation before enrolling directly into a transfer-level math class. It will especially benefit our re-entry students and those who have completed two years or less of high school math.
Because the success rate for this model is at or above the success rate for these classes taught in the traditional model, we will continue to offer several sections per semester. Students in these classes have a higher retention rate than the traditional model and are often able to transfer a semester sooner than they would without this offering.
Strategy 2 - Online Courses
Starting fall 2016, we began offering Math 108, Math 124, and Math 18 online. Currently we are only able to offer Math 108 and Math 18, as the instructor who developed Math 124 no longer teaches at Butte College. With the implementation of AB 705 and the decreased demand for below-transfer math classes, it is unlikely that anyone will develop a replacement in the near future.
Some students find it impossible to come to class due to health, family obligations, and distance from campus. Although the success rate for this type of math class is much lower than a face-to-face class, online classes meet the needs of a small group of dedicated students.
Strategy 3 - Supporting Students
The math department will need to offer more support than ever to students in our classes, especially Math 11 and 18 due to the implementation of AB 705. The majority of this support will be outside regular classroom time in the form of Supplemental Instruction and tutors (CAS and EOPS). We have increased the number of units in Math 18 from 3 to 4 starting fall 2019 as one way of responding to this bill and may need to make additional curriculum changes in the coming years. Our drop-in Math Lab in TE 122 will likely see increased use and we may want to reconfigure the room to facilitate more group interaction. In addition, a dedicated space for Math 18 tutors and SI sessions would be welcome.
When students have more support their likelihood of success will increase.
The Math Department would like access to two additional smart classrooms with a capaicty of 35 students each and whiteboard space equivalent to TE 128. This will enable us to use TE 116 and TE 118 as dedicated rooms for Supplemental Instruction, instead of classrooms. These two rooms only have a capacity of 32, not our ped-cap of 35.
Our budget is the only source of guaranteed revenue for the math department. We frequently benefit from funding through various grants, but this is generally temporary, dedicated, or one-time funding.
| Original Priority | Program, Unit, Area | Resource Type | Account Number | Object Code | One Time Augment | Ongoing Augment |
| Description | Supporting Rationale | Potential Alternative Funding Sources | Prioritization Criteria | |||
| 1 | Mathematics | Personnel | 11.000.615.1.170100 | 52468 | $0.00 | $16,340.00 |
| Student assistant money for Computer Lab monitors/tutors. | Students are necessary to monitor and tutor math students in the Computer Lab. The amount requested reflects 40 student-hours per week, 16.5 weeks per semester, and $12.00 per hour, as well as $500 for necessary training. |
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| 2 | Mathematics | Personnel | $0.00 | $34,200.00 | ||
| Student Graders for full time faculty | Students need to receive feedback on their homework on a daily basis in order to succeed. The use of student graders makes this feedback possible, and gives graders, many of whom plan to become teachers, a chance to earn valuable experience. The cost is based on 19 full time instructors using a grader for 5 hours per week, 15 weeks per semester at $12.00 per hour. In the past we were able to offer each instructor 10 hours each week, so this reflects a decrease in grader use, partly due to some instructors choosing to assign online homework which is automatically graded, providing some of the necessary feedback to students, although this feedback is not as thorough as our student graders provide. This will help us support an increase in our course offerings consistent with a college-wide goal of a 10% increase in FTES. |
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| 3 | Mathematics | Personnel | 11.000.615.1.170100 | 51391 | $0.00 | $25,500.00 |
| Associate Faculty Office Hours | Students do not have equal access to their instructors when their instructors are Associate Faculty unless those faculty choose to donate their time. The ongoing cost was calculated by using $25 per hour, 2 hours per week, 17 weeks per semester for 15 instructors. |
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| 4 | Mathematics | Personnel | $0.00 | $16,200.00 | ||
| Student Graders for associate faculty | Students need to receive feedback on their homework on a daily basis in order to succeed. This should not be less frequent just because a student has an associate faculty member as their instructor. The use of student graders makes this feedback possible, and gives graders, many of whom plan to become teachers, a chance to earn valuable experience. The cost is based on 15 associate faculty using a grader for 3 hours per week, 15 weeks per semester at $12.00 per hour. |
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| 5 | Mathematics | Personnel | $0.00 | $18,360.00 | ||
| Student office assistants | The department office serves multiple departments and in order for our Administrative Assistant to be able to do her work, we need students in the office to answer phones and greet students seeking help. This will help us support an increase in our course offerings consistent with a college-wide goal of a 10% increase in FTES. The cost reflects 45 hours per week, 17 weeks per semester and $12.00 per hour. This cost should be shared among the departments served by the office in TE 132. |
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| 6 | Mathematics | Equipment | $116,179.00 | $0.00 | ||
| 840 graphing calculators and cases for thirty-five classes (Math 18) | Students in Math 18 are required to have a TI-83 or TI-84 graphing calculator. Unlike students in STEM majors who purchase these calculators and use them in up to 6 classes, these students often need them for only one class. We have an increasing number of students who cannot afford the $120 cost for these calculators, and will be at a disadvantage in the class. This disproportionately effects students on the Dashboard. The cost reflects increasing our current stock of 560 calculators to 1400 so that we have 35 class sets of 40 calculators ($100800), along with 35 cases ($7525) to transport them safely to class and store them when not in use. (Plus tax of $7853.56) These calculators will allow us to loan a calculator for the semester to every student in Math 18. This will truly make these classes free for students whose instructors choose to use free textbooks and will greatly decrease the cost of the class for all others. |
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