Graduate Information
UB DRP Vision
As graduate students, you have already seen the power of mathematics to change people and society. Our vision for this program is to leverage your technical expertise and harness your potential for leadership. By mentoring a project, you will improve your instructional and research skills; you will improve your communication skills, teaching skills, and mathematical proficiency in your project area. Because of this, we encourage you to use the mentorship as an opportunity to learn material that is unrelated to your current research, thereby expanding your expertise. Of course, you may take the opportunity to improve your ability to explain and articulate material with which you are familiar. We want you to be better researchers and teachers than your competition in the job market.
What to Expect
Each mentor is assigned 1-4 undergraduate students to complete the reading project. You will be asked to meet 1 hour per week individually with each student to discuss their progress, and 1 hour per week with the group to help them collaborate and share ideas. These meetings will be primarily led by student questions, though it is your responsibility to assess whether the weekly goals (as indicated on the project syllabus) were met by each student. As such, you must be prepared to discuss the material being read, the exercises being completed, and be willing to assign students work to complete between meetings (hopefully a combination of problems and reading). Since we want our undergraduates to become better mathematicians as a result of this project, assign work that improves mathematical practices as well as traditional exercises. Mentors are required to take notes during the meeting to keep a record of what was discussed and to assess student performance. Ultimately, you will write an evaluation of each student's work and submits this to the project coordinator for revisions. Lastly, you are responsible for preparing students to present their work at the end of the project and submitting the written work to the project coordinator.
Fall 2021
Project suggestions for Fall 2021 are currently closed. If you wish to submit a project for the Spring 2022 semester, please submit your idea by December 31st.
Mentoring applications for Fall 2021 are currently closed. If you wish to mentor a project during the Spring 2022 semester, please complete an application by December 31st.
Spring 2021
Project suggestions for Spring 2021 are currently open. If you wish to submit a project for the Fall 2020 semester, please submit your idea by December 1st.
Mentoring applications for Spring 2021 are currently open. If you wish to mentor a project during the Spring 2021 semester, please complete an application by December 1st.
DRP Committee
The DRP Committee is ultimately responsible for the continuation of the program. Though each committee member is primarily tasked with one aspect of the program, each member is responsible for the work of the others, so that no single member does all of the work him or herself. The committee members, regardless of position, are all required to attend end-of-project presentations, and work to submit evaluations of student work.
Project Coordinator
The project coordinator is primarily tasked with establishing projects for the directed reading program. This involves creating projects, evaluating and revising submitted projects, and choosing projects and mentors for each term, as well as assigning students to project groups. Finally, the project coordinator is required to oversee the evaluation of student work, advising mentors on how to write an evaluation, reading and editing evaluations, and attending student presentations at the end of the project term.
Financial Coordinator
The financial coordinator is primarily tasked with funding the directed reading program. This involves searching for financial assistance from the mathematics department, college of arts and sciences, university at large, and external donors, writing or revising any required proposals for funding, as well as managing the financial resources of the program, including the spending of any funds granted to the program. This includes: advertising costs, supplies for a project group, and mentor and committee stipends.
Outreach Coordinator
The outreach coordinator is primarily tasked with advertising the directed reading program. This involves identifying potential participants, both students and mentors, as well as committee members, and making contact with said participants. Additionally, the outreach coordinator is required to disseminate information about the program to attract new participants. This includes: sending information about the program via email to departments, faculty, and students, creating and posting flyers or posters, holding informational meetings, and maintaining the program's website.