PRESERVE MATHEMATICS GRADUATE PROGRAMS 

AT WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY 

OPEN LETTERS AND PRESS RELEASE 

OUR RESPONSE TO THE OUTCOME OF THE MATH GRAD PROGRAMS APPEAL

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 15, 2023

Academic Community Unites to Defend Mathematical Research and Graduate Programs at West Virginia University

Morgantown, WV: On August 11, 2023, the Office of the Provost at West Virginia University (WVU) issued a preliminary recommendation to discontinue our graduate MS and PhD programs in Mathematics. The recommendation also includes reducing the number of faculty across the entire School of Mathematical and Data Sciences to 30 from our current number of approximately 50 faculty members and increasing the teaching load of research faculty to three courses per semester. 

The recommendations are part of the WVU Academic Transformation initiative, the university's response to declining enrollment and financial deficits. In July 2023, a selection of 128 academic programs were placed under formal review. While the exact methodology for this selection was not made public, the Provost's Office cited a number of metrics based on enrollment and faculty numbers, some of which, in the case of Mathematics, we find questionable and misguided. The self-study report that we were asked to produce in response includes a sober evaluation of our weaknesses, but also presents data revealing a well-established, functional and financially responsible academic unit, with significant contributions to the university's academic mission. This study is publicly available and linked at the end of this letter.

Following the self-review process, the Provost's recommendation includes the discontinuation of a quarter of the programs reviewed, and extensive cuts in faculty across the university. The School of Mathematical and Data Sciences is one of three academic units in the whole university whose graduate programs are to be eliminated completely. The other two are the department of World Languages and the department of Management, both recommended for discontinuation of all programs.

The administration's plan to cut our graduate program and essentially eliminate mathematical research at WVU finds us in disbelief. The School of Mathematical and Data Sciences at WVU, home to the only doctoral Mathematics program in the state, is not unlike other mid-size departments of mathematics at flagship state universities. We generate substantial revenue for the university and despite the troubled times we have built substantial reserves within the School. Our graduate program is on par with other WVU STEM graduate programs in national rankings, and with our Big 12 peers in metrics used by administrators to assess the health of a program, like student-faculty ratios and number of degrees awarded. Dedicated faculty have worked diligently to recruit and educate mathematically talented students from our state, thus fulfilling WVU’s land grant mission. Furthermore, our programs are a major source of teachers for the state's K-12 system and a pool of quantitative talent for businesses throughout West Virginia. 

Our contributions extend beyond the confines of our university. Our dedication has played a significant role in maintaining WVU's prestigious R1 (Very High Research Activity) status and has significantly contributed to the university's PhD production. Over the past five years, our graduate program has contributed an impressive 10% of all STEM PhDs awarded by West Virginia University. This accomplishment is further highlighted by the prudent management of costs.

The proposed cuts, if implemented, will have an immediate and profound impact on the lives of at least 45 graduate students, at least 20 experienced educators and / or practicing mathematicians, and long-lasting damaging effects to the university and to the state. The measure is likely to produce an exodus of talented faculty, with dire consequences on the attractiveness of our undergraduate program and the quality of mathematical instruction at WVU in general. 

Eliminating our PhD and MS programs would, to the best of our knowledge, make West Virginia one of only two states without a doctoral degree in Mathematics and would make WVU the only R1 research university without a graduate program in a mathematical science (Mathematics, Statistics or Data Science), the other being a medical campus. 

History provides a poignant parallel. The University of Rochester's plan to cut its graduate program and half of its faculty in 1995 was met with consternation and protest in the mathematical and scientific community. Numerous academics stood in support of strong math graduate programs in universities that aim to accelerate research in any STEM field. They voiced their concerns about the plan's impact on mathematical instruction and viewed it as a dangerous model for institutions to follow in the name of cost-cutting. There are stark similarities between the current state of affairs at WVU and the 1995 events at Rochester. 

We ask for your support in our defense of mathematical research and education in West Virginia and elsewhere. This proposal by the Provost’s office is not final, but may well come to pass without considerable public pressure. Please visit https://sites.google.com/view/wvusmdsreview for detailed information and data from the self-study report, letters of support, contact and other info. There is also a petition available at https://chng.it/SVvQBwqDMz . We kindly request your signature and encourage you to share the petition within your networks, amplifying our collective voice. 

A group of concerned faculty members

wvusmds@gmail.com

For further reference: academic transformation page; formal review notification, Provost’s data file, preliminary recommendation notification, 

You can access the PDF version of this press release for download by clicking here.