Math Department Statement on Scholarship
1. What forms of scholarship define the work of those in your department at their best?
The most pertinent activities include: traditional publication, articles-textbooks; presentation of papers at national/regional meetings; student-faculty collaborative research; new subject matter course development; journal refereeing; book reviewing; presentation of a campus wide lecture; consulting; and seminar presentation. Attending workshops/conferences and doing further coursework (perhaps during a sabbatical) is the type of professional activity that is often needed to develop a new field of inquiry to produce the above-mentioned forms of scholarship.
2. What forms of peer review--including those beyond the Luther campus--are appropriate for that work?
There is traditional editor peer review for publication and abstract review for presentations at a conference sponsored by a national professional organization. There is indirect peer review for activities such as a campus wide lecture, or a presentation at a local conference. Also on a departmental level there is colleague review for such things as new textbook development and seminar presentations.
3. How can you encourage and enable your colleagues to see that such work bears fruit in their teaching?
Any time someone does creative activity there is indirect benefit in ones teaching such as enthusiasm for the discipline, or awareness of providing a creative environment. We don’t want mathematics at Luther to be stagnant. We need to provide an environment that encourages openness to new ideas and communication among colleagues. Ongoing scholarly activity can suggest new directions for our curriculum as well as innovative ways of approaching current content.
4. What depth and range of achievement in scholarship at the third year, tenure review, and application for promotion for full professor should distinguish the work of Luther faculty?
Each member should have an identifiable plan and pattern of professional development that is expected to include genuine creative activity that is presented before the greater mathematical community. This should be meshed with the primary expectation of excellence in teaching and involvement with undergraduates. Typically by third year review time a member of the math department will have followed the doctoral work with publications or presentations that continue the work of the thesis. That member should be determining the probable direction of further research activity. By tenure time it is expected that fruits of that direction of inquiry should be in evidence, for instance, presentations at regional conferences, presentations by student collaborators, or writing articles for professional journals. By promotion to full professor it is expected that the member will have demonstrated excellence before the greater mathematical community, for instance, publication of a book, articles in peer-reviewed journals or presentations at conferences sponsored by national professional organizations. The expectation is for an overall pattern of scholarship with various possible forms, not just attaining isolated benchmarks.
5. What distinctive forms of scholarship can thrive at a liberal arts college of the church?
The church's mission of service provides a natural driving force. This service can be to our students, the local community, or the greater mathematics community. At a liberal arts college, ideally scholarship will lead to faculty-student collaboration, or more effective, innovative pedagogy. Mathematics has been called "queen of the sciences" by Gauss and "handmaiden of the sciences" by E.T. Bell. Our discipline is by nature both autonomous and service-oriented. We teach courses that are cross-listed with computer science, management, and psychology, and recent faculty-student collaborations have been interdisciplinary investigations. Mathematical scholarship is often interdisciplinary in nature and we will continue to value such opportunities.