College of Science

Our program maintains small class sizes (36 students or less) in all of our courses so that we can offer you unique opportunities for active learning, course-based research experiences, and personal connection between students and faculty.  Our pedagogical practices center on the student and focus on allowing the student to engage with the content rather than just listen to a lecture.

The professors did their best to ensure everyone could explore different career paths, from pure math to education. By my third year, I had developed a connection with most of the professors that would be nearly impossible in larger departments. In addition, the department's small size gave me more opportunities to work directly with professors in mathematical research and gave direct engagement that helped affirm my love of math.

~ Mathematics Major ‘22, now attending a PhD program

The courses helped set a solid foundation in my statistical and mathematical skills enabling me to participate in research. In fact, to this day I refer to my [class] notes. A highlight of the program was the relationships between students and professors Moreover, I sensed and witnessed how the faculty wanted every individual to succeed.

~ Mathematics Major with Statistics Minor `21, now attending a PhD program

Our instructors are dedicated to the success of our students, both inside the classroom and outside the classroom. Our faculty care for each student as individuals and are here to support you in your goals. Here are a few of the honors and innovative practices our faculty have received:

• Professor Ali Lynch was recently honored by the Mathematical Association of America, the premier professional organization for mathematics educators in higher education, for her dedication to teaching with the Henry L. Alder Award.
• Professors Ali Lynch, Lipika Deka, and Jeff Wand have a grant from the California Learning Lab to adapt new strategies for grading to aid the growth and success of students in Precalculus and Calculus.
• Professor Steven Kim won the 2023 CSUMB Outstanding Research and Creative Activity (ORCA) Faculty Award in part due to his mentorship of undergraduate researchers, which includes 14 publications co-authored with 22 undergraduates. Professor Kim also oversaw a special Research Experience for Undergraduates in the summer of 2023 funded by the Mathematical Association of America. 
• Professor Alana Unfried was invited to give the 2021 United States Conference on Teaching Statistics Keynote Address on Expanding Opportunities for Underprepared Statistics Students. She is also the lead investigator on the MASDER Project which is building instruments to assess student and instructor attitudes towards statistics and data science.
• Professor Judith Canner won the CSU Wang Family Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award in 2021 and the Faculty Innovation and Leadership Award in 2018, for her exceptional leadership in building the statistics program and redesigning the general education mathematics and statistics courses to support student success.

Each program in mathematics and statistics has a special service learning course. For future mathematics teachers, you get to serve your local community classrooms while gaining teaching experience and completing requirements for admission into a future credential program. For students interested in statistics or industrial mathematics, you work as consultants for local non-profit organizations helping them wrangle their data, apply for grants, and make decisions. 

I really feel like before the [service learning] course I was ignorant about the importance of my talents and how large of an effect it has on people in our everyday lives…. I [became] more informed and aware of all the ways math has affected me and society... it makes me want to be involved wherever it is possible for me to contribute to the greater good of society. 

~ Mathematics Major, Statistics Concentration `18 

Service Learning really tests our skills in real life and that is something most schools do not offer. I know more than I thought I did. 

~ Mathematics Major `19

Our faculty regularly work with students on research projects - often providing paid mentored research experiences through our own grants or through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC) at CSUMB. Students also engage in research in their courses so that every students has the opportunity to experience what it is like to conduct research in mathematics and statistics.  We want to support you as you explore your interests and maybe even publish your research, like many of our other students, in academic journals. Here are two examples of published student research (student names bolded):

• Kim, S.; Rickard, C.; Hernandez-Vazquez, J.; Fernandez, D. (2022) Early Night Fog Prediction Using Liquid Water Content Measurement in the Monterey Bay Area. Atmosphere, 13, 1332. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13081332
• Lynch, A. G., & Pugh, R. (2018). Early Undergraduates’ Emerging Conceptions of Proof and Conviction. Proceedings of the Twenty-first Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. pp. 917-923. San Diego, CA.

I got to write a program in Shiny R, which is a version of the ‘R’ programming language that can run on the Web. I also got to write a part for an article in a scientific journal to explain how to run this app. Finally, I gained an appreciation for the peer review process that occurs when attempting to publish an article in a scientific journal. 

~ Statistics Major `22

The program brought me confidence in my academic abilities. Furthermore, the curriculum at CSUMB embedded research and computer programming. Both of which are extremely applicable to academic and industry careers. There were multiple research opportunities outside of the curriculum through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center and the Mathematics and Statistics Department, which I took advantage of.   

~ Mathematics Major, Statistics Minor `21

Our students regularly go on to complete credential programs and now serve as teachers in schools across California. Our special Subject Matter Preparation concentration includes the best courses to prepare you to become a math teacher while also providing you with classroom experience through service learning. Or, if you want to consider other career options, our major proseminar course allows you to explore possible careers in mathematics and statistics and make a plan for success for your chosen career path. When you are a senior, you can take our elective course designed to support you as you prepare your applications for credential programs, Master’s program, or PhD programs as well as fellowship programs. Our close connections to other CSU programs as well as UC programs will help you seamlessly transition to graduate programs and credential programs all over the state.

For those who are considering a teaching concentration, I highly encourage it. I was skeptical as well, I wasn't really sure how it would benefit me at first, but I gained a lot of valuable resources and information by going through the pathway. The connections I made through the teaching concentration pathway are incredibly valuable and I am so glad that I was able to have that common ground to make them in the first place. Overall, everyone in the math department is fantastic, and I am so glad that I chose to get my degree here because I truly feel that my success was made possible through their above and beyond effort. 

~ Mathematics, Subject Matter Preparation Concentration, '23

The school offers many resources to students, including a free tutoring center and study halls, and professors frequently inform students of opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities related to their area of interest. The math and stat department also offers a colloquium each month in which a guest speaker talks about their work in a math/stat related field. Additionally, there is a one unit course offered which is designed to assist students in applying to postgraduate programs (either teaching credential or graduate school). This was tremendously helpful for me as it provided me with a clear checklist of tasks to complete and a timeline in which to do so. 

~ Mathematics Major, '23

Both of our programs, Mathematics and Statistics, have transfer students in mind. The Mathematics degree program builds upon the Associates Degree for Transfer (AD-T/AS-T) for Mathematics so that you can complete your degree in 4 semesters. 

Even though there is not Associates Degree for Transfer model for Statistics, the Statistics degree program also builds on the AD-T for Mathematics, though there is no need for Ordinary Differential Equations. Students who transfer with the required General Education, Calculus Sequence, Linear Algebra, and Discrete Math or Programming can easily finish their Statistics degree in 4 semesters.

For local students, we are also developing agreements with Hartnell College, Monterey Peninsula College, and Cabrillo College for structured 2+2 Programs that make for seamless transfer between their programs and ours for a 4 year total to graduation.

You can see hour 2-year Pathways for Transfer Students on our Advising Webpage

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics strives to provide an affordable education for all of our students. Most of our textbooks are open-source and FREE to you! All of our faculty are dedicated to adopting low or no cost course materials to minimize your financial burden. We also use open-source software for our modeling and statistics courses so that you can easily complete your work using your own computer and not in a computer lab. The department also supports a number of paid student positions. You could work as an instructional student assistant in a classroom, supporting the professor and completing small grading tasks. Or you could become a tutor for our weekly study halls and work in our free tutoring center on campus. 

There are also many scholarships to support your education. For example, we offer a new scholarship to provide Pell-eligible students up to $10,000 for two years plus a potential third year for graduate school at one of our alliance partner institutions if you major or minor in Statistics or Data Science. If you are interested in teaching, we have two programs to support future teachers including the Math and Science Teacher Initiative (MSTI) Scholarship, which offers between $500-$5000 per year depending on your level of involvement in the program, and the Noyce Rise Ready program which offers students $12,000 for their senior year and $13,500 for credential year (with a commitment to teach in a high need district for four years).  Learn more about our Scholarships and Giving.

I am a first generation, low income college student and have felt like the department creates a supportive environment for all types of students. I am motivated by my peers and professors to work hard and achieve my dreams. 

~ Mathematics Major, Current

In my first year, Dr. Hongde Hu helped connect another peer and me with the Bruce W. Woolpert Scholarship. As I am about to embark on a journey toward a Ph.D. in Statistics I am immensely grateful for my time at CSUMB.  

~Statistics Major, `22

Want to hear more from our alumni? Check out our Alumni Stories on YouTube.