The Department of Mathematics offers three majors:
The Mathematics major has been designed to accommodate a wide variety of career options and to encourage students to pursue a second area of interest by means of a double major, a double minor, or a combination of concentrations. A major in Mathematics coupled with a strong minor in accounting, biology, business, chemistry, computer science, economics, physics, psychology, or sociology uniquely fits one for a number of career choices as well as for graduate school. A Mathematics major takes 45 semester hours of mathematics along with CPSC 1710-1720. There are 26 hours of electives in this program.
The Mathematics Education degree fulfills all the requirements for a state teaching certificate in addition to providing a strong background in mathematics. Students who choose this major are well-prepared either to enter the teaching field immediately upon graduation or to go to graduate school. The Mathematics Education major takes 28 semester hours of mathematics and 26 semester hours of education along with CPSC 1710-1720.
The Statistics degree is offered in cooperation with the Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans (L.S.U.M.C.). The Statistics program offers Xavier students the opportunity to obtain both a B.S. degree from Xavier in Statistics and an M.S. degree in biostatistics from L.S.U.M.C. in five years. This program contains 24 semester hours of mathematics and 33 semester hours of statistics. Fifteen (15) of these 33 hours in statistics are taken at L.S.U.M.C. and are credited toward both the B.S. degree in statistics at Xavier and the M.S. degree from L.S.U.M.C. (See the policies for this program below.)
In addition to satisfying the goals of the core curriculum, all three of these programs are designed to
- provide the student with knowledge of his or her field;
- increase the student's ability to think, speak, read, and write critically and effectively; and,
- increase the student's ability to approach problems and questions in a rational manner.
During the senior year, the student in each major must pass a written comprehensive examination. For the Mathematics and Mathematics Education major, the examination covers mathematics courses required in the programs; for the Statistics major, the examination covers mathematics and statistics courses required by the program and taken on Xavier's campus. An exemption is made for Mathematics Education majors who pass the NTE Mathematics Specialty Test in the fall semester of their senior year.
No mathematics or statistics course for which a student has received a grade of less than "C" will be counted toward the major requirements. Furthermore, all students in these programs are required to attend all departmental meetings.
Minor in Mathematics -- The minor in mathematics consists of eighteen (18) semester hours of mathematics of which at least 8 must be at the 2000-level or above. The calculus sequence (MATH 1070-2070-2080) is strongly recommended as part of the minor program. Students planning to minor in mathematics should be advised by the mathematics chairperson or a faculty member whom the chair designates as well as by their primary academic advisor.
Policies for the Joint XU/LSUMC Statistics Program -- The following policies apply to the statistics major:
- Xavier students having at least a 3.0 GPA in mathematics and statistics
courses listed in the first three years of the program and having an overall GPA of
at least 2.5 are eligible, upon approval of the L.S.U.M.C. Department of Biometry
and Genetics, for admission at L.S.U.M.C. to those courses listed in the fourth
year of the program.
- During the fourth year of the program, students will register at both
L.S.U.M.C. and Xavier. In addition to their Xavier courses,
- in the fall semester, students will register at Xavier for 9 semester
hours of courses to be taken at L.S.U.M.C. and
- in the spring semester, students will register at Xavier for 6 semester
hours of courses to be taken at L.S.U.M.C. These students will be
considered full-time students at Xavier and pay full Xavier tuition.
At L.S.U.M.C., the students will be considered special students
and pay no additional tuition. (L.S.U.M.C will bill Xavier directly for
the L.S.U.M.C. courses in which the students are enrolled.)
- To graduate from Xavier at the end of the fourth year
of this program with a B.S. in Statistics, students must:
- maintain at least a "C" grade in each of the courses
taken at L.S.U.M.C.;
- pass a comprehensive examination covering
mathematics and statistics courses taken at Xavier; and,
- satisfy all other Xavier University general
degree requirements.
- Admission as a regular graduate student at L.S.U.M.C.
in the fifth year of this program is contingent upon approval of the Department
of Biometry and Genetics at L.S.U.M.C.
- To graduate from L.S.U.M.C. with an M.S. degree from the
Department of Biometry and Genetics, students must:
- maintain at least a "B" average at L.S.U.M.C.;
- make an acceptable score on the Graduate Record
Examination which must be taken prior to the fifth year of the program; and,
- satisfy all other regular requirements of the
L.S.U.M.C. School of Graduate Studies and the Department of Biometry and Genetics
