BOSTON – Northwestern State University Professor of Mathematics Dr. Judith Covington recently attended the Modernizing Undergraduate Math Summit convened by Transforming Post-Secondary Education in Mathematics (TPSE Math) at Harvard University. The summit brought together approximately 60 leaders from across the mathematical and statistical sciences, higher education, industry, philanthropic organizations and partner disciplines to address the urgent need to modernize undergraduate mathematics education.
Over three days, summit participants discussed why change is urgent, identified where strong work already exists and shared insights on what it will take to move from isolated innovation to coordinated action across the field. Sessions included lightning talks on existing reform efforts, panels on AI implications and workforce needs, working groups on foundational principles, discussions of model project areas and a communication session focused on how this work can be amplified through departments, mathematical and statistical sciences organizations, partner disciplines, funders and institutional networks.
“It was energizing to be in a room full of people thinking seriously about how undergraduate math can become more relevant, welcoming and connected to the world students are entering,” said Covington, the Ted and Aleane Adair Endowed Professor of Mathematics at NSU. “I like that as participants we examined the math courses of not only Math and STEM majors, but also considered what math courses were best suited for non-STEM majors. I am excited to see this work move from shared agreement to coordinated action.”
A central theme of the summit was that the field is not starting from scratch. Strong ideas, courses, programs, reports and networks already exist, but too often they stay isolated or difficult for others to find, adapt and scale. The next phase of work is to codify shared principles, organize concrete examples, expand these efforts, build field awareness and support and build the communication and implementation infrastructure needed for broader adoption.
Following the summit, TPSE Math will synthesize summit materials, participant comments, project notes, interviews and follow-up commitments into a set of post-summit outputs. Planned next steps include drafting a white paper that captures the principles requiring the community’s attention, priority project areas and implementation opportunities; highlighting examples, case studies and evidence; following up with participants who volunteered to support writing, review, outreach, webinars, articles, conference sessions, project development and dissemination and creating communications materials that partners and participants can use to share the work more broadly.