Warhawk Weekly 4-22: Math initiative; Faculty tenure, promotions
AUM’s new co-requisite math initiative boosts student success
Off the court former AUM basketball player Brandon Howard faced his toughest challenge — earning an undergraduate degree in psychology. Despite years of hard work and persistence, one final hurdle stood between him and graduation, an introductory statistics course. To master it, he would rely on the same resilience that fueled his athletic career, and his life motto to “always finish what you start.”
In Fall 2024, Howard passed the AUM statistics course in one semester, earning a “high B” thanks to a new co-requisite math program at AUM.
“I was really just at the phase of the game where I wanted to make sure the things that I’m doing are the things I preach to my two sons, which is to always finish what you start,” Howard said. “My goal is to be a good role model to them.”
AUM’s new co-requisite math program is leveling the playing field for students struggling to master college-level math courses. The innovative course model allows students to enroll in a credit-bearing gateway math course while simultaneously receiving targeted, just-in-time support through a co-requisite math class, either online or in person.
In the first year of AUM’s program, 279 students were enrolled, with 71 percent of those students successfully passing the credit-bearing gateway math course on their first try. Of those, 85 percent passed earning a grade of C or better, a sharp improvement from the university’s previous model.
“The goal of this new math program is to improve student success in college math by eliminating the traditional remediation model,” said College of Sciences Dean Douglas Leaman, who developed the program. “Instead of requiring students to take one or more stand-alone remedial math courses before college-level courses, this new approach lets them tackle both simultaneously with far better results.”
Honoring AUM’s newly-tenured, promoted faculty
Last week, AUM’s Office of the Provost hosted a reception to honor faculty members who have recently earned promotion or tenure. The university’s most recent honorees include:
- Heather Adams, promoted to Senior Lecturer
Mosisa Aga, promoted to Professor- Paul Arrington, promoted to Senior Lecturer
- Tracey Bark, promoted to Associate Professor with tenure
- Jeffrey Bohler, promoted to Professor with tenure
- Dorcia Bolton, promoted to Associate Professor with tenure
- Gabriel Costa, promoted to Professor
- Shannon Howard, promoted to Professor
- Katherine Irwin, promoted to Senior Lecturer
- Jongheon Kim, promoted to Professor
- Kimberly Pyszka, promoted to Professor
- Quintavius Rover, promoted to Senior Lecturer
- Heather Witcher, promoted to Associate Professor with tenure
Enjoy tunes from Broadway and Hollywood
Join the Department of Fine Arts for “Stage and Screen,” a concert featuring the AUM Chorus and AUMcappella, on Thursday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m. in Goodwyn Hall 109.
The performances will showcase memorable music from film and Broadway.
Refreshments will be offered after the program.
STEAM Camp offers hands-on learning opportunities
Students from select Montgomery middle and high schools will have the opportunity to dive into hands-on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) activities this summer during a free summer camp hosted by Auburn University at Montgomery.
The camp, which is open to rising students in grades 7th through 12th, will be held weekdays from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., July 7-25, at AUM’s new Science & Technology Complex.
While the camp is free to attend, a $20 space registration fee will be charged if a student registers but fails to attend without providing at least five business days’ notice. Lunch will be provided daily at no cost to participants.
The camp is open to students enrolled at the following schools: Bellingrath, Brewbaker, Carr, Capitol Heights, Dunbar-Ramer, Goodwyn, McKee, and Southlawn middle schools, as well as Carver, Johnson Abernathy Graetz, and Percy Julian high schools.
Space is limited to just over 70 students, and slots are expected to fill quickly. The program is made possible through a grant from the Alabama State Department of Education.
Seeing the big picture through Big Data
Make sense of the story Big Data is telling you by enrolling in our Data Analytics & Statistical Modeling certification program. It’s perfect for professionals and students who are interested in building expertise in data visualization, decision science and statistical analysis and modeling.
Space is limited for this 8-week program offered by AUM Continuing Education. Early bird registration is open until May 2.
Cheer on the Warhawks at home
Get ready for a big week for AUM Athletics with six home events on the schedule — and we need you in the stands to bring the energy. Warhawk women’s and men’s tennis opens with postseason play on Thursday and softball and baseball will both host Montevallo to close out their regular seasons starting on Friday.
Both the Warhawk women’s and men’s tennis teams are set to compete in the Gulf South Conference Championship quarterfinals on Thursday, April 24, at the O’Connor Tennis Center. Women’s tennis takes on West Florida at 10 a.m. and men’s tennis, the No. 5 seed, faces off against No. 4 Mississippi College at 2:30 p.m.
Don’t miss your chance to cheer on Warhawk softball and baseball as they close out the regular season with a weekend series against Montevallo at QV Lowe Field. This Friday, softball is set to play at 3 p.m. and baseball at 5 p.m. On Saturday, April 26, help us celebrate our seniors and support Warhawk softball and baseball with Senior Day doubleheaders. Softball will play at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. with baseball set to play at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Bring your Warhawk spirit and help us finish the season strong — Go Warhawks!
Don’t miss out on campus events
There’s an easy way to keep up with all of the fun events offered on our campus. Enroll in AUM365 and get the 4-1-1 from Curtiss The Warhawk himself. Text curti$$ to 334-398-6025 to receive reminders about upcoming happening.
