Message from the Chair
Hello again. Between the budget crisis and uncertainty of the reaction of the CSU to the crisis, this has been an interesting year. But the most important achievement was the graduation of 18 Statistics majors in June, 2010, another three students in December, followed by a cadre of 14 graduates in June, 2011. Many of you probably remember “back in the days” when the number of graduates would be a single-digit number, and often a small, single-digit number. So the number of students we are now graduating speaks well about the health of the profession of statistics in general and of the department in particular. Additionally, it appears that we will have 18 freshmen and three transfer new majors in fall, 2011, so the major remains healthy and well.
Speaking of graduates, one of our majors, Tiffany Russell (actually a double major in Statistics and Business), was recently honored for having the highest GPA among all the College of Science and Math graduating seniors of the 2010-2011 academic year. With her GPA being 4.0, it would be hard for someone to have a higher GPA. All of us who have had Tiffany in class could easily recognize her talents and the efforts she put into her studies; she is one of the students who helps makes it all worthwhile. Next fall, Tiffany will enter the graduate program at Stanford.
There was a transition in the department office. Carol Morris, who was hired as the administrative coordinator in June, 2005, has retired from Cal Poly after more than five years with the Statistics Department and will now haunt the streets of Los Osos. After personal and family health issues, it is nice that Carol is able to kick back and enjoy life. We wish her well! The department was lucky enough to find an excellent new administrative coordinator, Melody Pietsch, who joined us in fall 2010. Melody was working half-time for the Kinesiology Department when Carol retired and we were able to convince her to join us. During her time at Cal Poly, she has worked in all but one of the Cal Poly colleges, so brings a wealth of experience to the position. Sometimes I feel like she is training me rather than I training her (actually a lot more than sometimes). Anyway, Melody is doing a fine job—she will introduce herself later in this newsletter, much of which she produced. There were two major events in the professional lives of our faculty. John Walker was promoted to full professor and Jeff Sklar was given tenure and promoted to associate professor. These promotions were well-deserved. Congratulations to them both.
A major event for many of us in the department is the “reading” (grading, actually) of the Advanced Placement Statistics exam, being held in Daytona Beach. Allan Rossman is in his second year as chief reader and Beth Chance is in her second year as assistant chief reader. Roxy Peck, a former chief reader will attend as an exam leader, while Matt Carlton, Karen McGaughey, John Walker, Heather Smith, and I will show up to do various and sundry.
As you might know, Cal Poly has a new leader, President Jeffery D. Armstrong. Dr. Armstrong arrived at Poly in February and has made a point of visiting the colleges, and meeting a sample of faculty and students from each department. The Stat students and faculty at the meeting did a fine job of explaining the environment and activities of the department; Dean Bailey mentioned the excellent national and international reputation of the department; and President Armstrong was so impressed with the following excerpt from our most recent program review that he read it out loud at the meeting: “The Statistics Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo is an example of how collegiality, quality, devotion and hard work can produce a center of excellence that is a beacon to many Statistics Departments across the nation.”
The faculty and students appreciate all who have supported the program financially this year. Your help allows us to support student and faculty activities that are an integral part of who we are and to purchase needed materials that support the department’s function. Thank you!
Please consider emailing me about how you are and what has been going on in your life. I will pass it on to the faculty, who would appreciate the update, and include the information in the next version of this newsletter (who knows—after reading about you, maybe your old friends and classmates will get in touch?).
Have a great year!
Bob Smidt, Department Chair
rsmidt@calpoly.edu
