The Mathematics Discipline of the University of Minnesota, Morris has moved into the forefront of its academic excellence with the addition of a service learning component in its curriculum. Three professors, Dr. Jon Anderson, Dr. Peh Ng and Dr. Engin Sungur recently received SEAMS (Science, Engineering, Architecture, Mathematics and Computer Science) Mini Grants from Minnesota Campus Compact in 1996. These grants challenge the faculty to find innovative ways to address community/environmental hazards and concerns while enhancing students academic and civic understanding.

 The initial grant is a two phase project, coordinated by Benjamin Winchester (UMM '95). The first phase begins with one Mathematics course in Winter quarter. During this time, project goals consist of 1) student awareness of service learning benefits and 2) building a partnership with the community from which future service learning can be addressed in a familiar setting. Students will have the opportunity to examine the current economic, demographic and environmental situation in the Stevens County area and to address community issues and problems, and how they relate to their coursework.

 The second phase, beginning in Spring quarter, consists of two rigorous courses, will attain goals of sustain ability and commitment by all involved. Students enrolled in these courses will address issues of land use characteristics related to zoning, transportation, home values and environmental concerns.

 This project initially came about in response to needs of the City of Morris, Minnesota in creation of the Ten Year Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Winchester determined appropriate areas of analysis for students in the various courses by attending meetings with community officials related to the completion of the Ten Year Comprehensive Plan. The City of Morris began working on its Plan in October of 1995, and during the ten week courses, various community and regional organizations, related and unrelated to the Plan, will be contacted to assist the students in their research. Following the student analysis, their individual reports will be compiled and presented to the City of Morris Planning Commission as a factual resource of Stevens County characteristics and baseline summaries to assist in the creation of the Ten Year Comprehensive Plan.

 This is only the beginning. In following years, the projects will continue through both lower and upper division Mathematics courses. Incorporating data gathering, summarization, and analysis into a public database, this will be maintained and updated by the students in the Mathematics Computer Lab. Public awareness of these projects will expand on current collaborations and create new opportunities to address community needs for analysis. In low income areas such as Stevens County, generalized traits of the region are not only unknown, but the means to obtain them are beyond the fiscal means of interested parties. These projects will be of added value to all who reside in West Central Minnesota.

 This project will also be creating interdisciplinary research projects for students enrolled in Math 1150 and Math 3605, both introductory statistics courses. These courses are required by various disciplines for completion of their major and through faculty support, students with majors in various disciplines will now have the opportunity to study introductory statistics with projects in their major. This will not only enhance their statistical comprehension using familiar data, but also prepare students for analysis within their area of interest. It must be noted that the data from various disciplines will be made available to the students, and the ultimate choice of analysis will be up to the student. These opportunities are not traditional service learning in that the areas of analysis are within the campus community, not the community as a whole, yet these are still addressing needs by faculty as a whole.

 This project has many interesting aspects. The Mathematics faculty, having recently been praised by external reviewers from Grinnell College, St. Olaf College, and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities for its pedagogical creativity, now have the opportunity to incorporate service learning in a curriculum which historically has had little direct involvement in community issues. Through integrated coursework and contact with community officials and organizations, the students will gain an understanding not only of the material presented in the class, but the impact with which they can adapt their skills to be of benefit to the community. Finally, the increased contact between UMM faculty, students and the Stevens County community will help build a link which was considered extremely important to many who attended the Morris Town Meeting of October 3, 1995. It is hoped that with endeavors such as these, service learning will be more and more common and the community in which we all live will be strengthened through cooperation and understanding.

 Initial Proposal
 January, 1996