The Industrial Mathematics and Statistics major is a joint effort of the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Statistics. The program is designed for students with a strong interest and aptitude for applying a wide range of skills in mathematics, statistics, and computer science to problems encountered in government and industry. Students develop an expertise in an application area by taking significant course work in an additional discipline. According to a survey by the National Science Foundation, while only 12% of graduates in the mathematical sciences obtained their degrees in applied mathematics and statistics (82% had degrees in general mathematics), 63% were employed in areas outside academia and spent the majority of their employment working on computer applications and applied research. The Industrial Mathematics and Statistics degree enhances a graduate’s marketability by providing the necessary research tools in the mathematical, statistical, and computer sciences. Majors in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Biochemistry B Biology B, M, D Chemistry B, M, D Communications Studies B, M, D Computer Science B Creative Writing M Criminology & Investigations B Economics B English B, M, D Environmental Geoscience B Foreign Languages B, M Forensic & Investigative Science B Geography B, M, D Geology B, M, D History B, M, D Individualized Major B Industrial Mathematics and Statistics B International Studies B Legal Studies M Liberal Arts and Sciences B Liberal Studies M Mathematics B, M, D Multidisciplinary Studies B Philosophy B Physics B, M, D Political Science B, M, D Professional Writing and Editing M Psychology B, M, D Public Administration M Regents Bachelor of Arts B Religious Studies B Slavic Studies B Social Work B, M Sociology M Sociology and Anthropology B Statistics M Women's Studies B B=Bachelor's; M=Master's; D=Doctorate For additional information on mathematics, contact Dr. Sherman Riemenschneider, chair, Department of Mathematics, 304-293-2011 or sherm@math.wvu.edu Or visit us on the web at: math.wvu.edu For additional information on statistics, contact Dr. James Harner, chair, Department of Statistics, 304-293-3607 or jharner@stat.wvu.edu Or visit the department website at: www.math.wvu.edu/mathstat/

The WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is the largest and most diverse academic unit within West Virginia University. A faculty of 450 and a staff of 125 are involved in educating and supporting the efforts of more than 6,700 students (nearly one-fourth of the WVU student body) who are majoring in one or more of the 63 undergraduate and graduate programs offered by the College’s 16 academic departments and divisions. The College’s academic units and research facilities are housed in 14 buildings on the WVU campus. The Dean’s Office is in historic Woodburn Hall. The College and its Department of Biology also maintain the Core Arboretum, a 75-acre wooded tract adjacent to the Monongahela River.

The College provides the majority of the curriculum for all WVU undergraduates and a wide variety of required and elective courses for the entire student body. Arts and Sciences majors may, with permission, major in more than one discipline, and when appropriate, design highly individualized degree programs.

Eberly College undergraduate degree programs prepare students for many specific professions, while also providing a broad-based education that remains relevant beyond the first job after graduation. Many Eberly College alumni go on to complete graduate and professional degrees. By providing students with analytic and communication skills, reasoning abilities, and a broad knowledge of the humanities and the behavioral and natural sciences, the Eberly College equips graduates for lifelong learning and prepares them to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world and increasingly volatile job market.

Admission
Students should have completed two years of high school algebra, a year of geometry, and a half-year of trigonometry. To enroll in freshman mathematics courses, a student must demonstrate a satisfactory understanding of this background on the mathematics section of the ACT or SAT, or on the departmental placement examination, or by taking a prerequisite course at WVU. To maintain major status and to graduate, students must maintain at least a 2.0 overall GPA and a 2.0 cumulative GPA in course work in Mathematics and Statistics.

Curriculum
The curriculum in Industrial Mathematics and Statistics (IMS) provides students with the critical skills and knowledge needed to apply sophisticated tools from both statistics and mathematics to industrial and scientific problems. IMS is concerned with the mathematical, statistical, and computer modeling of various physical, biological, and social processes.

Graduates are trained to work in business, industry, and the government, or to pursue a graduate degree in any of the mathematical sciences. IMS is vital to our economic competitiveness and is critical to the development of our increasingly scientific/technological society. IMS is built on a foundation of differential and integral calculus, differential equations, applied probability, and statistics.
The mathematical tools encompass linear algebra, numerical analysis, continuous models rooted in differential equations, discrete models linked to finite mathematical structures, and Markov processes. Scientific computing extends the rudiments of programming into data visualization, development of algorithms, and selected topics using high-level languages.

Statistical topics especially relevant to industrial and scientific applications include design and analysis of experiments, statistical models, sequential analysis, reliability models, and time series analysis. These statistical methodologies are grounded in fundamental concepts of statistics and probability such as discrete and continuous probability distributions, estimation and hypothesis testing, and exponential family models.

Course Work

Accreditation
West Virginia University is fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

Career Opportunities
Graduates select from a variety of career opportunities as statisticians and mathematicians, often on interdisciplinary teams of scientists in government labs and agencies, engineering research organizations, computer service firms, communication and electronics providers, financial and consulting firms, and a variety of manufacturing firms.

Graduate School Opportunities
The Industrial Mathematics and Statistics degree provides graduates with sufficient breadth and depth to pursue graduate training in any of the mathematical sciences. In addition, with sufficient preparation through elective course work and the area of concentration requirement, IMS students can obtain a sufficient background to pursue graduate training in computer science and numerous areas of the natural sciences, the behavioral and social sciences, and engineering.

Salary Range
According to a 2004 survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, starting salary offers for mathematics/statistics graduates with a bachelor’s degree averaged $52,966 a year. Industrial mathematicians and statisticians work under numerous occupations and specialty titles, including operations research analysts, systems analysts, computer scientists and database administrators, computer software engineers, engineers, economists, market/survey researchers, and financial analysts and advisors.