Dear Colleagues,
QAA and M.Sc.'s in Statistics
There is currently some debate going on about the position of M.Math and
similar degrees in the National Qualifications Framework of the QAA. This
is an issue across the whole of Maths and Statistics and the body called
the Council for the Mathematical Sciences (CMS), an umbrella group involving
the RSS, LMS and IMA, has been considering the matter. The main issue
is what needs to be in the curriculum to justify the title 'Master'.
While the whole of the mathematical sciences community is affected by
the undergraduate Masters issue, Statistics is in a special position when
it comes to one year taught Masters courses. There are fewer of these
courses in Maths and they play a crucial role in training and recruitment
for us. The issue that seems now to be arising is that the QAA documents
require the Masters title to be applied only to courses which meet their
definitions in full. Taught MSc courses that are clearly "extension"
courses, with virtually all material clearly beyond undergraduate level,
will not be under threat of needing to change their titles. However, there
may be potential dangers for "conversion" MSc courses, in which much of
the material might well be found in the higher levels of specialist
undergraduate courses. The QAA framework documents can be viewed on the
web at
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/crntwork/nqf/ewni2001/contents.htm
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/crntwork/nqf/scotfw2001/contents.htm
for England/Wales/NI and Scotland respectively.
Are those Departments who have M.Sc. courses aware of these issues?
It would seem wise to have well constructed arguments to meet any potential
problems. It would also be wise to make enough noise about this type of
course to ensure that it is well represented in the general M.Math. debate.
I would be happy to collate views and pass on a document to the CMS.
Best wishes,
Adrian Bowman
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Prof. Adrian Bowman
Dept. of Statistics, The University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K.
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Tel: +44-141-330-4046 Fax: +44-141-330-4814
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