Committee Descriptions
Current committee assignments are shown on the Departmental Officers page.
| Academic Community Committee: 1 member | |
| Description | Plans activities to welcome facluty, postdocs, and students and to further enhance a sense of community. |
| Alexander and Goldberg-Ribet Prizes: 4 members | |
| Description | Choose the recipients for the Alexander Prize and the Goldberg-Ribet Prize. |
| Workload | Read recommendations and PhD theses in Spring. |
| Calculus and Course: 4 members | |
| Description | Oversee teaching of large calculus courses. Consider suggested changes in curriculum and textbooks of all courses, and proposed additions and removals of courses. |
| Workload | Zero to heavy, depending on circumstances. |
| Colloquium: 1 member | |
| Description | Run biweekly Department Colloquium (4-5 PM Thursdays). |
| Workload | Contact, select, and schedule speakers. Publicize talks, introduce speakers. Arrange dinners for speakers from out of town. (25 hours per Semester making arrangements, starting heavy, getting lighter; plus about 20 hours attending colloquium, after-colloquium dinners, etc. Ex-officio membership on Distinguished Lectures Committee.) |
| Committee Omega: 4 members | |
| Description | Consider graduate student requests for exceptions to Departmental rules (extension of deadlines, etc.) |
| Workload | Read requests, attend meetings, vote; occasionally, seek further information. (3 hours per Semester.) |
| Computer: 5 members | |
| Description | Oversee matters relating to Department's computer system and staff, and Department access to campus computing resources. |
| Workload | Monthly or biweekly meetings (10 hours per Semester). |
| Development: 4 members | |
| Description | Advise and assist the Chair in fundraising efforts, including Friends of Berkeley Math. |
| Workload | Variable. |
| Distinguished Lectures: up to 6 members | |
| Description | Selects speakers for Bowen, Chern, DiPerna, and Lang lectures. Works with staff to make travel arrangments for visitors, reserve rooms, organize social events, publicity, etc. Colloquium Chair and Vice Chair for Development are ex-officio members of this committee. |
| Workload | Subcommittees meet to recommend invitations to Department Chair after informal contact with candidates. Chair coordinates practical arrangements with assistance of full committee. |
| Education: 2 members | |
| Description | Help improve K-12 education. |
| Workload | Liaison with schools, Education Department, and students planning on doing K-12 teaching. (Chair: 10-15 hours per Semester; others: 5 hours per Semester.) |
| Faculty Advancement: 4 members | |
| Description | Make recommendations on promotion of ladder faculty. |
| Workload | Read files and meet to discuss recommendations. (Mostly in Fall; members: 20 hours per year.) |
| Faculty Appointments: up to 11 members | |
| Description | Seek and evaluate applicants for faculty positions (visiting and tenure-track). Very intense work, November-February, reading files, attending meetings and talks, and meeting with candidates. |
| Workload | Reading applicants' files; attend meetings. (50 hours in Spring, 10 in Fall.) |
| French Language Exam: 1 member | |
| Description | Prepare and grade French language exam for Math PhD students. |
| Workload | Early each Semester, select 300-word passage for translation, from book, journal, etc., Grade translations (4-6 hours per Semester). |
| Friedman Prize: 1 member | |
| Description | Choose the doctoral thesis in Applied Mathematics to receive the Department's Bernard Friedman Prize. |
| Workload | Solicit nominations from science, mathematics and engineering departments; find best few theses, get colleagues to evaluate these; decide on best one. (30-35 hours, late Spring.) |
| German Language Exam: 1 member | |
| Description | Prepare and grade German language exam for Math PhD students. |
| Workload | Early each Semester, select 300-word passage for translation, from book, journal, etc.. Grade translations. (4-6 hours per Semester.) |
| Graduate Admissions: up to 9 members | |
| Description | Evaluate applicants for our Graduate program and evaluate graduate students and admissions applicants for support (GSIs and Department fellowships). |
| Workload | Read folders of applicants, scoring them on overall quality. (20-25 hours in Spring, mostly in January--April.) |
| Graduate Program Policy: 3 members | |
| Description | Advise Department on issues of Graduate policy. |
| Workload | Depends upon issues at hand. |
| Head Major Advisor: 1 member | |
| Description | Counsel and assign advisors to new Math and Applied Math majors. |
| Workload | Several hours per week of advising during peak periods, otherwise slower. Occasional attendance at multidepartment meetings of advisiors. |
| Information (formerly Library and Web): 4 members | |
| Description | Coordinate and develop information flow in and out of the department. |
| Workload | Provide liaison with Astro-Math-Stat Library, campus library administration, and if need arises, other campus libraries. Facilitate best practices for scholarly communication, including open-access publication and retention of copyright. Monitor and improve departmental website. |
| Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Representative: 1 member | |
| Description | Liaison with program in Interdisciplinary Science & Technology. |
| Workload | Usually none. Occasionally, a serious administrative battle. |
| Jobs: 2-3 members | |
| Description | Facilitate job-search of exiting graduate students. |
| Workload | Advise job-hunting students, especially for nonacademic jobs. Publicize among earlier-level students skills they should acquire to improve eventual chances. Perhaps organize talks by Math PhD's working outside academia. Gather information on jobs obtained (Chair: 3-4 hours per week in Spring; others: 2 hours per Semester.) |
| M.O.C.: 4 members | |
| Description | Promote success of strong graduate students with non-standard backgrounds. |
| Workload | All faculty members of MOC have tasks equivalent to those of Graduate Admissions and Appointments Committees, but for a smaller set of students. (30 hours in Spring Semester.) Various members also have tasks such as choosing Prelim Workshop leaders, supervising PrePhD Option, student advising, chairing MOC, etc., with various time-loads. |
| Newsletter: 2 members | |
| Description | Prepare annual Department newsletter. |
| Workload | 50 hours in the fall. |
| Nominations: 3 members | |
| Description | Nominate members of our faculty for appropriate prizes, fellowships, and awards. Helps prepare some nominations. |
| Workload | Probably about 20 hours per semester, depending on nominations. |
| Non-major Advisor: 1 member | |
| Description | Counsel undergraduate non-mathematics majors. Evaluate coursework completed at other institutions. Review articulation agreements concerning equivalences between courses at Berekeley and courses at community colleges. |
| Workload | A minimum of 2 dedicated office hours each week. |
| Orchestra: 1 member | |
| Description | Coordinate the arrangements for the Department's Orchestra and Graduation Performance. |
| Workload | Two weeks prior to commencement. |
| Photographer: 1 member | |
| Description | Maintain photographic display of Department's Faculty, Visitors, and Staff. |
| Workload | Photograph new faculty, staff, and visitors, rephotograph those whose photos are 5 years old; show photos to subjects; mount and display with appropriate information. (Fall: 20 hours; Spring: 10 hours.) |
| Preliminary Exam: 7 members | |
| Description | Prepare and grade Preliminary Examination for students in PhD program. |
| Workload | Submit and vet exam questions. Grade answers to about 3 questions on each exam. (12 hours Fall, 9 in Spring.) |
| Public Relations: 1 member | |
| Description | Respond to communications to Department from general public. |
| Workload | Reply to letters. Tact required in some cases (e.g., angle-trisectors). (0-2 hours per week.) |
| Representative to Engineering: 1 member | |
| Description | Liaison with Engineering School. |
| Workload | Advise engineering departments on mathematics courses suitable for their students. (0-1 hours per Semester.) |
| Russian Language Exam: 1 member | |
| Description | Prepare and grade Russian language exam for Math PhD students. |
| Workload | Early each Semester, select 300-word passage for translation, from book, journal, etc.. Grade translations. (1-2 hours per Semester.) |
| Safety: 1 member | |
| Description | Oversee safety concerns in the Department. |
| Workload | Variable . |
| Schedule: 2-3 members | |
| Description | In cooperation with section representatives and staff, set next year's teaching schedule and handle changes required in current year's schedule. |
| Workload | Non-algorithmic NP-space optimization problem; discussions with affected faculty and section representatives. (50-100 hours per year, mostly in Spring.) |
| Strategic Planning: 2 members | |
| Description | Plan for new departmental initiatives in all areas, (research, teaching, capital improvements, etc.). |
| Workload | Very variable. |
| Summer Sessions: 1 member | |
| Description | Advise on selection of summer GSI's. Troubleshoot during summer session. |
| Workload | A few hours for selection in Spring. As needed during Summer. |
| Teaching: 4 members | |
| Description | Help faculty improve teaching; arrange letters of recommendation for visiting faculty. |
| Workload | At request of faculty members, observe their teaching and discuss ways of improving it, and/or (in case of visitors seeking next job) write letter of evaluation; and/or coordinate observation of each other's teaching, and writing of letters of recommendation for visitors, by other Department members. (5-10 hours per Semester.) |
| Teaching Technology (formerly Calculus Workshop): 2 members | |
| Description | Oversee computer labs and development and implementation of teaching technology. |
| Workload | Variable. |
| Undergraduate Prizes: 1 member | |
| Description | Select students for Departmental Prizes. |
| Workload | Seek nominations and letters of recommendation of students for Departmental prizes; select students; purchase some prizes; present prizes. (10 hours in second half of Spring Semester.) |
