UMass Boston

• Common Coordinated Course Policies (Summer 25, Upd. 6/25/25) - These are the common Mathematics Department policies that apply to certain summer courses (MATH 114QR, MATH 115, MATH 125, MATH 130, MATH 140, and MATH 141). 
• Mathematics ALEKS Score Policy -  ALEKS scores must be earned within one (1) calendar year of the first day of classes. For a visual that outlines how this policy works, see our placement test expiration grid.
  
  • For Summer 2025, Session 2, ALEKS scores must have been earned on or after 7/14/2024.
  • For Fall 2025, ALEKS scores must have been earned on or after 9/2/2024.
  • For Spring 2026, ALEKS scores must have been earned on or after 1/26/2025.
  • For Summer 2026, Session 1, ALEKS scores must have been earned on or after 5/26/2025.
  • For Summer 2026, Session 2, ALEKS scores must have been earned on or after 7/6/2025.
• Mathematics Course Permission Policy - In MATH114QR - MATH242/R, students must wait to be admitted via the WISER waitlist system if they wish to join a full course section. Instructors will not issue permission numbers to allow you entry into those courses. As noted in WISER, students looking for information on registering for a course (including a full one) should contact the Mathematics Department (email: math@umb.edu, phone: 617-287-6440, in-person: W03-154)
• Mathematics Remote/Online Course Examination Policy - REMOTE (i.e., synchronous) courses must give their exams in-person on campus, including midterm and final examinations. ONLINE (i.e., asynchronous/via Canvas) courses must have live virtual proctoring for all exams (e.g., Honorlock, Respondus, or another Department-approved alternative).
• Mathematics Faculty Advising Guidelines: Faculty advising assignments are chosen so that students can meet with a faculty member with compatible research, teaching, and/or professional interests. Students who wish to change their concentration but not their advisor should write to math@umb.edu. 
  • For Fall 2025, the deadline for changing your major in time for an updated advising assignment is Tuesday, September 30th, 2025.

• Instructor Office Hours - This spreadsheet shows our office hours for the current semester.
• ALEKS Placement Test Expiration Grid - This chart provides a visual example of when an ALEKS placement test result can be used depending on when the result was achieved. 
• Mathematics Textbook Price Guide (Updated 3/12/2025) - This document offers a comprehensive list of textbooks used in various course. It also provides insights into textbook costs from multiple sources, helping you estimate what you might expect to pay.* Finally, you will be able to see what textbooks are already available in the Healey Library Course Reserves.
  

  *Prices are only intended to be estimates based on data available at the time the document was last updated, and actual prices may vary. The University cannot guarantee prices for any of these materials, nor be obligated to ensure that they match those listed in this document.

• Mathematics Course Prerequisite Guide - This chart provides detailed information about the prerequisites for all math courses from MATH114QR through MATH242.
• Course Sequence Diagram (MATH114QR - MATH242) - This diagram provides a visual representation of the course sequence for all mathematics courses from MATH114QR through MATH242. It is important to ensure you remain in sequence to avoid losing credit. More information on UMass Boston's course sequence policy is available from the Registrar's Office
• Course Availability Chart - This chart provides a visual representation of which courses are provided during each of the Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters (we do not offer Winter courses). 
• Course Availability List - This document lists the Mathematics Department courses in groups based on which semester(s) they are offered.
• Major Program Sequence Diagrams By College - These diagrams provide a sequence of mathematics courses required for most major programs in each college.
  • College of Science and Mathematics
  • College of Liberal Arts
• Sample Syllabi Directory - This document has links to sample syllabi for many core Mathematics Department courses. A great resource for current students looking to learn more about a course and for guest students to have a document to provide to a home institution evaluating a course.
• Measurable Outcomes: Measurable outcomes are common learning expectations that have been implemented in many of the Mathematics Department's 100-level courses. Information on measurable outcomes is available for the following courses:
  • MATH115 - College Algebra
  • MATH125 - Introductory Statistics
  • MATH130 - Precalculus
  • MATH140 - Calculus I
  • MATH141 - Calculus II
• Information for Math Majors Slideshow - This slideshow provides some information for aspiring mathematics majors about our programs, future career opportunities, and tips to help you find success as a mathematics major.

• Course Repeat Waiver Letter of Support Request Form - This form allows you to request a letter of support for a Repeat Waiver Request. Before filling out this form, please note the following:
  
  • You will need to attach an up-to-date degree audit.
  • You should be actively monitoring your emails for an update from DocuSign. If approved, you will receive a PDF that you can download and use as evidence of support.
  • Departmental support does not mean your Repeat Waiver Request will be approved -- only The Office of Undergraduate Studies can approve or deny such requests.
• Advising Forms: Use these forms to help you ensure you are on track to complete your mathematics program. You should complete your form before your scheduled advising meeting. For more information on our programs, check out our Math Tutoring & Advising page.
  • Applied and Pure Mathematics (BS) Advising Form
  • Computational Mathematics (BS) Advising Form
  • Mathematics for Teaching (BA) Advising Form
  • Mathematics Minor Advising Form
• Credit Transfer Permission Form (DocuSign)- Use this form to request permission to take a course at another institution and have it transferred into UMass Boston for credit. This is required if you have already matriculated to UMass Boston. You should make this request before taking the course, or there is not a guarantee the credits will be approved for transfer. Note that your major/program department must ultimately determine whether the transferred course will be valid for your major/program.
• Transfer Credit Appeal Form (Link)- Use this to initiate an appeal of a course that has been transferred in for credit. Note: This is currently done through Admissions.

Below are free software solutions for producing mathematical and scientific documents:

• LaTeX is one of the most used software for producing scientific documents. Common TeX distributions like MikTeX and TexLive are available on all computing platforms (Windows, Mac, and Linux). For those using Mac OSX, TeXShop is highly recommended. Additional LaTeX packages can be downloaded on the CTAN (Comprehensive Tex Archive Network).
• WinEdit is a powerful text editor for Windows geared towards LaTeX.

Below are free resources for mathematical computing:

• Mathematical software like Mathematica and Matlab is freely available through the University.
• CloudPC is a new service that gives streaming access to a cloud-based PC machine. CloudPC makes it possible to use software like Matlab, Mathematica, SAS, STATA, and SPSS remotely. 
• Python is a widely used (free) programming language for all-purpose scientific computing.
• R is a popular free programming environment geared towards statistics. RStudio provides a convenient interface to base-R with additional features.

• Research opportunities on campus
• Information on research from the College of Science and Mathematics
• National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)

• American Mathematical Society (AMS). The AMS is the primary professional organization in mathematics in the USA. Its offerings are vast. The link above takes one directly to pages for students; we encourage exploration of other aspects of the AMS, including conferences, employment guides  and free publications.
• Mathematical Association of America (MAA). The MAA works together with the AMS and places particularly strong emphasis on students, especially college mathematics students. 

• The University of Massachusetts at Amherst hosts an annual undergraduate research conference. For more information, click here.
• The Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (HRUMC) is an annual conference where undergraduates can present their mathematics research. For more information, click here.
• The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) has valuable resources on meetings and conferences accessible to students, for example MathFest.

• Quanta Magazine - This is a relatively new magazine, offering articles on recent developments in mathematics and various sciences. It is distinguished in offering material covered in depth and, at the same time, in a widely accessible format.

• Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12 - This is a publication from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) that chronicles practices and policies related to mathematics education.

• The Taffee Tanimoto Mathematics Resource Center is our own in-house tutoring service. For more information on the Tanimoto Center, contact TanimotoCenter@umb.edu or visit our Math Tutoring & Advising page.
• The Office of Student Equity, Access, and Success (SEAS) offers a variety of services to support student learning. Check out their tutoring programs page for more information.

Fall 2025: Stay tuned for more information about when and where Math Club will be held!

Recent Math Club Activities and Resources

• The sockpile problem
• The card pickup game
• The Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM)
• SCUDEM - SIMIODE Challenge Using Differential Equations Modeling
• The Riddler Social Network
• Chase on a Cube + Hat Problem

Here are math challenges for this week - courtesy of the Riddler at fivethirtyeight.com:

1. The Fibonacci sequence begins with the numbers 1 and 1,2 with each new term in the sequence equal to the sum of the preceding two. The first few numbers of the Fibonacci sequence are 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 and so on. One can also make variations of the Fibonacci sequence by starting with a different pair of numbers. For example, the sequence that starts with 1 and 3 is 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 18, 29, 47, 76 and so on. Generalizing further, a “tribonacci” sequence starts with three whole numbers, with each new term equal to the sum of the preceding three. Many tribonacci sequences include the number 2023. For example, if you start with 23, 1000 and 1000, then the very next term will be 2023. Your challenge is to find starting whole numbers a, b and c so that 2023 is somewhere in their tribonacci sequence, a ≤ b ≤ c, and the sum a + b + c is as small as possible.
    
2. Every Christmas, Gary’s family has a gift exchange. There are 20 people in the gift exchange. In the first round, everyone writes down the name of a random person (other than themselves) and the names go in a hat. Then if two people randomly pick each other’s names out of that hat, they will exchange gifts, and they no longer participate in the drawing. The remaining family members go on to round two. Again, they write down the name of anyone left, and again, any two people who pick each other exchange gifts. This continues until everyone is paired up. And yes, if exactly two people remain, they still go through the process of selecting each other, even though they know who their partner will be. On average, what is the expected number of rounds until everyone is paired up?

This prize is awarded annually to a graduating senior who has particularly distinguished him or herself by being of service to classmates and the department. The prize honors Professor Taffee Tanimoto, who founded the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at UMass Boston in 1965 and was its chair for 11 years.

• 2025: Emilia Morgan, Duy Nguyen
• 2024: Kayla Vu, Dov Ellenbogen
• 2023: Jackson Pierce
• 2022: Paul F. Maynard
• 2021: Oghosa Ohiomoba
• 2020: Shuha Liu
• 2017: Rory Martin-Hagemeyer
• 2014: Phong Truong
• 2013: Shira Kaminsky
• 2012: Yuting Zeng
• 2011: Doris E. Gilbert
• 2010: Deanna Marie Crocker
• 2009: Gregory Walsh Loftus
• 2007: Alla Shved
• 2005: Omid Fallahazad
• 2004: Judith Freedman
• 2003: Jovica Vuletic
• 2002: Sarkis Daghlian, Naing Naing Maw
• 2001: Angela Lilleystone
• 1999: Eric A. Rich
• 1998: Eric Michael Martin
• 1996: Lara Kristin Wolf
• 1995: William P. Perry
• 1994: Shoshana Kostant
• 1993: Tho Dinh Can
• 1991: Yasuhiro Endo

This prize is awarded annually to a graduating mathematics student for outstanding achievement. The prize honors the memory of Professor Juan Carlos Merlo, a distinguished teacher and scholar who died in 1974 while in the service of the University of Massachusetts Boston.

• 2025: Emilia Morgan, Tim Grace
• 2024: Dov Ellenbogen
• 2023: Jackson Pierce
• 2022: Paul Rampino
• 2021: Alexander Scott Killian
• 2020: Jordan Cudmore Boswell
• 2019: Jonah Stanley Greenberg
• 2018: Isabel Frances Hancock, Yu Ling, Brian K. Lynn
• 2017: Devon Elizabeth Hand, Rory Martin-Hagemeyer
• 2016: Vincent Timothy Luczkow
• 2015: Xuezhu Luan
• 2014: Rob Moray
• 2013: Shira Kaminsky, Michelle Grace Benoit
• 2012: Joshua R. Rosenberg
• 2011: Shosha Kamholtz, Aaron M. Welles
• 2010: Jessica Gregory
• 2009: Andrew Kenneth MacLeay, Maryam Madhavi
• 2008: Ian J. Maxwell
• 2007: Evan Lowell Ray
• 2005: Omid Fallahazad
• 2004: Judith Freedman
• 2003: Dalcione Marie Reis
• 2002: Nicole Michelle Perez
• 2001: Thomas G. Capizzi
• 2000: Francesco Peri
• 1999: Joseph S. Churchman Jr., Anna L. Varvak
• 1998: Victor Tecson Abaya
• 1997: Bruce U. Romano
• 1996: Randall G. Malbone
• 1995: Alexander M. Fraser
• 1994: John A. Gmelch
• 1993: Chrysanthe Spyropoulos
• 1992: Masashi Nemoto
• 1991: Mark Edward Zimarowski
• 1990: Long Nguyen
• 1989: Sidney Sterling Atwood
• 1988: Trung T. Dung
• 1987: Photini Anastopoulos
• 1986: Jane-Sarah O'Brien
• 1985: Christina Maria Crawford
• 1983: Douglas Hayden
• 1982: Jean Ruth Elrick
• 1981: Richard S. Palmer
• 1980: Terry N. Turner
• 1978: Emily Miriam Stone
• 1977: Jelena Z. Blumenberg
• 1975: Shirley A. Hayden, Elizabeth C. Lee

Senior Honors in Mathematics is given to an undergraduate senior who has completed their bachelors program with excellent grades and who has prepared and defended a senior honors thesis.

Past Winners:

• 2023: Jackson Pierce, Constrained Motion Spaces of Robotic Arms, Advisor: Oleg Lazarev
• 2014: Rob Moray, Modeling the Post-Transcriptional Regulation of the Tumor Suppressor Gene PTEN and It's Role in Cancer, Advisors: Kourosh Zarringhalam, Rahul Kulkarni