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CUPM

About CUPM

The Mathematical Association of America's Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics (CUPM) is charged with making recommendations to guide mathematics departments in designing curricula for their undergraduate students.


CUPM began issuing reports in 1953, updating them at roughly 10-year intervals. The committee began work on CUPM Curriculum Guide 2004 in 1999, culminating in recommendations approved unanimously by CUPM in January 2003. CUPM has held panel discussions, met with focus groups, and solicited position papers from prominent mathematicians. Through its Curriculum Foundations Project, CUPM's subcommittee on Curriculum Renewal Across the First Two Years (CRAFTY) has conducted workshops with participants from a broad range of partner disciplines, resulting in position papers on what these disciplines want their students to learn in the mathematics classes that they take.

While earlier CUPM reports have focused primarily on the major, CUPM Guide 2004 makes six broad recommendations for the entire college-level mathematics curriculum. These six recommendations have been endorsed by the Board of Governors of the MAA. Additional recommendations concern specific student audiences: students taking general education and introductory courses, those majoring in partner disciplines and preparing for K-8 teaching, and mathematical sciences majors. In addition to recommendations for all majors, CUPM Guide 2004 addresses the special needs of majors who intend to teach or seek nonacademic employment as well as those preparing for graduate study in the mathematical sciences or in related fields.

CUPM-Illustrative Resources (CUPM-IR) is an on-line, searchable document that provides examples of successful programs as well as resources that can be used to learn more about what has been and can be done to address the recommendations made in the CUPM Guide 2004.