Department of Statistics

Lily Wang has been selected as one of the M.G. Michael Award winners. This award recognizes excellence in research and includes a $3,000 grant. Congratulations Lily!

Chris Franklin and Rob Gould of UCLA were recently featured on Google Data Hangout #4. Watch it online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bfcdbwyqDjg

Lily Wang was invited by the ASA Director of Science Policy, Steve Pierson, to present at the CNSF meeting on Capitol Hill to highlight the importance of NSF research funding. The full article, which was published in the July 2012 issue of Amstat News, can be read by clicking here.

Our graduate students, Andrew Brown, Guannan Wang, Wenhui Sheng, and Yuan Xue, received student travel awards to attend the SRCOS 2012 Summer Research Conference. In addition, Wenhui, received a second prize for her poster at the conference. Congratulations!

Our very own Christine Franklin was interviewed and featured in the Science Policy Column in the May edition of the Amstat News discussing her effort in rewriting the statistics standards portion of the Georgia Performance Standards for 6th-12th. Read the full article here: http://magazine.amstat.org/blog/2012/05/01/statsed/

The Department of Statistics at the University of Georgia invites applications for a faculty position at the rank of Lecturer or Instructor, starting August 2012. Preference will be given to strong applicants who qualify for the rank of Lecturer, which requires a Ph.D. in statistics or a closely related field. However, applicants with an M.S. degree in statistics, or a closely related field, and an exceptional record of teaching excellence will receive consideration at the rank of Instructor. Regardless of rank, the position involves teaching a variety of courses on introductory statistics and more advanced topics, which may include graduate level courses if the position is filled at the Lecturer rank. For either level, scholarly credentials must reflect a strong commitment to teaching, and teaching experience is preferred. Like all faculty members, the person hired is expected to be engaged in departmental activities.

To apply for the position, candidates should visit http://recruitment.franklin.uga.edu/statistics and provide all of the requested information, including contact information for three references. At this site, candidates should also upload a single PDF file consisting of an application letter, a curriculum vitae, a teaching statement that addresses teaching philosophy and that highlights experience and passion for teaching, and a copy of the applicant’s graduate school transcript. Upon receipt of the application, references will be asked to submit letters of recommendation at the same website. Applications will be considered until the position is filled, and those received by April 27, 2012, are assured of full consideration.

The Department currently has 24 faculty members, of whom 6 are non-tenure track. Research interests span a wide spectrum, including statistics education. In addition to courses in support of the Department’s degree programs (BS, MS and PhD), the Department offers various undergraduate and graduate level service courses. For more information about the Department and the university, please go to http://www.stat.uga.edu. More information about the courses that the Department teaches can be found at http://bulletin.uga.edu/CoursesHome.aspx by typing in the prefix STAT.

The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, its many units, and the University of Georgia are committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty and students, and to sustaining a work and learning environment that is inclusive. Women, minorities and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply. The University is an EEO/AA institution.

The student awards for 2011 went to: Cong Feng for best senior student, Yuhang Xu for best beginning PhD student, and Jacob Martin for best MS student. Congratulations to these hard working students!

Congratulations to Kim Love-Myers and Jaxk Reeves, whose work is quoted in the Reuters article, Insight: Mississippi pardons benefited whites by big margin

The Department of Statistics at the University of Georgia invites applications for a position at the rank of Academic Professional, starting July 1, 2012. Applicants must have a Ph.D. degree in Statistics or related area and a record that shows a strong interest in the teaching of statistics, especially a passion for teaching undergraduate introductory statistics courses. Successful applicants are also expected to have excellent management and organizational skills.

Academic Professional is a non-tenure track faculty rank at the University of Georgia. Guidelines for appointment and promotion related to this position can be found at http://provost.uga.edu/index.php/policies-procedures/appt-promotion-tenu.... The person in this position will have a 12-month appointment and will be in charge of the coordination of our main undergraduate statistics course (STAT 2000: Introductory Statistics), which serves close to 3,000 students per year. The course is a 4-hour credit course taught in large lectures with weekly lab sessions of up to 30 students each. The successful candidate will be in charge of the coordination of all sections, instructors, and TA’s of STAT 2000. The person will also be in charge of constructing all assessments, such as exams, homework assignments, and lab exercises. Experience with the use of testing software and with the teaching of large lectures is a plus. The current testing software used for STAT 2000 is WebAssign. The person will chair a committee that has primary responsibility for course content and delivery, and will play a key role in suggesting and implementing changes that can lead to improved student learning outcomes. The person will be in charge of assigning grades for all students in the course, and of handling questions and inquiries from students. The person is also expected to teach sections of the course throughout the academic year and during the summer. Teaching of other courses is a possibility based on the candidate’s interests and the Department’s needs.

To apply for the position, candidates should visit http://recruitment.franklin.uga.edu/statistics and provide all of the requested information, including contact information for three references. At this site, candidates should also upload a single PDF file consisting of an application letter, a curriculum vitae, a teaching statement that highlights experience and interest in teaching undergraduate introductory statistics, and a copy of the graduate school transcript. Upon receipt of the application, the three references supplied by the applicant will be asked to submit letters of recommendation at the same website. Applications will be considered until the position is filled, and those received by February 1, 2012, are assured consideration.

The Department currently has 24 faculty, of whom 6 are non-tenure track. Research interests span a wide spectrum, including statistics education. In addition to courses in support of the Department’s degree programs (BS, MS and PhD), the Department offers various service courses. The Department is also responsible for teaching MSIT 3000, an undergraduate introductory statistics course for business students. STAT 2000 and MSIT 3000 are the only large lecture courses offered by the Department. For more information about the Department and the university, please go to http://www.stat.uga.edu.

The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, its many units, and the University of Georgia are committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty and students, and to sustaining a work and learning environment that is inclusive. Women, minorities and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply. The University is an EEO/AA institution.

Congratulations to Dr. Cheolwoo Park for receiving, jointly with Jennifer McDowell (Psychology), a Franklin College seed grant award for the proposal “Practice-related changes in neural activation patterns investigated via semiparametric estimation and causal inference”

University Professor Lynne Billard is the recipient of the Tenth Annual Janet L. Norwood Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Statistical Sciences. She will accept the award at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The award ceremony will be held on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at the Alys Stephens Center, where Lynne Billard will give a distinguished lecture and meet with students and young faculty at UAB. For more details, please click http://www.soph.uab.edu/ssg/norwoodaward/tenthaward

Jung Ae Lee was selected to receive a 2011 Innovative and Interdisciplinary Research Grant. This award was established by the Graduate School as part of its strategic initiative to support innovation and interdisciplinarity in the dissertation research being conducted by doctoral students. Congratulations, Jung Ae!