The Departments of Statistics, Operations Research and Mathematics are combining efforts to provide free consulting on projects where the client believes there is a problem that can be addressed by these disciplines. This consulting is a part of the training process for graduate students, who will be involved in problem formulation, in making recommendations and in any follow-up work. Interdisciplinary teaming should provide a richer solution set for the clients' problems.

If you have a problem that might be solved by these quantitative disciplines, call or e-mail the faculty coordinator (contact info below). The faculty coordinator will discuss the project with you to determine if it is appropriate in difficulty and scope, and if so you will be scheduled to make an informal presentation to the class. In this presentation, the class members listen and ask questions to try to determine the extent to which quantitative disciplines can solve the problem and to extract the fundamental issues. We will give immediate feedback if possible but may assign a student or two to do follow-up work under the guidance of a faculty supervisor from one of the 3 departments.

In the past, the Statistics and Operations Research departments have separately offered successful consulting courses. These consulting courses have provided help to clients ranging from Master's students up to distinguished professors. Sometimes these projects have led to ongoing joint research, grant proposals and published papers in very diverse fields.

To obtain further information or to discuss a possible project, contact:

Harry Hurd, Faculty Coordinator
Quantitative Consulting Center
Department of Statistics, CB 3260
UNC, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3260
New West 206
Phone: 962-1078, FAX: 962-1279
Email: hurd@stat.unc.edu