STATCOM Grows in Membership and Mission

Statistics in the Community (STATCOM) is a graduate student organization within the Department of Statistics that provides free statistical consulting services to the local community. It was founded in 2001 in response to Purdue President Martin Jischke's call to increase engagement between Purdue University and the surrounding community. With strong support from the Statistics Department and faculty, STATCOM has since served over 20 community organizations and now numbers over 30 members.

Graduate student Alex Lipka discusses the results of a STATCOM project with Nick Schenkel of the West Lafayette Public Library. Alex Lipka (right), Department of Statistics
Ph.D student, discusses STATCOM's findings
with Nick Schenkel (left) of the West
Lafayette Public Library.
STATCOM is directed and staffed entirely by graduate students in Statistics and related disciplines. Participation in STATCOM allows students to apply statistical concepts and classroom material to address real problems faced by local governments, schools, and other community organizations. Meanwhile, STATCOM’s scope has been expanding to include K-12 outreach and presentations on statistics to various undergraduate classes. Participation in academic conferences such as the Joint Statistical Meetings provides members of other Statistics Departments with a model for integrating similar service learning activities in their graduate programs.

For more information, visit STATCOM’s website. Interested community partners can email STATCOM at statcom@stat.purdue.edu or call Teena Seele at (765) 494- 5324.

February 2005