The initiative recognizes, first, that one curriculum is not appropriate for all majors. Students' needs and goals have expanded. Most mathematical sciences majors accept employment immediately upon graduation. Significant mathematics teacher shortages are developing. The major for these students should vary in some ways from that for students planning to pursue graduate work in the mathematical sciences.
More disciplines require deeper mathematics.
Consequently, the mathematical preparation of this diverse audience calls for a broader, more flexible major. Second, the mathematics program must serve a wide variety of mathematics-intensive majors. The program needs to be responsive to the needs of other disciplines. It must provide appropriate preparation for teachers of mathematics at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. It must serve the quantitative literacy needs of a very large population often enrolled in, but ill served by, college algebra courses.