Mathematical techniques are the key to solving many real-world problems, and leading academics now argue that the idea of literacy needs to be broadened beyond language to include number understanding and quantitative reasoning. College educators, regardless of discipline, are increasingly buying into the idea of integrating mathematics into how they teach their classes.

As Sadie Bragg, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, pointed out: "BMCC in recent years has become very interested in mathematics-across-the-curriculum and quantitative reasoning activities. So, we decided to organize a conference to share what we've been doing in this area. We also wanted to create a forum to discuss experiences with faculty who are active in the movement at other colleges, including a number of nationally prominent leaders. Finally, we hoped to introduce quantitative reasoning and math across the curriculum to a wider audience.”

In reflecting on the importance of the conference theme, Dr. Madison, the conference keynoter, said: "We're living in an age where we're swimming in information. Information is coming at you from every direction. How are you going to sort that out? The answer is data. And computers have made it possible for us to understand a large mountain of data. What we have to do now is to bring the public with us in understanding it. When you see a huge number in the newspaper, what does that number mean? How do you understand what that is? Nobody could read a story about the federal budget and understand the entire thing without having some understanding of quantitative reasoning – and the federal budget is something that's very important to citizens in this country. People need to be able to judge these things. They need the ability to critique what these numbers mean. We must teach people how to keep informed through comprehending what numbers mean. It's essential that people understand quantitative arguments. In other words, people need to become ‘critical consumers of numbers’. We have to make people more critical of information. This society we're building is saying, look: if you don’t understand this stuff, you're not going to be able to make the best decisions.”

Dr. Madison assigned a large part of this responsibility to colleges and universities: "Society, especially in the United States, has become very complicated. Keeping the public informed is not easy. I think we've learned that higher education is very important in that role."