MAA Iowa Section Newsletter
Fall 2006
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MAA Iowa Section NewsletterFall 2006 |
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This is the web edition of the Iowa Section Newsletter.
To receive a printed copy of the newsletter or to make suggestions/comments,
please contact the editor, Mark Mills,
millsm@central.edu.
The Knoxville meeting of the Board of Governors was uneventful, but foretold of some very interesting meetings to come. Starting with the New Orleans meeting, the Board will hear from the committees who have been doing strategic planning for the MAA. In Knoxville, the Association started the next round of strategic planning. Over lunch, we had a discussion on the governance of the Association. A serious issue with the governance is the size of the Board of Governors--it is too big for effective discussion. The size of the Board is the result of the number of sections of the association. Clearly one way to reduce the size of the Board is to consolidate some sections together. I use this example not because I think there is any support for consolidation--I don't--but to show that people were willing to ask hard questions. It was encouraging to hear people seriously discuss ways to improve the Association. The next Governor of the Iowa Section (New Orleans is my last meeting) will be part of some fundamental discussions on the future direction of the Association. It will be an exciting time to be Governor!
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Freeman
jfreeman@cornellcollege.edu
I am pleased to announce that our invited speaker for the spring 2007 meeting of the Iowa section will be Joe Gallian. The meeting will be held the weekend of April 13-14, 2007, at Drake University. Our Vice-Chair Elect Lawrence Naylor is working on local details, while Vice-Chair Elgin Johnston is focusing on organizing meeting details.
Having planned the last two meetings, I would propose that members offer to organize a special session, just as is held at the joint meetings. Oftentimes the organizer of our local meeting is left puzzling as to whether a particular talk is more related to number theory or geometry. And so, if you’re interested in organizing a special session of even two or three talks organized around a theme please contact me before Christmas at mariah.birgen@wartburg.edu.
Also, just a reminder that this year we are electing a new Governor for the section. A nominating committee has selected two excellent candidates and the national office is holding an electronic election.
Respectfully submitted,
Mariah Birgen
mariah.birgen@wartburg.edu
Project NExT (New
Experiences in Teaching) is a program sponsored by the
Mathematical Association of America and the
Exxon Education Foundation with the goal of improving the quality of
undergraduate learning by exposing new college faculty to current teaching
pedagogies. The program also works to get new faculty members involved
in the broader mathematical community and to prepare these new faculty for the
variety of roles which are required of them.
The Iowa Section of Project NExT will be organizing a Project NExT workshop
immediately preceding the Annual Meeting of the Iowa Section of the MAA in
April 2007. The goal of these workshops is to provide the same services
of the National Project NExT program available to a wider audience.
There will be workshops on current teaching pedagogies as well as on research,
service and other aspects of a professorial position.
For more information about this program or an application to apply for this program, go to the Iowa-NExT web page.
Each year, the section solicits applications for the Iowa Section Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics. The section winner is then a candidate for the MAA Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Awards for Distinguished College or University Teaching. The deadline for applications for the 2007 award is February 1, 2007. However, a preliminary application is due by October 31, 2006. For more information and an application, visit the award web page.
(Editor's note: There are a lot of good teachers in our section. Let's try to have a couple of nominees this year!)
Again this year, the MAA will be giving an award specifically targeted to beginning college or university teachers. The Henry L. Alder Award is to honor beginning college or university faculty whose teaching has been extra ordinarily successful and whose effectiveness in teaching undergraduate mathematics is shown to have influence beyond their own classrooms. An awardee must have taught full time in a mathematical science in the United States or Canada for at least two, but not more than seven, years since receiving the Ph.D. Each year at most three college or university teachers are to be honored with this national award and are to receive $1,000 and a certificate of recognition from the MAA. Award recipients will be expected to make a presentation at one of the national meetings of the MAA. Nominations for the award may be made by any member of the MAA or by any section of the MAA. The deadline for applications for the 2007 award is December 15, 2006. For more information and an application, visit the MAA's Alder Award web page.
(Editor's note: There are a lot of good young faculty in our section. Let's try to have at least one nominee from our section!)
The 13th annual Iowa Collegiate Mathematics competition will be held on Saturday, March 10, 2007 at Grinnell College. In case of very bad weather the competition will also be available online, to be taken at the regularly scheduled time, but at your home institution.
The format of the competition will be similar to last year’s, starting with some “math-fun” time in which students can interact. If you have any ideas about what we could do during this time, please contact Ruth. Your help is needed!
The tentative contest format on Saturday, March 10, will be as follows:
10am teams arrive
10:15-11:00 Math-fun, followed by lunch
and then the competition for three hours. (We will definitely be done at or
before 4pm.)
There is a $5 fee per team, and your department will also be expected to pay for your students' lunch.
Ruth Berger
Luther College
bergerr@luther.edu
January 5-8, 2007 - National MAA Meetings in New Orleans. Visit MAA Online at www.maa.org for more information.
March 10, 2007 - Iowa Collegiate Mathematics Contest (Grinnell College)
March 31, 2007 - Midwest Undergraduate Mathematics Symposium, Simpson College, Indianola. For more information, visit www.simpson.edu/math/beyond/mums.html. (Funding for MUMS2007 provided by NSF grant DMS536991 through the MAA Regional Undergraduate Mathematics Conferences.)
April 13-14, 2007 - Annual Meeting of the Iowa Section, Drake
University, Des Moines.
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