• ISMAA 2013 Annual Meeting
• From the Section Governor
• From the Section Chair
• Become an Institutional Member
• ISMAA Project NExT Program

The 2013 Annual Meeting of the Illinois Section of the MAA

Don’t miss the ISMAA annual meeting at Roosevelt University in Chicago, IL on April 5 - 6, 2013.

This year's plenary speakers include: This year's plenary speakers are: Fusun Akman, Illinois State University; Brian Hopkins, Saint Peters University; Terrell Hodge, Western Michigan University (also doing the workshop); Chawne Kimber, Lafeyette College.

Important: Section members will be asked to vote on an important motion from the IMACC (Illinois Mathematics Association of Community Colleges). For more information click here.

For more details and registration information see: http://sections.maa.org/illinois/2013AnnualMeeting.htm

Peter Andrews

ISMAA Governor

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL 61920

pandrews@eiu.edu 

 The Board of Governors of the MAA met in San Diego on January 8, 2013, the Tuesday before the Joint Mathematics Meetings. As I come to the end of my three-year term as the Governor of the Illinois Section, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the section for the opportunity to serve the section and to participate in the national governance of the Association. I am confident the new governor we elect this spring will have as rewarding an experience as I have. Being a sectional governor is certainly not an onerous task! On the other hand, the January Board of Governors' Meeting was my sixth and I can report that all of those meetings started promptly at 9:00 in the morning and only one of them finished before 4:30 in the afternoon. I think it is safe to say the finances of the Association have been the primary concern of the Board during my time as a governor but guiding major staffing changes at the executive level and significant program changes have been a significant focus as well. 

Membership Categories

Of all the actions taken at the January 2013 Board Meeting, a complete revision of the membership structure for the association is the one which should have the greatest impact upon the members. The Committee on Members and the Executive Staff have been working on changes to the membership classification and fees for some time, with the anticipation of bringing sweeping changes to the board in a year or two. The current structure allowed for in excess of 300 different membership categories!! As we move toward launching the new MAA web site in the coming year and at the same time bringing all the membership service provision \in house," it became clear that it would be costly and inefficient to build in support for the current cumbersome membership structure only to have to retool it completely upon revision. So, Membership and Marketing Departments of the MAA staff was charged with developing a proposal for a simplified and more relevant membership structure for the MAA. Their recommendations were presented to the Board electronically in November for study. They were discussed extensively and eventually approved at this January's Board Meeting.

In a nutshell:

• Only five membership categories - Basic, Premium, Student, Math Teacher, Departmental;
• Those currently holding retired, retired emeritus, or life memberships will be offered the pportunity to continue their current membership type;
• All journals that accompany membership (except FOCUS) will be in the electronic version. Print versions will be available for a separate (discounted) fee;
• Discounts may be applied at the discretion of the Executive Council;
• Intent of changes in fees is to be roughly revenue neutral;
• Changes effective with 2014 membership.

Note: Math Teacher means you must be currently employed as a teacher at a school eligible to participate in the MAA's AMC program and provide a school-based email and mailing address for all communications.

Current Add-On subscription rates

Membership provides discounts for these rates.

New electronic access by membership category:

• Basic/Premium/Student: Monthly, CMJ, Math Magazine, Math Horizons, FOCUS.
• Math Teacher: Math Horizons, FOCUS

Budget and Finances

The MAA Associate Treasurer had presented a revised budget to the Board electronically several weeks before the meeting. There were enough questions and concerns from governors that this was not approved electronically but discussed at some length in the Board Meeting. The past few years have indicated we seem to have a built-in annual deficit on the order of $250K. This is not a sustainable position!

At the Madison MathFest the Board had approved some one-time investments in electronic

infrastructure and some on-going investments in development. It is expected these will have short pay-back periods. The biggest continued savings are in bringing member services in-house. We have been contracting this out. While we will need to maintain essentially parallel systems for this year (adding to the 2013 budget deficit) that is a one-time expense and the executive staff expect annual savings in excess of $200K on top of this.

The bottom line is that the Treasurer and the Budget Committee are pretty confident we will get to an operating surplus in 2-3 years. The goal is to reach a 3.5% surplus and maintain that for at least 10 years. Such performance would bring our operating reserve back to approximately 40%

of operating expenses - one of the benchmarks of a healthy non-profit.

Books and Publishing

The Strategic Planning Working Group on Books and Publishing presented its final report to the board. It includes the following conclusions and recommendations:

• The MAA Books Program currently does a fine job of serving several groups of primary stakeholders, including authors, MAA members and the larger mathematical communityinterested in excellent expository writing. However, the books program has the potential to serve the Association more broadly as a revenue source that can fund programs and services for members. To achieve this broader goal, the books program must succeed in selling a considerable number of books to non- members.

• Recast the MAA Books committee (or form a new committee) to think strategicallyabout books, not just `one book at a time.' This committee should also be chargedwith helping the MAA staff to establish policies and procedures as evolving technologies re-shape the publications market.

• A first task for this new group should be to consider whether the current series structure is too cumbersome or restrictive. The current books committee, which consists of series editors, is not in a good position to study this effectively.

•  Increase marketing efforts for books with potential to sell outside membership.

• Study historical trends in sales/marketing to help predict money makers.

• The MAA may, in the short to medium term, have the potential to succeed with textbooksin several different markets.

• MAA text authors should be encouraged, perhaps required, to use WebWork to prepare ancillary materials.

• The MAA must be opportunistic in looking for markets and pricing strategies that will allow for successful text sales.

• Planning group members recommend that the MAA staff look for `sweet spots' where edited quality and MAA seal of approval make our books better than free versions on-line; but less expensive than commercial publishers. We want to charge enough to insure that successful books generate revenue, but still satisfy the strong demand (especially at public colleges and high schools) to lower costs for books.

• The MAA Books Program will, over time, need to use additional non-volunteer personnel in acquiring, editing, and marketing MAA books.

• Consider hiring an acquisitions editor (at least part time) to allow the MAA pipeline tocontinue owing and to seek out books with potential for strong sales.

• Consider course release/summer stipend system (as for journal editors) for those who edit books that need most work/timely production.

• Consider hiring professional editors for books that might have mass market appeal.

• The MAA must be ready to respond to the rapidly changing market for electronic books.

• Staff members working in publications should be in touch with new markets and new technology. Continuing education of staff members in the effective sale of electronic books, especially sales to libraries, is potentially very valuable. Staff members will also need to be aware of changes in the markets for ancillary materials and audio/visual supplements to texts.

• Staff should be supported by the MAA committee on books, and/or any new committee formed as a result of our recommendation above. The MAA should look to involve \the NExT generation" to get young, tech-savvy members of the mathematics community involved in key positions.

These are all recommendations forwarded to the Executive Council and the Committee on Books and Publications. The Director of Publications reported on recent activity, including:

• The “MAA Section Book Sale in a Box" which should be ready for our meeting this spring. This will include special Section discount coupon code that could also be made available for a short period before and after the meeting on the Section website. They will also produce a custom set of slides, providing basic instructions for online purchases and promoting recent MAA books, which could be posted with the Section meeting announcement on the website and presented at the beginning of the meeting itself. Sections will continue to receive a sampling of books and other items for display.

• New books in 2012

-Calculus and Its Origins, David Perkins, Spectrum

-A Mathematician Comes of Age, Steven G. Krantz, Spectrum

-Sophies Diary: A Mathematical Novel, Dora Musielak, Spectrum

-Mathematics Galore! The First Five Years of the St. Marks Institute of Mathematics, James Tanton, Classroom Resource Materials

-Bridge to Abstract Mathematics, Ralph W. Oberste-Vorth, Aristides Mouzakitis, and Bonita A. Lawrence, MAA Textbooks

-Which Numbers are Real? Michael Henle, Classroom Resource Materials

-A Mathematical Orchard: Problems and Solutions, Mark I. Krusemeyer, George T. Gilbert, and Loren C. Larson, Problem Books

-A Guide to Groups, Rings, and Fields, Fernando Q. Gouvea, Dolciani Mathematical Expositions, MAA Guides

-In the Dark on the Sunny Side: A Memoir of an Out-of-Sight Mathematician, Larry W. Baggett, Spectrum

-Martin Gardner in the Twenty-First Century, Michael Henle and Brian Hopkins, editors

-New Horizons in Geometry, Tom Apostol and Mamikon Mnatsakanian, Dolciani Mathematical Expositions

-Six Sources of Collapse, Charles Hadlock, Spectrum

-Explorations in Complex Analysis, Michael A. Brilleslyper, Michael J. Dor_, Jane M. McDougall, James S. Rolf, Lisbeth E. Schaubroeck, Richard L. Stankewitz, and Kenneth Stephenson, Classroom Resource Materials

-Rediscovering Mathematics, Shai Simonson, Classroom Resource Materials (new in paper)

-An Introduction to Mathematics through Inquiry, Brian Katz and Michael Starbird, MAA Textbooks

• Coming in 2013

-Paradoxes and Sophisms, Sergiy Klymchuk and Susan Staples, Classroom Resource Materials

-Mathematical Creativity, Peter Borwein, Peter Lilijedahl, and Helen Zhai, Spectrum

-More Fallacies, Flaws, and Flimam, Edward Barbeau, Spectrum

- Resources for Preparing Middle School Teachers, Cheryl Beaver, Laurie Burton, Maria Fung, and Klay Kruczek, editors, MAA Notes

-Undergraduate Mathematics for Life Sciences, Glenn Ledder, Jenna Carpenter, and Timothy Comar, editors, MAA Notes

-Beyond the Quadratic Formula, Ron Irving, Classroom Resource Materials Learning Modern Algebra from Early Attempts to Prove Fermats Last Theorem, Al Cuoco and Joseph Rotman, MAA Textbooks

One of the main obstacles to increased sales is the number of new publications. To help increase new publications, the MAA has hired Stephen Kennedy (from Carleton College) on a half-time bases as the new Acquisitions Editor, beginning August 1, 2013. Until then Don Albers and Zaven Karian will continue to handle acquisitions. Please contact any of these individuals if you have ideas for books!!

Walter Stromquist's term as editor of Mathematics Magazine concludes at the end of 2014. A search committee chaired by Jenny Quinn, has been appointed to find and propose a successor in time for consideration by the Executive Committee in the spring of 2013 and the Board of

Governors at MAA MathFest in Hartford, Connecticut. Periodicals Data Bev Ruedi has taken over as Managing Editor for the journals, while continuing as Electronic Production and Publishing Manager. Editorial Assistant and Social Media Manager Laura McHugh has moved to the Membership and Marketing Communications Department to become Marketing Coordinator. We are looking for a replacement for Laura who can assist Bev with the management of the journals and Lois Baron with the management of the magazines, while also writing, editing, and proofreading for MAA FOCUS and the MAA website. Over the next year, the Association will be looking for someone to serve as Editor of MAA FOCUS. With the redesign of the MAA website, components of the Mathematical Sciences Digital Library (MathDL) will be incorporated into various sections of the MAA website. At the same time, the new footer for each page will acknowledge the contribution of the National Science Foundation and MathDL to the development and implementation of the redesign. Of these components, Loci and Loci: Convergence, along with MAA Reviews, Mathematical Communication, and MAA Writing Awards, will become integral to the publications pages. The compilations comprising “Course Communities" and “Classroom Capsules and Notes" will have homes in the classroom resources section.

Conclusion

This concluded my final report to the section as its Governor. Once again, let me express how much I have appreciated this opportunity to serve the collegiate mathematical community in Illinois. I will continue to support the MAA and, particularly, the ISMAA. I am still governor for few more months, so do not hesitate to contact me should you have questions or concerns about your Association. Thank you!

Dale Hathaway

ISMAA Chair

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais IL 60914

(815.939.5314)

hathaway@olivet.edu

Colleagues,

Once again I am privileged to write this message as the Chair of the Illinois Section of the Mathematical Association of America for this year. The Board of Directors held its fall 2012 meeting on September 29, 2012 on the loop campus of DePaul University in downtown Chicago.

One of the main topics of discussion was the upcoming 2013 spring meeting which will be held at Roosevelt University on April 5-6, 2013. While we have had past meetings in the Chicago area, Roosevelt is in downtown Chicago. This gives a wonderful opportunity for you to combine the enjoyment of the ISMAA meeting with the proximity of all that Chicago has to offer. You could make a long weekend of the meetings and have plenty of time to enjoy Chicago. The meetings will be walking distance to:

• Grant Park
• Buckingham Fountain
• Millennium  Park and the Bean
• Navy Pier
• The Magnificent Mile
• Willis Tower
• And many other Chicago sites

There will be much of interest for all at both the meetings and in the surrounding area, and I would strongly encourage you to plan on attending. More information on the meeting will be forthcoming.

I also want to remind you of the Distinguish Teaching and Distinguished Service awards. We want to recognize appropriate individuals, but we need your help in identifying them. If you know of an individual who deserves recognition please communicate that to the ISMAA. You can send your nominations to the Chair of the Awards Committee Tony Bedenikovic abedenik@bumail.bradley.edu. 

Other areas for you to consider include:

• Encouraging your department to become an institutional Sponsor of the ISMAA.
• Nominate a deserving colleague for an ISMAA award (you can nominate individuals from your institution or from other institutions).
• Promote attendance and participation at the Spring ISMAA meeting among your faculty, undergraduate and graduate students.
• Consider giving a talk at the spring ISMAA meeting.
• Encourage your colleagues to become members of MAA if they are not already.
• Consider allowing yourself to run for a position on the Board of Directors of ISMAA. I am sure that Iraj Kalantari I-Kalantari@wiu.edu, chair of the nominating committee, would welcome your inquiries if you are interested or know of an appropriate individual.
• Encourage new faculty (four or less years of teaching) to apply to the Section NExT program. There is no cost to your institution but being selected for Section NExT helps support their attendance and involvement in the ISMAA.

If you have any questions about the ISMAA and its activities please feel free to contact me.

Become an Institutional Sponsor

ISMAA offers three levels of Institutional Sponsorship. Free student registration at the annual meeting comes with each level. The base level, Ordinary Sponsorship ($50), allows unlimited student registration at the annual meeting. The higher levels, Supporting Sponsorship ($100) and Speaker Sponsorship ($200), have all of the benefits of Ordinary Sponsorship *PLUS* two free faculty registrations. Those who choose Speaker Sponsorship will be listed as an underwriter of a plenary speaker at the ISMAA meeting. Regular registration at the meeting is $20 (on-site would be $25), so those schools who would normally choose Ordinary Sponsorship may wish to consider the Supporting level. However, to make life easier on our secretary-treasurer (and faculty who wish to avail themselves of the "free" registration) please contact Dr. Patricia L. Kiihne <pkiihne@mail.ic.edu > by e-mail for the procedure prior to registering for the Annual Meeting. A copy of the form is available as a Word document or a pdf.

ISMAA Project NExT Program

The Sixteenth Annual ISMAA Project NExT Program will be held in conjunction with the ISMAA annual meeting at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois, April 5 - 6, 2013. Up to nine 2013 ISMAA Project NExT Fellows will be selected. Anyone within their first four years of teaching mathematics (after finishing a master's or doctoral degree) at any two or four-year college or university in Illinois is eligible, as well as any graduate students at universities in Illinois who are completing their PhD this year and have a position in Illinois for the 2013-2014 academic year. 2013 ISMAA Project NExT Fellows' meeting registration, pre-conference workshop registration, opening banquet fees, and Friday and Saturday lunches at the annual meeting will be paid for by the ISMAA Project NExT for the 2013 and 2014 ISMAA Annual Meetings. The 2013 Program will begin on the morning (8:45 – 11:45 AM) of Friday, April 5, 2013 with Dr. Terrell Hodge, Western Michigan University, who will be presenting “Integrating Applications of Modern Discrete Mathematics to Molecular and Systems Biology into Mathematics Curricula”.

The workshop is followed by an opening lunch during which new ISMAA NExT fellows will have an opportunity to get to know one another as well as other sectional Fellows and national NExT Fellows. The ISMAA Project NExT program will conclude on the afternoon of Saturday, April 6, 2013, following the closing address of the ISMAA meeting. After a brief box lunch, the group will reconvene for a discussion of triumphs and challenges specific to young faculty in the classroom.   Additionally, we hope to match new ISMAA NExT Fellows with a Mentor at the meeting. It is expected that each Mentor-Fellow pair will continue to communicate about professional development issues throughout the following academic year. 

Application materials for 2013 ISMAA Project NExT Fellows can be accessed via the links below. For further information, please contact the Director for the ISMAA Project NExT Program: 

2013 ISMAA Project NExT Application (MS Word)
2013 ISMAA Project NExT Application (pdf) 

Cindy Traub
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Edwardsville, IL 62026-1653
Phone: 618-650-2356
email: cindytraub@gmail.com