Iowa Section of the MAA

Executive Committee Meeting

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Village Inn, Cedar Falls

University of Northern Iowa

Present: Karen Shuman (Treasurer), Joel Haack (Governor candidate), Ruth Berger (Competition Chair), Lou Kauffman (Polya Lecture Series speaker), Larry Naylor (Chair), TJ Hitchman (Vice-Chair Elect), Jon White (Candidate for Vice-Chair), Cal Van Niewaal (Governor), Elgin Johnston (Past-Chair), Scott Searcy (Candidate for Treasurer), Al Hibbard (Information Director & Governor candidate), Russ Goodman (Liaison Coordinator & candidate for Vice-Chair), Bernie Baker (Secretary).

1. Naylor called the meeting to order at the Village Inn about 7a.m. and introductions were conducted around the table.

2. Naylor requested that all officers amend their officers’ duties list in light of what they actually do in their position. Additionally the time-lines should change since we now meet in the fall term each year. The time-line should be in terms of “relative time” (such as 3 weeks before the annual meeting rather than a specific date) since the date of the meeting will change each year. He requested that officers take care of this soon.

Shuman suggested that at the end of each meeting, the books should go home with the Vice-Chair Elect, whose campus will host the next meeting., rather than with the Treasurer.

3. Discussion of the role of the Nominating Committee: Van Niewaal noted that by Roberts’ Rules, a member of the committee should not be a nominee sent forward by the Committee. So it was agreed that if a committee member decides to become a nominee, s/he should resign the committee before becoming a nominee.

4. Mission Statement: Johnston explained that the background of the proposed Section Mission Statement. There was discussion of the statement and to what degree it is different from what is posted on our website. Van Niewaal said it is up to Sections to decide whether they wish to adopt it. The MAA is encouraging sections to expand their vision of their purpose, especially those who only seem to exist to hold a meeting. The reaction to the statement was generally positive, with small wording changes discussed. Also there was discussion of whether to hold a joint meeting with an adjoining MAA section or the state section of another organization such as AMATYC or the statisticians’ group (ASA), etc. There seemed to be some interest in exploring this possibility.

5. Naylor reported that the election for Section Governor (Haack and Hibbard are candidates) will be conducted by the National MAA this fall or early winter.

6. Nominations for Meritorious Service: Naylor announced that the Iowa Section is eligible to nominate an individual for this award for 2010.

7. Berger reported that 39 teams from 10 schools participated in the competition. She asked of anyone had other suggestions for games for the “fun” time before competition begins and said she was interested in a Math Jeopardy game. It was pointed out that this would be fun for students but is very time intensive to design. Some comments were that the games used in the past are ok to continue with. Next year the competition will be held in Grinnell. Berger is continuing her attempt to avoid having the competition during the same school’s break each time.

8. White and Goodman reported on the Project NExT meeting that occurred on Friday prior to the Section meeting. Their group suggested the Section consider more panel discussions such as “on the nature of calculus”, and addition of a strand of talks aimed toward/presented by NExTers.

Meeting adjourned at 8 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Bernie Baker

Secretary

10/23/09