2015 Distinguished Teaching Award Call for Nominations

Each year, the section recognizes one outstanding teacher of collegiate mathematics with an award named in honor of Burton W. Jones, a lifelong advocate of excellence in teaching at all levels. In addition to an honorarium, a certificate and an invitation to deliver the opening lecture at the next Section Meeting, the recipient is eligible to be the section’s nominee for the Deborah and Franklin Haimo Awards for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics. These national awardees (at most three) are honored at the MAA winter meeting with a certificate and $1000 check. All nominators also receive a certificate of in recognition of their efforts to support the section mission of promoting excellence in teaching; nominators and nominees both receive free meeting registration at the next section meeting. To begin the nomination process for an outstanding teacher that you know, simply submit the one-page nomination form (available at our website: http://sections.maa.org/rockymt and in this newsletter) by 1 December 2014. Complete nomination materials (described on the website) are due 15 January 2015.

Chair’s Report

It is hard to believe, but this is my last chair’s report and I feel like I’ve just gotten started. I suppose that this should be a time of reflection, but I’m not quite in that mood, so I’ll just pass on to our chair-elect, Kyle Riley, the following piece of advice. At our last meeting I had forgotten that one of the unofficial official duties of the section chair was to emcee the banquet dinner program. As any emcee will tell you, one of the most important things you have to do is to keep the audience alert and entertained, and that usually means having a supply of good jokes to tell. So there I was, standing at the mike totally unprepared. I’ve never been particularly good at remembering and telling jokes, my charms lie in other directions, and at that point absolutely nothing came to me. I plowed my way through it and vowed never to step up to the mike like that again. So this time, in Laramie, I intend on being prepared. However, I still have this problem of not having any good jokes. Hence, I am asking you, my fellow section members, to send me some of your favorite math jokes (William.cherowitzo@ucdenver.edu) and I will pick the best to deliver at the banquet (and if you don’t, you’ll get stuck with “What’s purple and commutes? – Ans: An abelian grape” and its ilk for an hour.)

As some of you know, for the past couple of years I have been spending my time editing mathematics articles on Wikipedia. I started doing this because I felt that the quality of the articles was very poor and I wanted to do something about that. I hope that I have improved some of these articles, but I know that I have not always achieved the crystal clarity of exposition that I was aiming for. My take away from this experience has been how very hard it really is to write well about mathematics for a general audience. So, when I come across someone who can do this, and has been doing it for several years, I am now greatly impressed. Such a person is Ivars Peterson, the Director of Publications for the MAA, and our invited speaker at this year’s section meeting in Laramie, WY (March 28-29). Ivars had been a writer for Science News for over 25 years, author’s the online column Ivars Peterson’s MathTrek, and has written several popularizations including The Mathematical Tourist and Islands of Truth. I am very much looking forward to hearing his two presentations at the meeting.

As you probably know, our section is currently voting for a Governor to replace Mike Brilleslyper at the mandatory end of his term. We have several excellent candidates vying for the 2014-2017 term. Voting is underway and there are no paper ballots. Electronic voting ends 11:59 PM (PST) on March 12. Section members have received an email with the details, but anyone in the section with an account can vote by logging in to the MAA website and selecting “Vote Now”. Please take the time to vote if you haven’t done so already.

Just a heads up: The national MAA is trying to get its sections to design their own T-shirts in time for the 100^th birthday party in 2015. They are offering prizes for the best design, most T-shirts sold to section members (per capita) and so forth. We haven’t decided how we’ll handle this in the Rocky Mountain section, but you can get your artistic juices flowing and try your hand at an eye catching design.

On a 10 year cycle, each section of the MAA must revise and update its own set of bylaws, and this year it is our turn. There are deadlines, approvals and serious penalties involved. Mike Brilleslyper, I and an as yet undisclosed player will head up the initial pass at this, but all section members will have a voice in determining the final version. Any suggestions for bylaw revisions are greatly appreciated.

See you at the meeting in Laramie,

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Cherowitzo, UCD

Chair, Rocky Mountain Section

Attention Putnam Coordinators

Putnam coordinators at participating schools please send Dick Gibbs, gibbs_d@fortlewis.edu your top three scores. No names are requested at this time. When we know the top three scores, we will contact the schools for the names.

Governor’s Report

I recently attended the last Board of Governors meeting of my term at JMM in Baltimore. It was a full day of focused discussion concerning the future of the MAA. The organization sits at a crossroad. There is much optimism for the future as the MAA develops new programs, streamlines membership categories, integrates new technology, and incorporates new staff members. There is also very real concern as the organization continues to run an annual operating deficit and faces declining membership. The MAA is not alone in this quandary as many professional organizations are facing similar challenges. Despite these concerns, the MAA is a busy and large organization. Attending the Board meeting gives me a perspective on the numerous endeavors underway and an appreciation for the countless hours put in by the MAA staff and many volunteers. Here is a brief summary of the some items that should be of interest to members of the Rocky Mountain Section.

The new membership structure and pricing that was introduced in 2013 will remain in effect. The structure dramatically reduces the number of membership categories. Coupled with the new structure is a massive effort to recruit new members. It seems to be working as data from the marketing campaign is starting to be analyzed. In order to attract and retain younger members, one suggestion was for departments to include 5 or 10 year memberships as part of start-up packages for new hires. It was also suggested that memberships can be given as gifts. A possible instance of this could be for departments to give lifetime memberships to retiring faculty members. Any other ideas to increase memberships or increase retention of current members are welcome and should be forwarded to anyone on the RMS Executive Committee.

The Treasurer’s report from Dr. Jim Daniels indicated an optimism that cash flow will become positive and that net assets would start to increase. It was again noted that the organization is financially healthy, unlike many professional organizations, but that current trends need to be slowed and eventually reversed. The MAA continues to work with TIAA-CREF in managing its financial assets.

Following the Treasurers report, our own Dr. Hortenisa Soto-Johnson (UNC) gave the Associate Treasurer’s report. She noted that it is important to give the new fee structure a chance to work before considering any changes. She also reminded the Board that members may purchase two year memberships, locking in their rate for the entire period. Tensia concluded by noting the 2013 deficit was less than expected, but this is because some expenditure kicked into 2014. Thus, the 2014 deficit may be slightly higher that predicted.

The locations for future Mathfest meetings will be Chicago in 2017 and Denver in 2018. Having the meeting in Denver will be a big event for our section. It may seem that 2018 is a long way off, but I remember feeling that way about the year 2000. Now, I barely remember Y2K. We better start planning. In the slightly nearer future, Mathfest 2015 celebrates the centennial of the MAA and will be held in Washington DC. There will be several special events at this meeting to commemorate the occasion. Plan to attend!

For many years, the MAA has offered one or two day short courses prior to the beginning of Mathfest and JMM. However, the Executive Committee reached a decision to stop offering them at future meetings. It was determined that the logistics and administration of the short courses take a disproportionate amount of MAA staff time relative to the number of people served by the short courses. They also occur when staff is extremely busy with all the meeting details that come up just prior to Mathfest and JMM. There was a lengthy discussion about how this decision was reached and whether or not the Board or perhaps the Committee on Professional Development should have been consulted. This issue exemplifies the larger issue of MAA Governance and various roles of the staff, the Board of Governors, and the other elected officials. Finally, it was noted that short courses were only being de-coupled from the national meetings, but they may continue to be offered at other times.

There are numerous searches underway for several important and high level positions within the organization. I’m sure that some of these will be announced before this newsletter is published. However, at the time of this writing there are searches underway for a new director of Project NExT, a new Director of Competitions, and a new Director of Publications. These areas have been under the outstanding leadership of Aparna Higgins, Steve Dunbar, and Ivars Peterson, respectively. These will not be easy shoes to fill, but the MAA is full of talented people and I’m sure the search committees will have difficult decisions to make deciding between excellent candidates.

The American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) continues to be a thriving MAA program with increasing numbers of students participating each year. There are several new resources and partnerships related to AMC. Information can be found on the MAA website at http://www.maa.org/math-competitions/teachers/curriculum-inspirations.

The Board meeting concluded with an afternoon session that was introspective—we looked at how we govern ourselves. The issue of effective governance is vitally important to our future. For the MAA to remain a relevant, vital, and purposeful organization, we must have a system of governance that is lean, responsive, flexible, and made up of people with the needed expertise to enact the mission. Currently, the Board is made up of representatives from the twenty-nine MAA sections, plus at-large members, and members of the Executive Committee--in all more than fifty people. While we looked at the makeup of the Board, we also looked at the roles of the Board members. It was clear that many Board members felt disconnected from the actual business of running the organization. Many also felt that the Board could handle much more of the routine business electronically and should spend meeting time in more critical discussions. Nothing was decided, but change is clearly coming. Governance is a central issue and will be the focus of much discussion in the near future.

I will close this report by saying thank you to the members of the Rocky Mountain Section for giving me the opportunity to serve. I have enjoyed being the section Governor and learning more about the MAA. I leave the experience wanting to do more for the organization. The mathematics community would be a far different place without the MAA. Most of us are teachers of college mathematics. We work incredibly hard to help our students learn and hopefully love mathematics. The MAA is dedicated on a National level to what we try to achieve every day in our classrooms. The MAA supports the mission through publishing, workshops, meetings, networks, and a sense of community and common purpose. I hope all of you will continue to see the MAA as an essential part of your professional lives.

Respectfully submitted,

Mike Brilleslyper, USAFA

Governor, Rocky Mountain Section

Section News

Colorado School of Mines

CSM faculty members Dr. Debra Carney and Dr. Rebecca Swanson formed the Society for Women in Mathematics at Mines (SWiM) in the spring of 2013, with adjunct faculty member Agata Dean joining the leadership team in the fall. SWiM is designed to create a community of support for women in mathematics at Mines and has monthly meetings where faculty members, graduate students, and undergraduate students share a meal and discuss topics of relevance to women in mathematics. Each meeting also highlights a female faculty member or alumna who shares her mathematical story.

SWiM members have also initiated the charter of an AWM Student Chapter. Current student officers are Jackie Simens and Nicole White (co-presidents), Abby Branch and Taylor Chott (co-vice presidents), Kownoon Her (treasurer) and Sujee Park (secretary). The student chapter will allow the student officers to work more closely with the SWiM faculty leadership team on future programming and connect students with the AWM national organization.

For the second year, students from Mines participated in a Putnam seminar in preparation for the Putnam Exam. They have met biweekly during spring 2013 and the first part of fall 2013, and met on a weekly basis for the two months leading up to the exam. About a dozen students regularly attend the seminar, and six have taken the exam in December. The seminar is organized by faculty members Dr. Stephen Pankavich and Dr. Rebecca Swanson.

Prof. Barbara Moskal received The Mines Martin Luther King Jr. Recognition Award.

Dr. Moskal has been deeply involved in efforts to improve the recruitment and education of underrepresented groups in STEM, especially women. Her efforts make it possible for a new generation of students, drawn from diverse background, to apply, enroll and succeed at the Colorado School of Mines. As her nomination letter stated, Dr. Moskal has been instrumental in developing programs that increase diversity on campus as well as within the STEM community. Her tireless role in promoting the inclusion of women in STEM fields, her many years spent training K-12 teachers in science and mathematics, and her creative approach to introducing dyslexic students to the wonders of science make Dr. Moskal a fitting recipient of this award.

Chelsea Sandridge, senior in Applied Mathematics and Statistics, received The Mines Martin Luther King Jr. Recognition Award.

Chelsea works in the Office of International Programs (OIP). She participates with the international students in many extracurricular activities including visiting local peaks and sites. Realizing that they can’t always return home, she has invited them to join in her family’s holiday gatherings. During the summer of 2013, she traveled to Argentina on behalf of the OIP as a foreign exchange student, which has helped her work with international students. Today she continues to help international students become involved in the campus community.

Regis College

The Regis College Mathematics Department has undergone major changes over the last year with the retirements of Dr. Linda Duchrow and Dr. Diane Wagner. That represents a loss of 40% of our tenured faculty and an unmeasurable amount of wisdom, experience, generosity and friendship. We miss them tremendously and wish them all the best! At the same time, we are delighted to announce the hiring of two new tenure track faculty, Dr. Megan Patnott and Dr. Bethany Springer. Dr. Patnott earned her PhD from the University of Notre Dame last summer and specializes in algebraic geometry. Dr. Springer studies dynamical systems, and she earned her PhD last summer from Colorado State University. They bring tremendous energy and a commitment to excellent teaching to our department. The future of the Regis College Mathematics Department is bright!

In other faculty news, Dr. Tim Trenary returns this Spring from a semester sabbatical spent applying bootstrap statistical methods and computer vision techniques toward studying the growth rates of alpine cushion plants as part of an ongoing collaborative effort with Dr. Catherine Kleier of the Regis University Biology department.

University of Northern Colorado

We are very pleased to announce two new hires for this academic year. Dr. Nate Eldredge is a new tenure-track faculty member in mathematics. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California- San Diego and his research area is in the area of probability theory and real analysis. Dr. Mehrgan Mostowfi is a new tenure-track faculty member in computer science. He received his Ph.D. from the University of South Florida and his research area is in the area of performance evaluation of computer networks.

On February 27-March 1 we are hosting the 17^th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center. This is the national conference for SIGMAA on RUME. For more details, see

http://sigmaa.maa.org/rume/crume2014/Home.html .

University of Colorado at Boulder

CU Boulder has been chosen as one of only four schools nationwide to be funded by the Helmsley Foundation, through the Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership, to help redesign secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs.

This is due to the efforts of Professors Eric Stade and Robert Tubbs of the Math Department, who, along with colleagues David Webb and Kimberly Bunning at the CU School of Education, won the grant, which will fund the
design of materials based upon our calculus courses to disseminate to other schools for professional development of the next generation of teachers, and to serve as a model for adoption by other colleges and universities.

A half-dozen years ago Stade and Tubbs began a multi-year effort to reform our first-year calculus courses. They converted the classroom into an arena for active-learning, so that ideas can form in their mind by doing mathematics and communicating their mathematical ideas. Key to this effort is a weekly lab, where students work in groups, facilitated by trained undergraduate Learning Assistants, on more involved problems, further cementing ideas and encouraging independent and group exploration.

University of Colorado Denver

Stan Payne and Bill Cherowitzo both retired from UCD in May 2013. The story from Stan:

I arrived at UCD in August of 1984, at which time I found that Bill had already been here a year. We had met a few times at the Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph theory and Computing in Boca Raton. Bill was an assistant professor, but I was merely a visitor who was being paid to serve the department because a search for a statistician had not been successful.

That occurred again a second year, but during my second year a tenure-track position in discrete mathematics became available. I applied and got the position. I have been a full professor at UCD since the fall of 1986. (My first position after my Ph.D. in 1966 was at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. So I was there 18 years before coming to Denver.)

For some time I had been wrestling with a decision to retire. In the fall of 2012, just after my 73rd birthday, I told our Dean that I really wanted to retire at the end of the spring term of 2013. He encouraged me to wait until the middle of the spring term to do anything. By the early part of the spring term Bill also decided to retire. Then the term came to an end and it happened!

We both officially retired as of May 31, 2013. But (happily for me) the Department needed me to teach one more course in the fall, a number theory course. This was always my favorite course to teach, so I had a wonderful fall term as a lowly instructor with no committee assignments, no pressure to do research, and only two days a week to fight traffic and to find and pay for a parking spot.

Bill is still directing the Ph.D. research of one student, Phil Deorsey, and I am now truly enjoying having all my books in one place, my lovely study at home. I have time and energy to study mathematics several hours nearly every day, but I now get to read the newspaper essentially every day, and many days I find time to go to the fitness center that is less than a mile from my home. I also am enjoying doing more things with my wife, Angelika, so she is also happy that I have retired.

So there you have it. I am retired as a professor, not as a mathematician. This past November both Bill and I received the title of Professor Emeritus.

Is news from your school missing?

Send your news to your department liaison now with a request to forward it to the Linda Sundbye, Newsletter Editor for inclusion in the next issue. sundbyel@msudenver.edu

10^th Annual SIAM Front Range Conference at the University of Colorado Denver
Saturday, March 1, 2014

On March 1, 2014 we will be holding the 2013 SIAM Front Range Student Conference at the University of Colorado Denver.

Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to participate by giving 20 minute talks on a class project or research project related to applied mathematics. Or please come and listen and learn about all the great projects that are being done at many of the front range schools. The keynote speaker is Dr. Stephen Sain, Computational and Information Systems Laboratory, Geophysical Statistics Program, NCAR, Boulder. For more information, please see

http://amath.colorado.edu/content/2014-siam-front-range-student-conference

Sponsored by the University of Colorado Boulder/ Colorado Springs/ Denver, Colorado School of Mines, and Colorado State University.

Lynn Bennethum, UCD

Anne Dougherty, CU-Boulder

MAA PREP Workshops 2014

Registration is now open for the MAA’s 2014 series of Professional Enhancement Program (PREP) workshops. There are both online workshop and onsite workshops. For more information, visit:

http://www.maa.org/programs/faculty-and-departments/prep-workshops

CCTM News

Colorado Council of Teachers of Mathematics (CCTM) continues to provide great opportunities for both pre- and in-service teachers!

Colorado Council of Teachers of Mathematics (CCTM) in cooperation with Colorado Department of Education continues to present regional workshops to support teachers adapting the new Colorado Academic Standards (CAS). The spring regional workshops focused on gaining an overview of PARCC assessment and its reporting structure. Most regions completed successful workshops on February 8^th, 2014. More information about upcoming workshops could be found at CCTM website: www.cctmath.org.

CCTM 2014 Conference is tentatively scheduled for September 25-26, 2014 at the Denver Merchandise Mart. The deadline to submit a proposal and the conference details will be available on the website in early spring.

Gulden Karakok, UNC

19^th Colorado Mathematics Awards Ceremony/Reception

Plans are in the works for the 19th Colorado Mathematics Awards Ceremony and Reception to be held on Tuesday, May 13 at the Grant - Humphreys Mansion in Denver. At the school level we'll be recognizing the top ten participants on MATHCOUNTS, the AMC 8, 10, and 12 contests, and the outstanding members of the Colorado American Regions Mathematics League team. At the collegiate level we'll be recognizing the top three Putnam scorers, and the top team(s) on the Mathematical Contest in Modeling. We expect to recognize between 50 and 60 winners. With the winners, parents, and teachers, we expect between 120 and 130 to attend the event.

We appreciate the support that the Rocky Mountain Section has provided for this event over the years.

Other sponsors of the Colorado Mathematics Awards are the American Mathematics Competitions, CH2MHill, the Professional Engineers of Colorado, and individual members of the Colorado Mathematics Awards Steering Committee.

Suggestions for additional sources of funding are welcomed. Please contact me at gibbs_d@fortlewis.edu.

Thank you,

Dick Gibbs, Co-Chair

Colorado Mathematics Awards

Steering Committee

Emeritus Professor of Mathematics

Fort Lewis College

17^th Annual Legacy of R.L. Moore and IBL Conference
June 19 – 21, 2014

The 17^th annual Legacy of R. L. Moore and IBL Conference, Engaging with Inquiry-Based Learning will be held June 19 – 21, 2014 in Denver, CO at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, 1550 Court Place.

Call for Papers

The theme is intended to encourage abstracts and proposals, which focus on active participation of attendees during the following parallel sessions:

My Favorite IBL Activity

IBL Outreach

IBL Professional Development

Nuts & Bolts

General IBL

More information available at:

http://legacyrlmoore.org/events.html

or contact the program co-chairs:

Angie Hodge, amhodge@unomaha.edu

TJ Hitchman, theron.hitchman@uni.edu

11^th Annual PPRUMC Conference Report
Saturday, February 15, 2014

The 11th annual Pikes Peak Regional Undergraduate Mathematics Conference took place on Saturday, February 15, at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

The conference was generously sponsored by Mathematical Association of America (MAA), the Rocky Mountain Section of the MAA, the College of LAS at UCCS, the UCCS Mathematics Department, and the UCCS Office of Student Recruitment.

We had 162 official participants (out of 186 that pre-registered), from 18 different institutions in Colorado and neighboring states:

Arapahoe Community College (19)

Colorado College (5)

Colorado Mesa University (6)

Colorado School of Mines (5)

Colorado State University (9)

Colorado State University Pueblo (3)

University of Colorado at Boulder (1)

Fort Lewis College (9)

Kansas State University (2)

Metropolitan State University of Denver (8)

Pikes Peak Community College (13)

Regis University (10)

University of Colorado Denver (3)

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (32)

University of Northern Colorado (3)

University of Wyoming (5)

United States Air Force Academy (8)

Western State Colorado University (13)

In addition, there were about a dozen participants from the community (high school students, parents, math school teachers, etc). Of the 162 attendees, over 120 were undergraduate students.

The conference program included a keynote address by Stefan Erickson, Colorado College (Cryptography in The Computer Age: How To Use Number Theory To Take Over The World), 22 student talks, in parallel sessions, and a panel discussion (Beyond an Undergraduate Mathematics Degree), with panelists: James Eberle (Ratheon Corporation, UCCS graduate student), Jennifer Holmes (instructor at Pikes Peak Community College, UCCS alumni), Aurora Kimmett (Northrop Gruman, UCCS alumni), Taylor Klotz (graduate student at CU Boulder, UCCS alumni), and Francis Motta (graduate student at CSU)

Additional details about the conference can be found at:

http://www.uccs.edu/math/pprumc.html

Barbara Prinari, Conference Director

Radu Cascaval and Greg Morrow,

Conference Co-Directors

Ms Emanuelita Martinez, UCCS Math Dept. Administrative Assistant

Mathematics Awareness Month: Mathematics, Magic and Mystery
April 2014

The American Mathematical Society, the American Statistical Association, the Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics announce that the theme for Mathematics Awareness Month, April 2014, is Mathematics, Magic & Mystery.

From magic squares and Möbius bands to magical card tricks and illusions, mysterious phenomena with elegant “Aha!” explanations have permeated mathematics for centuries. Such brain-teasing challenges promote creative and rational thinking, attract a wide range of people to the subject, and often inspire serious mathematical research.

The theme of Mathematics Awareness Month 2014 echoes the title of a 1956 book by renowned math popularizer Martin Gardner, whose extensive writings introduced the public to hexaflexagons, polyominoes, John Conway’s “Game of Life,” Penrose tiles, the Mandelbrot set, and much more. For more than half a century Gardner inspired enthusiasts of all ages to engage deeply with mathematics, and many of his readers chose to pursue it as a career. The year 2014 marks the centennial of Gardner’s birth.

Mathematics, Magic, and Mystery Revealed!

This year the Mathematics Awareness Month Committee and volunteers have put together 30 theme-related activities. Each day in April one activity will be revealed that corresponds with an image on the theme poster. So stay tuned to see some behind-the-scenes explanations and videos of Mathematics, Magic, and Mystery! You can either bookmark this page or follow on Twitter to link to each new activity.

Math Awareness Month is held each year in April. Initiated in 1986 to increase public understanding of, and appreciation for, mathematics, this annual event highlights the relevance of mathematics to a particular area of scientific endeavor.

For more information, visit:

http://www.mathaware.org .

SIMIODE
Systemic Initiative for Modeling Investigations and Opportunities with Differential Equations

We believe we can build a community and make the teaching of differential equations more reasonable and usable! Come join our merry band at www.simiode.org .

We would like to introduce you to an exciting project: SIMIODE - Systemic Initiative for Modeling Investigations and Opportunities with Differential Equations. SIMIODE is about teaching differential equations using modeling and technology upfront and throughout the learning process. Learn more at our dynamic website, www.simiode.org, where we offer a community in which colleagues can communicate, collaborate, publish, teach, explore, contribute, etc.

We are building a complete environment for teachers and learners – communication, groups across and intra/inter campus projects for students and teachers, models, data, videos.

For the latter see our YouTube videos at

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4y1q6ShHIjRUm7NrM9_dOg

where students can collect data on Torricelli's Law and model it with a first principle physics approach for building a differential equation.

Once inside www.simiode.org you can see all the material associated with the Torricelli's Law video in the Modeling Scenario section of our Resources found on our home page. Check out SIMIODE and also check out our very interesting way of starting a differential course with the student version of the Modeling Scenario on M&M Death and Immigration.

Join a group, start a group, begin a discussion, and then collaborate and communicate with others who are interested in teaching differential equations using modeling and technology. Join SIMIODE! It is FREE!

We also have a Manuscript Management system, FastTrack,

http://simiode.expressacademic.org which handles reviews of material submitted to SIMIODE.

We need your help to build this community of innovative educators:

1. Please register as a referee.

2. Please contribute to this community as an author.

We will hold a Minicourse at MathFest, August 7-9, 2014 in Portland, OR. Minicourse #6 SIMIODE – Sytemic Initiative for Modeling Investigations and Opportunities with Differential Equations – Building Community.

Brian Winkel, Director – SIMIODE

BrianWinkel@simiode.org, www.simiode.org

Section Nominating Committee Report

During the spring 2014, the section will elect three positions. The three positions are

1) Governor (3 year term)

2) Secretary/Treasurer (3 year term)

3) Vice-Chair (2 year term – Representative shall be associated with a two-year school) Elections for Section Governor will be conducted by the national office and section members should expect correspondence from the national office during the spring semester.

Candidates for Section Governor and brief biographies and candidate statements are:

Bill Emerson

Metropolitan State University of Denver

After receiving my PhD at the University of Utah in 1979, I taught briefly at Randolph-Macon College and Texas Tech University before coming to Metropolitan State University of Denver in 1983. During the 1980s I served two terms as Secretary/Treasurer/Newsletter Editor for the Rocky Mountain Section. In 1995 I was honored to receive the fourth Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics (now known as the Burton W. Jones Award). In the early 2000s I served as a Governor of the Rocky Mountain Section of the MAA for three years. I have been a regular presenter at the Rocky Mountain Section Meetings including two Friday morning workshops on Mathematica Animations and on WeBWorK.

From hand calculators to Mathematica to Wolfram Alpha to flipped classrooms to internet videos, we are finding new forms and uses of technology in our mathematics classes. Compounded with recent and coming changes in funding for many of our institutions, the future mathematics classroom will surely be quite different from the days of chalk and blackboards. I believe that it is important that our MAA national and sectional meetings serve as forums about how our institutions are adapting to these changes.

One of the most important things we can do is to help our junior faculty settle into their careers. Project NExT does an excellent job with this, but not all schools are able to provide the support necessary for their faculty to be members and not all applications are accepted. As a Governor at the National Meetings I watched people being chosen for important leadership positions off the list of former Project NExT fellows. I am concerned that we may be creating two classes of membership in the MAA. I would like to see the MAA create a national list of people available for such positions by asking sections and departments to identify people who would be capable and interested in serving such roles. I would also like to MAA to make a commitment to supporting not just the colored “dots” but all of its members.

Sarah Pauley

Western Wyoming Community College

I appreciate your considering me to serve as Governor of the Rocky Mountain Section of the Mathematics Association of America. I believe that my professional experience and my dedication to the field of mathematics make me a strong candidate for this position.

I received my BS and MS degrees in Mathematics from Colorado State University, and I am currently an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs, Wyoming. I have taught math full-time at WWCC since I graduated with my MS in 2004. At WWCC, I work with a highly-trained and committed faculty and staff. I am fortunate to teach many levels of mathematics, from developmental math to Linear Algebra and Differential Equations. I have been involved with many committees and groups on campus, including our Faculty/ Professional Senate and Curriculum Committee. I currently co-chair the Wyoming State Mathematics Contest for our area of Wyoming, and in 2010 I was co-chair of a committee that redesigned the developmental mathematics courses at WWCC.

In addition, I have been a member the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) since 2003, and I am a Project ACCCESS Fellow from the 2005-2006 cohort. I am also President-Elect for the Wyoming Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (WYMATYC).

I have been a member of the MAA since 2005. Beginning in 2007, I had the opportunity to serve as Vice-Chair of the section. I held this office until 2012. Holding the Vice-Chair position was a valuable experience that allowed me to observe exactly how our MAA section works and to meet and work with the extraordinary people who make our section unique.

I am excited to be running for the position of RMS Governor. I look forward to representing our section at the national level, and I appreciate your consideration.

Daluss Siewert

Black Hills State University

I received my B.S in Mathematics from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 1994, my M.S. in mathematics from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1996, and my Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of Colorado Denver in 2000. I have been on the faculty at Black Hills State University since 2000 where I hold the rank of Professor of Mathematics and the position of Chair of the School of Mathematics and Social Sciences.

I have been actively involved in the MAA and plan to continue that involvement in the years to come. At the section level, I served as the chair of the Rocky Mountain Section and program chair of a Rocky Mountain Section annual meeting. At national level, I just completed my second three-year term on the national MAA Committee on Undergraduate Student Activities and Chapters (CUSAC). This service included serving as a co-organizer of the undergraduate student paper sessions at MathFest for the past five years. Recently, I was appointed to serve a three-year term on the national MAA Membership Committee.

I see membership as one of the MAA’s major challenges in the years ahead. We need to ensure that the MAA remains relevant to our current and potential members. The strength of the MAA lies in its members and the organization needs a dedicated community of members to help advance the mathematical sciences. I would also like to continue to foster both undergraduate and graduate student involvement in the MAA at both the section and national level. These students are the future of the MAA and our profession so we need give them the opportunity to see the value of being a part of the MAA. It would be my privilege to serve the MAA by serving as the Governor of the Rocky Mountain Section.

Elections for Secretary/Treasurer and Vice Chair will take place at the annual business meeting on March 29, 2013 on the University of Wyoming Campus in Laramie. Current candidates along with brief biographies and candidate statements are:

For Secretary/Treasurer

Heidi Keck

Western State Colorado University

Currently I am a professor of mathematics as Western State Colorado University working primarily in pre-service teacher preparation. I have also helped to create a developmental mathematics curriculum and currently serve as the coordinator of Supplemental Instruction for the university. I’ve been an MAA member since 1994 and served as program chair in 2001 and secretary/treasurer for the past three years.

It is an honor to be nominated for a second term as secretary/treasurer. While I believe that including as many different people as possible in active roles increases engagement within an organization, I also believe that this position benefits from experience. During the past term I have gotten to know people from all over our region and interacted with officers from the national office. Both of these have helped me keep the section operations running smoothly. If reelected to the position I will try to maintain a record of completing task correctly and on time and to leave a transparent record of how the section operates.

For Vice Chair

Erica Hastert

Colorado Community College Online

Erica Hastert has served as a math faculty member since 1993 at Red Rocks Community College, Arapahoe Community College, and now CCCOnline. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Colorado at Denver in mathematics/probability & statistics, her master’s degree in mathematics/computer science at the University of Denver, and her Ph.D. in Quantitative Research Methods, also at the University of Denver. Now serving as the Associate Dean for Math at CCCOnline, Erica still teaches multiple courses per year, typically in the Calculus sequence. She is also involved in course design and has worked on online course development for both newly redesigned developmental math courses and several Calculus courses updated to incorporate digital content. Erica has served as an advisor for the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, working as part of the Honors Program Council which is responsible for writing Honors Study curricula for the society. Additionally, Erica has co-created and co-facilitates an Assessment Prep Math MOOC, targeted to Colorado Community College system students, but available to anyone with mathematical interest.

Erica is interested in continuing her service as Vice Chair for the Rocky Mountain Section of MAA because her 20 years of experience as a community college math faculty member and her current role as Associate Dean of Math at CCCOnline put her in position to learn and share effective math teaching strategies at all levels and through many modalities. Through her two-year term as ColoMATYC president, she has met new colleagues and enjoyed many collegial friendships with math faculty in Colorado community colleges and surrounding areas, and plans to provide outreach on behalf of the RMS-MAA to her community college colleagues. MAA has always been the premier resource for up-to-the-minute research on mathematics and mathematics education and she looks forward to helping two-year college math faculty explore what the RMS-MAA and the Rocky Mountain math community can offer its students and colleagues.

Carol Kuper

Morgan Community College

Carol Kuper has been the Lead Mathematics instructor for 14 years at Morgan Community College. She received a full scholarship at the University of Northern Colorado and was awarded with a MS in Statistical Research in 1999. Her undergraduate degrees from UNC include a BA in mathematics with an emphasis in Applied Statistics, Actuarial Science and a minor in Psychology. As teaching has always been her passion, she began working as an adjunct instructor for Aims and Front Range before obtaining the full-time position as Lead Mathematics Instructor at Morgan Community College in 2000. Well-liked by both students and peers, Carol was Awarded Faculty of the Year in 2006 and graduated from the CCCS Professional Development and Leadership Academy in 2005. Over the past 14 years of service she has served on a variety of committees, both local and state, including but not limited to: President of Colomatyc, Chair of Morgan Community College’s Assessment Team for AQIP, State Curriculum Committee, GT Review for Mathematics, and ACT/ Accuplacer State committee.

My mathematical journey has been one of deep satisfaction and continuous growth. I started attending MAA meeting’s as an undergraduate serving as president of the Math Club and have enjoyed attending the annual meetings to the present day. MAA facilitates collaboration, commitment to excellence and professional growth enjoyed by undergraduate students and professional of all ages. I have always found new and interesting teaching strategies and opportunities for professional mathematical growth over the years and I wish to give back to the organization that has been such a large part of my personal mathematical journey.

Additional nominations for either the Secretary/Treasurer or the Vice Chair positions can be made from the floor of the business meeting prior to the elections.

Jeff Berg

Arapahoe Community College

The University of Wyoming
to Host the 2014 Meeting
March 28-29, 2014

The program chairs for Rocky Mountain Section are pleased to announce the details of the spring meeting to be held at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY on March 28 & 29, 2014. Please help me spread the information to other members of the section. Complete information is found at their web site http://maa-2014-rms.blogspot.com/

Call for Papers: If you are interested in presenting please e-mail an abstract to lroan@uwyo.edu with subject line MAA Talk by March 14, 2014. There are special sessions for history of mathematics, teaching mathematics, and undergraduate and graduate student presentations

Location and Accommodations: The conference will be held at the University of Wyoming Conference Center @ Hilton Garden Inn. Located on the East side of the University of Wyoming campus, the conference center is attached to the hotel http://www.uwconferencecenter.com/.

To receive the conference block lodging rate of $99+tax please use Group ID: MAA-RMR

Meeting Information: The opening session will begin at 12:30 on Friday. Featured speakers include the RMS Distinguished Teacher Award Winner Marlow Anderson from Colorado College and Ivars Peterson from the national office of the MAA.

Ivars Peterson is Director of Publications and Communications at the Mathematical Association of America. As a science writer, he previously worked at Science News for more than 25 years and served as editor of Science News Online and Science News for Kids. His books include The Mathematical Tourist, Islands of Truth, Newton's Clock, The Jungles of Randomness, and Fragments of Infinity: A Kaleidoscope of Math and Art. He writes the "Mathematical Tourist" column and "MAA NumberADay" blog for the MAA website.

Business Meeting: The annual business meeting will be held at 8am Saturday morning. If you have items for the agenda, please send them to Heidi Keck. The nominating committee is accepting volunteers/nominations for two section positions. The first is Secretary-Treasurer. The second is section Vice Chair, a position reserved for members from a two year college. If you or someone you know would be interested in serving in either of these positions please contact the nominating committee chair, Jeff Berg at jeff.berg@arapahoe.edu.

For any questions or special requests, please contact the Program Co-Chairs:

Chris Hall at chall14@uwyo.edu or Lynne Ipina at ipina@uwyo.edu

Student Activities

Please come and join us for the section meeting in March! We will have a pizza and games session to kick off the meeting (Friday lunch. While you’re there, please consider giving a student talk! Both graduate and undergraduate talks are encouraged.

Feel free to contact Beth (beth.schaubroeck@usafa.edu) or Carl (lienert_c@fortlewis.edu) with any questions.

Preliminary 2014 Meeting Schedule

Friday, March 28

10: 00 – 4:30 Registration

11:00 – 12:45 Student Social Event: Free Lunch for Students and “Mathematical” Games

TBD Luncheon for Department Chairs and MAA Liaisons

11: 00 – 5:30 Publisher Exhibits, and MAA Book Sales

12:30 – 12:45 Opening Remarks and Welcome

12:45 – 1:45 Burton W. Jones Distinguished Teaching Award Invited Lecture

Marlow Anderson, Colorado College

1:45 – 2:00 Coffee Break

2:00 – 3:30 Parallel Sessions – Contributed Papers & Special Sessions

3:30 – 4:00 Coffee Break

4:00 – 5:00 Friday Keynote Address

Ivars Peterson, Director of Publications at the MAA

5:30 – 8:00 Cash Bar, Banquet and Awards Ceremony

Banquet Address

Ivars Peterson, Director of Publications at the MAA

Saturday, March 29

8: 00 – 11:00 Registration

8:00 – 9:00 MAA Rocky Mountain Section Business Meeting

Please forward agenda items to Heidi Keck at hkeck@western.edu by March 21.

8:45 – 9:15 Coffee Break

9:00 – 1:00 Publisher exhibits and MAA Book Sales

9:15 – 10:45 Parallel Sessions – Contributed Papers, Special Sessions

10:45 – 11:15 Coffee Break

11:15 – 12:45 Parallel Sessions – Contributed Papers, Special Sessions

Watch for regular meeting and schedule updates at: http://maa-2014-rms.blogspot.com/

2013 Financial Report

MATHEMATICAL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
Rocky Mountain Section Financial Report - Year Ended 12/31/2013


(A) BEGINNING BANK BALANCE, 12/31/2011			$15,893.10

(B) REVENUES
	B.1 MAA Subvention	$1,038.00
	B.9 Interest Savings/CD	$9.33
	B.10 Book Sales	$181.24
	B.14 Student Activity Grant	$638.08

(B) TOTAL REVENUES			$1866.65

(C) EXPENSES
	C.6 Newsletters	$303.16
	C.7 Travel	$196.86
	C.8 Meeting Expenses	$196.52
	C.10 Students Lecture Program	$100.00
	C.11 Book Sale	$99.00
	C.13 Awards	$324.77
	C. 14 Student Activities	$638.08
	C.15 PPRUMC	$1500.00
	C.16 CO Math Circle	$350.00
	C. 17 CO Math Awards	$250.00
(C) TOTAL EXPENSES			$3,958.39

(D) ENDING BANK BALANCE, 12/31/2013			$13,801.36
(A + B - C = D)


Heidi Keck		RMS Secretary/Treasurer	January 19, 2014
Signature		Title	Date

MAA Rocky Mountain Section
Suggestions for Speakers

The Rocky Mountain Section would like to offer the following suggestions, especially to first-time speakers, regarding preparation of a talk at the conference.

The standard talk length is 20 minutes, (with longer times available upon request, subject to the limitations of the program). Thus, you should prepare your presentation to fit the time allotted. If possible, plan to leave a few minutes at the end of your presentation for questions.
A moderator will be assigned to facilitate each session of presentations. The moderator will introduce the speaker, assist in distribution of any handouts, signal the end of the presentation, and ask for questions from the audience.
If handouts are to be provided, give them to the moderator prior to the beginning of the session including your talk. Plan to bring about 35 handouts and be prepared to give attendees your e-mail address in case the supply runs out. It may also be possible to arrange for posting of electronic materials from your talk on the section website. Check with program organizers concerning this possibility.
Do not include too much detailed technical material in your presentation. Focus on providing the audience with insight into your topic and its key notions. Remember that most members of the audience will not be experts in the field you are discussing, and that the audience is likely to include students.
All session rooms will be equipped with a projector and a laptop hook up. Accordingly, you can present your talk using Power Point slides, PDF, or similar, which will greatly enhance the pace of a presentation. However, make sure that notes on the slides or transparencies are typed in a font big enough and with spacing adequate to be seen clearly 50 to 100 feet away.

The Rocky Mountain Section of

The Mathematical Association of America

Burton W. Jones Award

for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics

Burton W. Jones Award Nomination Form

Name of Nominee _________________________

(First name first)

College or University Affiliation _______________

College or University Address _______________

City ____ State Zip ___

Is the nominee a member of the MAA?

Number of years of teaching experience in a mathematical science

Has the nominee taught at least half time in a mathematical science

for the past three years (not counting a sabbatical period)? _

On a separate page, briefly describe the unusual or extraordinary personal and professional qualities of the nominee that contribute to her or his extraordinary teaching success.

Name of Nominator) ________________

(First name first)

Address of Nominator ______________

______________

Email Address ______________

Telephone: Work ______ Home ______ Fax ______

Nominator’s Signature _________________

Nomination forms should reach Section Secretary by December 1 of each year.

Complete nomination materials should reach Section Secretary by January 15 of each year.

Section Secretary: Heidi Keck, hkeck@western.edu

Western State College; Hurst Hall; Gunnison, CO 81231.

Please consult the Section webpage (http://sections.maa.org/rockymt) for complete guidelines.

Voluntary Section Dues

Many thanks to those members who have made a voluntary dues contribution to the section along with their Spring Meeting Registration!

Although the section has found itself in good financial health in recent years, additional funds are always needed in order to pursue special initiatives suggested by the membership. The successful John Fauvel Memorial Conference and William Dunham Special Lecture, both supported in part by the Section Activity Grant program, provide excellent examples of what can be done with even a small amount of funding to support our section mission and goals.

A voluntary section dues contribution from you now can help build up funds in support of similar initiatives!

To submit your dues, simply return the coupon below with a check for any amount you wish - every little bit will help, and all contributors will receive a letter acknowledging the contribution for their financial records.

MAA Rocky Mountain Section Voluntary Dues Contribution Form

Name _____________________________________________________________

Address _____________________________________________________________

_______________________________________ ZIP __________________

Please indicate in the space provided how you would like your dues to be used:

____________ Undergraduate Student Initiatives

_____________ Graduate Student Initiatives

_____________ Burton W. Jones DTA Fund

_____________ Section Activity Grant Program

_____________ Wherever needed most

_____________ Other: ____________________________________

_____________ TOTAL DUES PAID ($10 recommended)

Please make check payable to: MAA Rocky Mountain Section and return to: Heidi Keck, MAA Rocky Mountain Section Treasurer/Secretary: Western State College, Hurst Hall; Gunnison, CO 81231

MAA Rocky Mountain Section Mission Statement

To promote excellence in mathematics education,

especially at the collegiate level.

Mission Related Goals

1. To foster scholarship, professional development, and professional cooperation among the various constituencies of the mathematical community within the region.

2. To foster the implementation and study of recent research recommendations for the teaching, learning and assessment of collegiate mathematics.

3. To support the implementation of effective mathematics preparation programs of prospective teachers at all levels.

4. To enhance the interests, talents and achievements of all individuals in mathematics, especially of members of underrepresented groups.

5. To provide recognition of the importance of mathematics, mathematical research and quality mathematics teaching, and promote public understanding of the same.

6. To provide regional leadership in the promotion of systemic change in mathematics education, and in the enhancement of public understanding about the needs and importance of mathematical research and education.

Spring 2014 Newsletter in PDF Format for Printing

Table of Contents

2013 - 2014 Section Officers and Committee Members