Title: You have a job, now what? Professional development opportunities

Panelists: Eric Aurand, Eastfield Collge

Jacqueline A. Jensen, Sam Houston State University

Michael B. Scott, California State University Monterey Bay

Francis Su, Harvey Mudd College

Summary:

The panel consisted of presentations by our four panel members followed by a question and answer period. Each panelists presented information on one or more programs in which they had been involved.

Jackie Jensen

Jackie gave information on Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) at both the national level and the sectional level in Texas. She also addressed the IMMERSE program, AP grading, and YMN (Young Mathematicians Network).

Project NExT (New Experiences inTeaching) * professional development program for new or recent Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences

* addresses all aspects of an academic career

- improving the teaching and learning of mathematics

- engaging in research and scholarship

- participating in professional activities

- provides a network of peers and mentors as they assume these responsibilities

* More information: http://archives.math.utk.edu/projnext/

* Project NExT is accepting applications for the 2006-2007 Fellowship year (CV, teaching statement, research statement, letter of support from your university) -due April 17, 2006.

* Funding: Your school must commit to provide some funding.

Section Project NExT

* 18 Sections run Section NExT programs

* Texas Section

- Begun 1996

- About 5 new Fellows each year

- Fall meeting and activities at the spring section meeting

- All funding provided by the Section

- More information: http://www.shsu.edu/~mth_jaj/tx _next

IMMERSE (Intensive Mathematics: a Mentoring, Education and Research Summer Experience)

* two interweaving components

- strengthening the preparation of students who are about to enter their first year of graduate study in mathematics

- developing the teaching, research, and mentoring skills of graduate students and early-career faculty.

* Mentoring vertically integrated -senior UNL faculty mentor early career faculty, early career faculty mentor the graduate students, and the early-career faculty and graduate students mentor pre-grads

* Each early-career faculty has a research mentor in the form of a senior UNL faculty member

* Early-career faculty participants will be selected based on the applicants' qualifications and potential to benefit from the program

* Preference will be given to applicants whose research interests lie in the research areas of one or more UNL faculty members

* Candidates for the early-career faculty position must

- be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents;

- have earned a doctoral degree;

- be employed in a tenure-track position as an assistant professor in a non-doctoral-granting mathematics department in an institution in the U.S.;

- be untenured.

* More information: http://www.math.unl.edu/pi/MCTP/immerse

AP Calculus (or Statistics) Grading

* Being an AP Exam Reader In June, AP readers evaluate and score the free-response sections of the AP Exams. AP Exam Readers are led by a Chief Reader, a college professor who has the responsibility of ensuring that students receive grades that accurately reflect college-level achievement. More than 6,700 teachers and college faculty participated in the 2004 Reading (600 for Calculus)

* . How to Apply Online application, CV, and syllabus for a course which covers the material on the AP exam you read.

* Requirements for Application College Exam Readers must have taught within the past three years at least one college course comparable to the AP course.

* More information: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/article/ 0,,153-176-0-4137,00.html

YMN (Young Mathematicians Network)

Our aim is to serve the community of young mathematicians by:

* maintaining an active online community where young mathematicians can ask questions;

* sharing new and interesting news;

* acting as a forum for undergraduates and graduates to share things of interest;

* providing information about career options and job searches;

* disseminating information on publishing, grant proposals, obtaining industry jobs, and other things which many of us did not get in school; and

* sharing new and interesting research news

* More information: http://www.youngmath.net

Eric Aurand

Eric currently teaches at a community college. As an ad-interim assistant professor at Texas A&M - Commerce, Eric began teaching math education courses which led him to his current interests. He became involved in Sectional NExT in Texas and found great networking opportunities there. Eric encouraged people to join their sectional NExT group.

Eric became involved in Project ACCCESS (Advancing Community College Careers, Education, Scholarship and Service) which would be similar to a Project NExT for people teaching in community colleges. A Project ACCCESS fellow attends two meetings, one at the AMAC national meetings and one at a Sectional NExT meeting. Everyone is funded with the fellow's institution paying for half of the costs and Project ACCCESS picking up the other half of the costs. Benefits include being able to network with experienced folks. Fellows also belong to an email list over which common concerns (including dealing with campus politics) can be discussed. More information can be found on the MAA's website under Project ACCCESS. (Note the misspelling of "access.")

Michael Scott

Michael talked about the Legacy of R.L.Moore Project, PMET, and Project NExT. The Legacy of R.L.Moore Project of the Educational Advancement Foundation

* Promotes the "Moore Method" of teaching, an inquiry-based learning method

o A Socratic method that encourages students to solve problems independently

o Modified Moore Method

* Annual Legacy of R. L. Moore Conference

o Ninth Annual Legacy of R. L. Moore Conference, Austin, Texas, May 11-13, 2006

o Connect with people who use the Moore Method

o Provides

 Exposure & Feedback

 Mentors

 Materials

 Grants

* Fully Funded if invited

http://www.discovery.utexas.edu/rlm/index.html Michael found past conferences very helpful and has used the information in his own classes. Michael became involved with K-12 math teachers while at a post-doc at Kansas State University. PMET (Preparing Mathematicians to Educate Teachers) helps mathematicians to provide quality math education for teachers.

* The PMET program has the following major components:

o Faculty Development - Workshops and mini-courses help mathematicians to be better prepared to provide high-quality mathematical education to teachers.

o Information and Resources (See Website)

o Regional Networks - California, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, and Ohio

* Michael's Own PMET Experience

o University of Nebraska-Lincoln, August 2004.

* Leaders: Ruth Heaton, James Lewis

o Issues & Topics

* Culture

* Mathematical content: What should teachers know?

* Curricular space

* Mentoring for New Teachers

* Funding: Room & Board, Pay for own transportation

* http://www.maa.org/pmet/

Michael agreed with Jackie's comments about the national Project NExT. Michael was one of only two post-docs in the seventy or so 2003-04 NExT fellows, and he encouraged post-docs to apply. He found the support network that Project NExT provides very helpful. Project NExT also lets you know what to expect in a tenure-track position and provides access to other opportunities.

Francis Su

Francis began his talk on professional development by encouraging everyone to learn something new! He gave three places one could indeed learn something new: PCMI (Park City Math Institute), MAA PREP (Professional Enhancement Program) workshops, and AIM (American Institute of Mathematics).

PCMI is fun, fun, fun. The institute meets for three weeks in July and has programs for six or more groups of people. There are courses at all levels - elementary students to researches in the focus area for that summer. Everything is paid for, but one should apply for the program that he or she best fits into. Contact organizers to say you are interested. Google PCMI for more information.

MAA PREP workshops are fun, fun (4 or 5 days of fun as opposed to 3 weeks of fun). They are offered throughout the year and provide focus time where you can learn a lot about a new area. They are less competitive to get into, rotate around the country, and you can get everything paid for. There are roughly twenty slots available for a PREP workshop and about 20 applicants are accepted. Google MAA PREP for more information.

AIM is intense. It is a 3 to 5 day conference in Palo Alto, CA. The conference focuses on open problems. There are about 25-30 spots available and 4-5 of these are specifically for people not in the area being currently studied. There are conferences on a variety of topics. Google American Institute of Mathematics for more information.

Other programs to look at include IPAN at UCLA and MSRI at Berkeley. These have semester themes and conference funding is available. In general, you should look for opportunities, insert yourself in places where you will learn a lot of new stuff, and contact the organizers of programs that look interesting.