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Section Liaison Programs

With the advent of the new Departmental Membership structure and a more formalized way for Sections to email their members (see Communication Support), the MAA no longer maintains a departmental liaison program at the Association level. However, many Sections have chosen to create their own Departmental Liaisons Programs, whose goals include:

  • Providing timely information of professional interest to mathematics departments;
  • Publicizing MAA programs, publications, and activities; and
  • Collecting information from departments about their students, faculty, and programs.

From publicizing Section meetings and workshops, to encouraging nominations for Section awards; from gathering information for newsletters, to identifying candidates for Section office, liaisons can be a tremendous asset to the success of MAA Section programs. In addition to sending emails to all MAA members in the Section, leaders can communicate with non-member mathematicians, letting them know about all the MAA has to offer in their region, and recruiting new (individual and departmental) members.

There are many ways in which a Section can make use of a liaisons network. Some possibilities:

  • Send a copy of the Section newsletter, a flyer about an upcoming meeting, or information about  Section NExT to each department in the Section, for electronic distribution or printing and posting on a bulletin board.
  • Ask for information about new faculty, activities of student organizations, and important milestones and achievements, and publicize them on the Section website and/or newsletter.
  • Encourage departments to nominate their faculty for MAA and Section awards.
  • Highlight opportunities for students in the Section.
  • Help to welcome new faculty to the Section and involve them in your activities.
  • Find new venues for Section meetings; involve members of departments who may not typically attend.

Please note, from the MAA Section email policy:

Sections may not create or maintain their own private email lists for the general Section membership, using any information available under the Member Lookup feature on the web site. Any message of general interest to the Section – meeting announcements, requests for nominations for awards, distribution of the newsletter – must be sent through the MAA office, so that all current members are included. But… In some cases Sections may create and use their own subgroup-lists for specific purposes, if the recipients hold appropriate positions in the Section and have opted in by giving their consent. (This statement can be as simple as an email message stating, “I agree to receive email messages from [name of group]. I may withdraw my permission at any time by contacting [Section officer].” The Section officer in charge of the group should keep these permissions as long as the group exists.) Some examples:

  • Section officers
  • Members of a committee
  • Department liaisons or representatives (one per department)
  • Department chairs

Some Sections elect or appoint a Liaison Coordinator who recruits and communicates with departmental liaisons; others assign those duties to another officer. In some Sections, the liaisons meet in person at Section meetings (over breakfast, for instance) and share ideas.

For more information, or to find out about Sections who have successfully implemented a liaisons program, contact the Committee on Sections by emailing communities@maa.org.