• 2005 PREP Workshop Registration Now Open
• 2005 PMET Workshop Registration Now Open
• Regional Undergraduate Mathematics Conferences
• Time for Students to Apply for Summer REU Programs
  
• Launchings from the CUPM Curriculum Guide 2004
• Project NExT: Call for Applications
• MAA ans AMATYC focus on two-year college faculty with Project ACCCESS
• Math & Bio 2010: Linking Undergraduate Disciplines

2005 PREP Workshop Registration Now Open

The Mathematical Association of America’s PRofessional Enhancement Program (PREP) provides a range of activities to support growth for mathematicians at all stages of their careers. Whether you are seeking new ideas for research and teaching, development of leadership skills or simply looking for a chance to interact with colleagues on one of the annual MAA Mathematical Study Tours, PREP has a program for you.

You can learn more about the PREP program at  www.maa.org/prep/2005 and view descriptions and register for this year’s workshops at www.maa.org/prep/2005.

2005 PMET Workshop Registration Now Open

The MAA project Preparing Mathematicians to Educate Teachers (PMET) offers an extensive series of workshops for college and university faculty. Each workshop will focus on preparing teachers for elementary, middle and/or secondary school mathematics. Participants will examine how pre-service teachers learn mathematics, make sense of mathematical ideas and how they integrate their knowledge of mathematics into their thinking about teaching.

Costs of lodging and food while at the workshops are covered by the program. PMET pays participants' room, board and tuition. Participants' only cost is travel plus incidentals. Some travel support is available to deal with special circumstances. For information contact Ed Dubinsky at edd@math.kent.edu.

Regional Undergraduate Mathematics Conferences for Spring 2005

The goal of the Mathematical Association of America’s National Science Foundation Regional Undergraduate Mathematical Conferences (NSF-RUMC) program is to increase the number and quality of undergraduate conferences that provide opportunities for students in the mathematical sciences to make presentations in a supportive and non-threatening atmosphere. Presenting a talk at a conference is an excellent way for students to practice oral communication of mathematics and to network with other undergraduate students interested in mathematics.

The MAA, with funding from NSF DMS, is providing partial support for a number of conferences this spring. We hope that you and your students will participate in a conference near you. A list of all workshops for this spring is online at www.maa.org/ugconf/spring2005.html.

Time for Students to Apply for Summer REU Programs

 Do you have a student who is interested in a summer Research Experience for Undergraduates program? There are lots of possibilities. Visit www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.cfm?unitid=5044

Launchings from the CUPM Curriculum Guide 2004

In February 2004, the MAA published the CUPM Curriculum Guide, which includes many recommendations and new ideas. Launchings from the CUPM Curriculum Guide is a new monthly column online by David Bressoud that will examine these recommendations. It is the latest in a long and distinguished line of CUPM reports that have made recommendations on the undergraduate curriculum in mathematics and have appeared roughly every ten years, going back to the committee’s founding in 1953.

You can access the Launchings at MAA Online, www.maa.org.

Project NExT: Call for Applications

Project NExT is looking for applications from new mathematics faculty who would like to become next year’s NExT Fellows. The application deadline is April 15, 2005.

Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) is the MAA’s professional development program for new and recent Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences; including pure and applied mathematics, statistics, operations research, and mathematics education. Faculty for whom the 2005-2006 academic year will be the first or second year of full-time teaching (post-Ph.D.) at the college or university level are invited to apply to become Project NExT Fellows.

For more information, including application forms, visit the Project NExT web site http://archives.math.utk.edu/projnext.

MAA and AMATYC focus on two-year college faculty with Project ACCCESS

Project ACCCESS (Advancing Community College Careers: Educations, Scholarship and Service) is a mentoring and professional development initiative for two-year college mathematics faculty. The project's goal is to provide experiences that will help new faculty become more effective teachers and active members of the broader mathematical community.

The first cohort of Project ACCCESS Fellows met at the AMATYC meeting in Orlando, November 2004, will attend MAA section meetings in spring 2004 and meet again at the AMATYC meeting in San Diego, November 2005. A second cohort will begin meeting at the 2005 AMATYC meeting. Applications for the second cohort will be solicited soon. Details will be posted on the web, www.maa.org/ProjectACCCESS.

Math & Bio 2010: Linking Undergraduate Disciplines

Every day, findings in genetics, cell biology, ecology, medicine, and evolution excite our imaginations and drive sectors of the economy. New approaches and new tools need to be developed, tested, and disseminated to harness this wealth of new information. Additionally, students need to be introduced to these materials at the undergraduate level to be prepared for future careers and to understand the nature of scientific knowledge.

Math & Bio 2010, edited by Lynn Steen and published in late 2004, envisages a new educational paradigm in which the disciplines of mathematics and biology, currently quite separate, will be productively linked in the undergraduate science programs of the twenty-first century. For more information visit www.maa.org/mtc.