Tondeur BIG Career Activities at MAA Section Meetings
MAA Sections can now propose to deliver at least three new or enhanced BIG-career-focused activities at their Section meeting and receive funding for these activities. Successful projects or activities examples are:
- Invite a BIG speaker to talk about mathematics in their work (a topic of interest to professionals and students).
- Offer a mock interview game (testing at MathFest 2019 and available from MAA at JMM 2020).
- Offer a résumé review service.
- Invite a former PIC Math participant to share their experience of building a course with an industry component.
- Organize a career panel.
- Help another Section replicate what you have done at your section (you can use the Section Officer's MAA Connect site to advertise your help and find a partner section).
In addition to these activities, we encourage sections to think about the ways they use the word "faculty" to refer to meeting participants from the working world, and to recognize that the term might not include MAA members such as those from BIG careers and those who are K-12 teachers.
Successful proposals will be eligible to receive up to $2000, with $1000 in advance of the meeting to support preparations and travel for speakers and additional $1000 after they report on the activities to support future BIG career activities. Sufficient support is available for each section to receive funding once in Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021 or Fall 2021.
Schedule
Section Meeting
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Proposal Due by 5PM
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Notification of acceptance or revisions needed by
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Up to $1000 of award disbursed around
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Report Due by 5 PM
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Remainder of awarded amount disbursed around
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Spring 2021
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October 1, 2020
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November 1, 2020
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December 1, 2020
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July 1, 2021
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July 15, 2021
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Fall 2021
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March 1, 2021
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April 1, 2021
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May 1,
2021
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December 15, 2021
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February 1, 2022
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Spring 2022
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October 1, 2021
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November 1, 2021
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December 1, 2021
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July 1, 2022
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July 15, 2022
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Fall
2022
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March 1, 2022
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April 1, 2022
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May 1,
2022
|
December 15, 2022
|
February 1, 2023
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Please use the form below to submit your proposal. You will be notified of your acceptance via email by the schedule indicated above.
If you need to preview the questions on the proposal, please view them here. Please reach out to [email protected] with any questions about your proposal.
Report
Your report is due according to the schedule above. It will need to include, for each proposed activity, an estimate of the number of participants who joined that activity, how you think it went (and how you drew that conclusion), and your plans for the future with respect to that activity. Please also include any recommendations for other sections trying the same activity - we will collect them and share with all sections. We will share these reports with our sponsors and evaluators of this program and share aggregate information more publicly.
Your report should take the form of a single PDF, that also includes your proposal. Please email reports to [email protected].
Resources
The MAA BIG Career Interview Card Game

The MAA BIG Career Interview card game was tested at 2019 MAA MathFest and is now available for purchase.
Buy Now
MAA Connect
Check our the MAA Section Officers community for more information on BIG Speakers and resources for hosting career-related activities.
About Tondeur
With the support of a generous donation from Philippe and Claire-Lise Tondeur, the MAA is able to offer financial support for a round of BIG Career Activities at MAA Section Meetings. “BIG” stands for business, industry and government.
This seed funding aims to kick-start or enhance ongoing inclusion of BIG career events at section meetings. The efforts are coordinated with SIAM and AMS activities and two online resources: the new MAA Connect online platform will be a place that sections can share information and experience about running career events. The BIG SIGMAA and the BIG Math Network have additional information about careers. The BIG Jobs Guide, a paperback published by SIAM, can also serve as a resource.