*Concerns of Young Mathematicians* Volume 3, Issue 13 April 5, 1995 An electronically distributed digest for discussions of the issues of concern to mathematicians at the beginning of their careers. Please, direct submissions and questions to Kevin Madigan madigan@math.nwu.edu , editor for the month of April Next issue: Wednesday, 12 April. March Editor: Wendy Brunzie brunzie@turing.ucdavis.edu April Editor: Kevin Madigan madigan@math.nwu.edu May Editor: Franklin Mendivil mendivil@math.gatech.edu To subscribe: Contact Charles Yeomans at cyeomans@ms.uky.edu Back issues and other information are available via anonymous FTP to ftp.ms.uky.edu, in pub3/mailing.lists/ymn-list. Or connect to the YMN homepage on the WWW, the URL: http://math34.gatech.edu:8080/YMN/ymn.html The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the administrative board or membership of the Young Mathematicians' Network. The editorial policy of this newsletter is to encourage discussion of issues, and facilitate the dissemination of information, relevant to the concerns of young mathematicians. Table of Contents Item # Title ------ ----- 1 Editor's notes 2 Who Is the YMN Administrative Board? 3 Letters from Our Readers 4 Mathematics in Industry: the Job Market of the Future Available via WWW, gopher and ftp 5 AWM Sends Letter to Departments Advertising Temp Positions 6 Mathematicians in USA Today 7 The Temporary Blues Revisited 8 Closing Credits _______________________________________________________________ Item #1 Editor's notes: The monthly changing of the guard has successfully occurred again, without bloodshed or even a bloodless coup. Once again we have some useful and/or interesting information for you here in the *Concerns*. Of particular note is the letter the AWM has drafted and mailed to departments advertising certain temporary positions. We once again have some spirited writings from Kevin Charlwood regarding temporary employment. There is also a piece by me that probably should be part of the "Editor's notes", but I decided to make it a full fledged item all on its own. _______________________________________________________________ Item #2 Who Is the YMN Administrative Board? Kevin Madigan madigan@math.nwu.edu There is some information I want to share with you, and I think this is the appropriate place in the newsletter to do it. I decided in December (for many reasons) to leave academia and seek employment in the actuarial field. I will be writing an article on this topic soon. Many friends and colleagues have asked me if this decision will cause me to leave YMN, which it will not. The YMN is not the YAMN (A = Academic), and I am still a mathematician, although for the foreseeable future I will be an "amateur". I will not be the only YMN administrative board member to leave academia (see below). At the risk of ruffling some feathers I want to editorialize here (**personal opinion alert...not the opinions of the YMN or its administrative board**) and say that I think some of the anxiety we younguns experience with respect to the dismal academic job market stems from a silly attitude towards leaving academia (its not the end of the world; we are all bright people with loads of opportunity in front of us (I am NOT, of course, trivializing the very real pain and frustration that comes from the uncertainty of being on the market for academic employment)). My years in graduate school were incredibly valuable to my development as a thinking adult human being, and these were some of the most exciting and enjoyable years of my life (to date). It is now time for me to do something else for awhile. Certainly I will miss the culture of professional academic mathematics, but I can still study or "do" mathematics as an avocation. I do not cease to be a mathematician at the end of the academic year; I simply cease to be a PROFESSIONAL mathematician. You don't have to be paid to paint to be called a painter; you don't have to be paid to write to be called a writer; you don't have to be paid to perform to be called a performer; you don't have to be paid to play sports to be called an athlete; I don't think you need to be paid to "do mathematics" to be called a mathematician. (**End of personal opinion...back to the facts, ma'am.**) To the point...all of this got me thinking that most of the membership doesn't know who the administrative board is, or what kind of positions we hold. There are 20 of us. 17 of us have responded to my requests for personal info, and here is a quick summary. Of the 17 responding: 1 is a writer/editor (with an MFA in fiction writing); 2 are graduate students who have not yet found post PhD employment; 2 are in short term academic positions, soon to be leaving academia (1 is me, going into actuarial work, the other is going to the NSA); 2 have already left academia (1 in business management/investing, the other in software engineering); 4 hold visiting academic positions and are looking to stay in academia; 6 are in or have just accepted tenure track positions at a college or university. And so it goes. (10 points to the first person to tell me where I got that line.) _______________________________________________________________ Item #2 Letters from Our Readers Both of our letters this week are in response to a letter which appeared last week: - `` Those of us lucky enough to have secured a position for the fall already are probably experiencing an annoying phenomenon: receiving rejection letters from places to which we sent letters of withdrawal many weeks ago. What can be done about this problem? I don't think I'm just being an obnoxious whiner to bring this up, because surely it is in the interests of hiring committees to encourage applicants to inform them when they secure a post elsewhere. But the practice of ignoring withdrawal letters encourages exactly the opposite." - Tim tycchow@math.mit.ed - Letter number 1... This is in response to Tim Chow's question about letters. I don't understand why Mr. Chow considers this a problem. Some schools may simply have a policy of notifying everyone who has applied when the position is filled. Others may simply not have the time and/or man power at this stage in their search to update their records to account for withdrawn candidates in this fashion. Either way it's not a problem. Just throw the letters out. Applicants should send these letters as a professional courtesy to make the application process a little smoother for those who are still going through it. As for myself, since earning a PhD in May 1994 I have worked on an assembly line for $5.65 an hour, been an electrician's helper, and taught as a visiting instructor where I earned my PhD. With no positive contacts this hiring season, I worry about not having a job soon. Budget cuts make the renewal of my current position very unlikely. I can only wish that I was in Mr. Chow's position. -- Greg Gibson North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC gagibson@math.ncsu.edu Letter number 2... Well, I once got a rejection letter from a place I didn't even apply to! (They put my name on the wrong mailing list; I inquired about something else). Sending a humorous letter brought back apologies and... the person whose name was signed on that rejection letter (which of course he never even saw) won't forget me now. Take it easy! They probably just didn't have time to look at all these notifications. Ramit Mehr, Theoretical Division Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) ramit@t10.lanl.gov ________________________________________________________________ Item #3 Mathematics in Industry: the Job Market of the Future Available via WWW, gopher and ftp Mathematics in Industry: the Job Market of the Future, the report of the 1994 SIAM Forum, is now available through the SIAM World Wide Web, gopher, and ftp server. At the 1994 Forum, a series of panel discussions explored such topics as: Mathematicians in Small Firms SIAM's Mathematics in Industry Project - Preliminary Results Hiring in Business, Industry, and Government: The Manager's Perspective Report from the Front: Experiences of Recent Industrial Hires Reaching from Academia to Industry The comments of the panelists are summarized in the report, along with special sections that provide hints for job seekers and advice for departments that want to build relationships with industry. The 1994 SIAM Forum report can be accessed via World Wide Web at http://www.siam.org or via Gopher at Gopher.siam.org under the Reports directory. It is also available via anonymous FTP at ae.siam.org in the /pub/forum directory. ______________________________________________________________ Item #4 AWM Sends Letter to Departments Advertising Temp Positions Harriet Lord hlord@csupomona.edu The AMS, AWM, and MAA have all voiced their concern about the current employment situation, particularly with respect to temporary and part-time employment. At the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Cincinnati in January 1994, both the AMS Council and the AWM Executive Committee unanimously passed a resolution about recent doctorates and temporary jobs. This resolution was a slightly modified version of the statement of Supportive Practices and Ethics in the Employment of Young Mathematicians proposed to the AMS Council by the AMS Committee on the Profession. At the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Francisco in January 1995 the Board of Governors of the MAA unanimously passed a similar resolution. That resolution contains three recommendations to departments and institutions. (Note that the statement of the resolution passed by both the AMS Council and the AWM Executive Committee can be found on page 202 of the March 1994 issue of the Notices of the AMS and on page 8 of March-April issue of the AWM Newsletter. The three recommendations contained in the MAA resolution are appear on page 12 of the February 1995 issue of Focus, the Newsletter of the MAA.) More recently, the AWM Executive Committee unanimously passed a resolution to send the letter that appears below to chairs of those departments which advertised temporary positions in the AWM Newsletter that were not clearly identified as Postdoctoral positions. This letter has been sent to 31 Mathematics departments. ***** Dear Department Chair: AWM has long recognized the importance of the early post-Ph.D. years in the development of a career in Mathematics. It is because of this importance that we are concerned about the practice of offering temporary faculty positions to new and recent Ph.D. mathematicians. (By temporary positions, we mean temporary faculty positions that are not Postdoctoral Fellowships or Postdoctoral Assistant Professorships.) Thus we are writing to all department chairs whose departments advertised temporary positions that are not clearly identified as actual Postdoctoral positions. We know that the occasional use of temporary positions is sometimes unavoidable. Our concern is with the repeated hiring of young mathematicians in temporary positions, often for a period of one year or less. The Executive Committee of AWM expressed its concern at its January 1994 meeting in Cincinnati by endorsing the recommendations contained in the statement "Supportive Practices and Ethics in the Employment of Young Mathematicians". This statement of The AMS Committee on the Profession (CoProf) has also been endorsed by the AMS Council. The MAA Board of Governors has endorsed its own version of this statement. (A copy of each of these statements is enclosed with this letter.) We are asking departments that will be hiring temporary faculty in one-year positions for the next few years to consider converting these to multi-year positions. In addition, those departments that will be hiring temporary faculty for the next 5-10 years are requested to work with their administration in order to convert these temporary positions to tenure-track positions. It is our belief that the repeated hiring of temporary faculty not only impedes the career development of the young mathematicians holding these positions, but also increases the work load of the permanent faculty in the department concerned. An individual in a one-year position must begin searching for a new job in October. He or she will not have the time and energy, and indeed can hardly be expected, to contribute to the life of the department and of the institution. It is our hope that those departments that have been forced to hire temporary faculty on a regular basis will be able to work with their administrators in order to reduce or eliminate this practice. Sincerely yours, Chuu-Lian Terng President Harriet Lord Member-at-Large Executive Committee _______________________________________________________________ Item #5 Mathematicians in USA Today Ed Aboufadel aboufade@sun.scsu.ctstate.edu USA Today, "The Nation's Newspaper", ran an article in the March 29, 1995 issue, in their Life section, with the title, "Where the Work is in Computer Era". The article reports on a magazine called P.O.V., "a New York-based lifestyles magazine making its debut this month", which complied a list of the 10 top jobs and 10 "no-so-hot" jobs for the rest of the decade. Most of the 10 hot jobs are computer related (e.g., Multi-media Software Designer; Internet Surfer). Funeral director was also listed. Among the 10 worst jobs, #1 was bank teller. **Mathematician** was listed at #10. Although the USA Today article doesn't describe how these lists were organized, it appears that our still-lousy job market has caught the attention of at least one staff member of P.O.V. _______________________________________________________________ Item #6 The Temporary Blues, Revisited Kevin Charlwood kec1@bradley.bradley.edu Hello, again! Many moons ago, I wrote a piece entitled, "The Temp- orary Blues." After some reflection on my current situation, I thought I would do a reprise. Now that I am only six weeks away from completing my duties as a one-year full-time temporary assistant professor at Bradley University, I wanted to tell you how my year has gone, and to indicate that, all told, it hasn't been all bad. The tone of my piece last fall was, let's just say, less than upbeat! There, I went on at length discussing the downside of accepting temporary employment....make no mistake, those things are all still true! The salary issue has bothered me all year. Making $29K, about $5K less than a starting tenure-track individual would make here, has sorely disappointed me. For those of you contemplating the "merits" of temporary employment, once you give up the three to five thousand dollars, you'll never get it back! At the risk of overstating it, for those of you who will still be looking in June or July (or perhaps later), beware of being cornered into accepting an exploitative wage. This practice is widespread, despite its condemnation by the major mathematical organizations. Enough of that! OK, so what's so great about being a temporary, you ask? First, a year is long enough to form some close, very rewarding professional relationships, which may conceivably last a lifetime. For me, there are four faculty here in the department at Bradley with whom I will definitely keep in touch after I leave. I have a strong possibility of completing a collaborative effort begun last fall, which will be of significant value to my next employer. These people, along with several professors from my Ph.D.-granting institution (UW-Milwaukee), will form a solid base for professional contacts in the future. One of my recommenders is from Bradley as well. Personally, I believe that the more people whom you know well, and who know you well, too, the better off you are professionally. More contacts means more exposure, which can in turn generate new avenues of pursuit for your research or the enhancement of your teaching skills. Next is the experience factor. I now have a year of full-time experience under my belt, helping me get even more attention on the job market this year. Tied in with having a year of teaching a full load are some more subtle points. First, as a faculty member, I have had the privilege of going to faculty meetings. Here, you learn how to "play ball", as it were. As Bradley is doing a search, I have caught a glimpse of the search process from their viewpoint, helping me immeasurably in putting together my own search materials. Learning how to deal with departmental politics has been a plus as well....again, I'm now more "seasoned", and better prepared to take on the responsibilities of a tenure-track position than I was last year at this time. Finally, I know much more about how money flows in and out of a department, how it is allocated, and the politics associated with its dispensation. As a graduate student, I lacked some understanding of all these matters. Now, I feel confident that I can "hit the floor running" wherever I go, and with the high demands of many tenure-track posts, it is crucial to get off to a great start. Lastly, though my professional development has suffered to a degree from having to look again, I have had the opportunity to be involved in the life of the department here. Many of these items, if not all, tie in with experience, too. I am serving on the curriculum committee in the department here as a "guest." This just means I get to learn, and to voice an opinion, but I have no voting power to make potential changes. The experience here, in particular, hearing the pedagogical philosophies of others, has increased my own awareness of curriculum issues, and has helped me firm up my own personal opinions on such matters. I am also working with four other faculty in conducting a casual, weekly under- graduate seminar, where students present their solutions to nonstandard problems. It's a wonderful opportunity to do some recreational thinking, and to watch bright students make discoveries. Along the way, I did get one paper submitted from my dissertation. This may prove to be the most significant accomplishment of all, from the viewpoint of prospective employers. Finally, I had the good fortune to have a computer in my office to use. Not only can I put together application packages with greater ease, but I also took the time to deepen my knowledge of PC's, another asset on the job market. Now that I'm about finished at Bradley, I can say that although the year has been difficult, it has also had numerous rewards. Unfortunately, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, but if you find yourself in a bind, needing a temporary job so you can pay the bills, take heart. All is not lost: you can eat, get some experience, and make some good friends along the way. For those of you enduring the hardships of a temporary position, I wish you the best of luck in landing somewhere more perm- anently. Respectfully submitted, Kevin Charlwood, Bradley University ______________________________________________________________ Item #7 Closing Credits The Young Mathematicians' Network is administered by Charles Yeomans cyeomans@ms.uky.edu Mark Winstead mwwinst@gcr.com Nancy Wilson nwilson@stmarys-ca.edu Emil Volcheck Emil.Volcheck@risc.uni-linz.ac.at Frank Sottile sottile@math.toronto.edu Vic Perera vicum@math.ohio-state.edu Franklin Mendivil mendivil@math.gatech.edu Kevin Madigan madigan@math.nwu.edu Leigh Lunsford lunsford@math.uah.edu Steve Kennedy skennedy@mathcs.carleton.edu Matt Hudelson hudelson@math.washington.edu Silvia Heubach silvi@cinenet.net Bob Dobrow dobrow@cam.nist.gov Lyle Cochran lcochran@fresno.edu Kevin Charlwood kec1@bradley.bradley.edu Neil Calkin calkin@math.gatech.edu Wendy Brunzie brunzie@mathfs.math.montana.edu Curtis Bennett cbennet@bgnet.bgsu.edu Frank Arlinghaus frank@math.ysu.edu Edward Aboufadel aboufade@sun.scsu.ctstateu.edu _______________________________________________________________ End of Journal -- Next week: The Discussion Continues