*Concerns of Young Mathematicians* Volume 3, Issue 27 Sept. 20, 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 Emil Volcheck volcheck@acm.org , editor for the month of September. Next issue: Wednesday, 27 September. July/August Editor: Kevin Madigan madkev@aol.com September Editor: Emil Volcheck volcheck@acm.org October Editor: Frank Sottile sottile@math.toronto.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 National Meetings 3 Employment Data from Canada 4 Project NExT 5 Closing Credits _______________________________________________________________ Item #1 Editor's notes: We start our issue with a request for information from Evan Houston, who serves on an AMS subcommittee. He'd like to find out from you how well the national meetings of the AMS serve young mathematicians. Next, Frank Sottile provides information on the job situation in Canada. Finally, Kevin Charlwood writes about his participation in Project NExT -- "New Experiences in Teaching". Emil Volcheck _______________________________________________________________ Item #2 National Meetings Dear Colleague, I have just been appointed to a subcommittee of the AMS Committee on Meetings and Conferences. This subcommittee is charged with evaluating the effectiveness of national meetings (both winter and summer), and my specific task is to analyze how (well) these meetings, including, of course, the Employment Register, serve young mathematicians. Below I list some specific questions. I would greatly appreciate your response these, as well as any other comments you care to make. Thanks in advance for your help. 1. What, to your knowledge, is currently being done at national meetings that specifically affects young mathematicians? Is it beneficial? How could it be improved? 2. Have you participated in the Employment Register? Was it run well? Again, how could it be improved? 3. How do you think other young mathematicians perceive national meetings and, specifically, the job register? 4. One idea which has been discussed it to have special sessions for young mathematicians at national meetings. Is this a good idea? Please let me have your thoughts as soon as possible (I have to make a preliminary report in about a week). Again, thanks for your help. Sincerely, Evan Houston Member, Subcommittee to Review National Meetings and Professor of Mathematics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte [Editor's Note: Evan Houston will use all responses received by the end of this week for his report. Later responses will be kept for future use by the subcommittee.] _______________________________________________________________ Item #3 Employment Data from Canada Submitted by Frank Sottile sottile@math.toronto.edu . The July/August issue of CMS Notes/Notes de la SMC (page 7) contained the fourth annual CMS survey on the mathematics profession in Canada. This survey Included some information about the employment of Young Mathematicians. I will attempt to summarize some of that information for the readers of this journal. Due to some errors by the reporting departments, there is an inconsistency among some of the numbers. In November 1994, 64 departments in Canada which offer degree programs in pure and applied mathematics and statistics were canvassed, but only 49 replied to the survey. These departments reported a total of 108 new Ph.D.'s from September 1993 to August 1994 (the time period surveyed). Of those 108, 56 had academic employment, an additional 28 were post- doctoral fellows, 10 had found employment in the private sector or government, 4 were unemployed, 1 listed as other, and 7 were unaccounted for. On the demand side, there were 153.5 academic appointments made during that period. Of those, 45.5 were tenure track/tenured, 46 were postdoctoral fellows, 27 had other appointment with normal teaching duties, 27 had other appointment with reduced teaching duties, and 13 were in other categories. During that period, 37.5 people vacated full time tenure track positions, of which 22 were to be replaced within a year. There were expected to be 30 vacancies in tenure track positions in the following year. As in the US, (but on a smaller scale) there is an overproduction of Ph.D.'s. The unemployment rate for new doctorates seems to be lower in Canada than that reported (15%) for a similar cohort in the US at a similar time (the July 1993 - June 1994 cohort in summer, 1994). Perhaps one reason for this is the abundance of postdoctoral positions, which seem to be markedly different from what are termed postdocs in the US. These are paid for out of research grants, or awarded directly by the National Science and Engineering Research Council. The salary level and teaching load is often markedly lower than that of other non-tenure eligible appointments. It would be very interesting for this survey to include statistics about the fates of the 70% of those hired who do not have tenure eligible positions. Perhaps also to indicate how many of those employed were part time, or otherwise underemployed. _______________________________________________________________ Item #4 Project NExT "Plugging in" to the Profession: Project NExT begins its Second Year by Kevin Charlwood (e-mail: charlwk@snoopy.tblc.lib.fl.us) Greetings from the Sunshine State! I'm now at Saint Leo College (near Tampa) after finishing my year at Bradley University in Illinois. Now that the dust has settled a bit, I wanted to take this opportunity to fill those of you in who are not in the know about Project NExT. I was invited to participate in Project NExT as a fellow for the `95 - `96 academic year, and traveled to Vermont for its first meeting, along with the Mathfest. In some sense, I find it difficult to describe, as the Project involves practically every phase of one's development as a professional mathematician, hence my choice of title for this piece. First, some history is in order. The two principal organizers of Project NExT, where NExT is an acronym for "New Experiences in Teaching", are Christine Stevens at St. Louis University in Missouri, and Jim Leitzel at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Together, they obtained funding for part of the costs involved through a grant from the Exxon Education Found- ation. The MAA provides support as well, and most importantly, the home institutions of the prospective participants must also guarantee a measure of travel support. Last year, 66 fellows from a variety of schools nation- wide took part, and this year 80 new fellows were accepted into the program. What exactly is Project NExT? It's an excellent way for new or recent Ph. D.'s in the mathematical sciences to learn about nationwide reforms in collegiate math education, how to keep up one's research, how to work towards tenure, and many other items as well. With a large group of fellows from all over the country, you meet a cross section of your peers who are also attempting to find their niche within the profession. When you're first starting out, it's quite easy to feel overwhelmed by a full-time teaching load, and all the other expectations associated with a position as a professor. For me, it was comforting to know I was not alone....and the electronic discussion list gives us a chance to resolve problems we face each day. In addition to the Fellows, the discussion list includes the two Project NExT co-directors and about 30 "consultants" - seasoned professionals in the mathematical community who are always willing to share their expertise on any topic of concern to us. Now for some specifics. Once accepted, a fellow is expected to attend three major meetings during the year: two Mathfests in consecutive years, and the AMS-MAA Joint Meetings in January. At these meetings, NExT Fellows participate in a variety of programs, designed to educate and support new (or relatively new) full-time teachers of college mathematics. At first, we had opportunities to meet all the other new fellows, including small group discussions, organized by individual fellows' places of employment. We attended presentations on a variety of calculus reforms, use of tech- nology in courses other than calculus, how to implement and assess writing, projects and group work in your courses, just to name a few. These and all the other sessions were run by highly regarded teacher-scholars; for me, it was a wonderful opportunity to see what "excellence in teaching" is all about. I must say those experiences have already impacted very favorably on my current classes. Many sessions ran simultaneously, so fellows had to choose in advance the presentations/discussions which they found most useful to them. We also had a choice of four-hour short courses from cooperative learning to grant proposal writing, undergraduate research in mathematics, using computers in D.E.'s, preparation of K-12 teachers, and on modernizing a precalculus course. I attended the grant writing workshop, and learned about the heirarchy at the NSF and criteria which all proposals must meet. We looked at sample proposals, working in groups to decide whether they met the guidelines. We heard about other sources of funding for teaching-oriented projects, as well as pure research. The days and evenings were packed with activities, and though I was exhausted by each day's end I somehow found the energy to carry on late-night conversations with other fellows. Getting to talk to other young mathematicians about dealing with students, trying to get papers out, departmental politics, etc. provided a much-needed outlet to vent some of the anxieties associated with the day-to-day existence of a faculty member. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming meetings in Orlando where we'll get to share our first semester/quarter experiences.... it'll definitely be a blast! So how can you potentially join in? For application information, keep your eyes peeled for announcements in the FOCUS of the MAA and the Notices of the AMS early next year. The application basically involves the usual relevant personal data, along with a statement of purpose, ie., what do you expect to get out of your participation in Project NExT? You will also need a letter from your department chair or dean, guaranteeing financial support for the year's meetings. More application information can be obtained at the Project NExT booth in the exhibit area at the Joint Meetings in Orlando, or you can contact Jim Leitzel directly at jimleitz@unlinfo.unl.edu . So, if you are a new or recent Ph.D. (or expecting to finish this year), and think that your career could use the "shot in the arm" that Project NExT provides, go for it! I highly recommend it! See you in Orlando..... _______________________________________________________________ Item #5 Charles Yeomans cyeomans@ms.uky.edu Mark Winstead mwwinst@pic.net Nancy Wilson nwilson@stmarys-ca.edu Emil Volcheck volcheck@acm.org Frank Sottile sottile@math.toronto.edu Vic Perera vicum@math.ohio-state.edu Franklin Mendivil mendivil@math.gatech.edu Kevin Madigan madkev@aol.com Leigh Lunsford lunsford@math.uah.edu Steve Kennedy skennedy@mathcs.carleton.edu Matt Hudelson hudelson@pi.math.wsu.edu Silvia Heubach silvi@cinenet.net Greg Dresden dresden@fireant.ma.utexas.edu Bob Dobrow bdobrow@cs-sun1.nemostate.edu Lyle Cochran lcochran@fresno.edu Kevin Charlwood charlwk@snoopy.tblc.lib.fl.us Wendy Brunzie brunzie@mathfs.math.montana.edu Frank Arlinghaus frank@math.ysu.edu Edward Aboufadel aboufade@gvsu.edu _______________________________________________________________ End of Journal -- Next week: The Discussion Continues