This project will bring several members from each mathematics department in the ACM to participate in a two-day meeting to be held in July 2017 at the ACM office in Chicago. The meeting will focus on how departments can address contemporary problems facing their departments within the framework of the recommendations contained in the updated 2015 Mathematical Association of America (MAA) CUPM Undergraduate Curriculum Guide and other relevant documents.
This meeting of ACM mathematicians will occur in conjunction with MathFest 2017, the annual summer meeting of the MAA on July 26-29 at the Chicago Hilton, which is four blocks from the ACM office.
Engaging the Community of ACM Mathematicians
Conference on July 25-26, 2017
ACM Office, Chicago, IL
- Agenda and list of participants
- Plenary presentation: Trends in Transforming Postsecondary Education in Mathematics by Karen Saxe, DeWitt Professor of Mathematics at Macalester College; she is currently on leave to hold the position of Director of the Washington, D.C., Office of the AMS.
Note: Content below is adapted from the project proposal.
Mathematics and statistics are key requirements of many STEM disciplines and, increasingly, many social science disciplines as well. A lack of success in mathematics and statistics often prevents students from succeeding in their chosen fields, while, simultaneously, demand for graduates with high-level mathematical skill sets in the workforce is increasing.
Although liberal arts colleges are traditionally more successful than many other post-secondary institutions at preparing students, the changing requirements of client disciplines and the changing interests of students and their potential employers — as well as a difficult admissions environment for many schools — mean mathematics departments are facing new teaching demands up and down the curriculum.
Because ACM faculty members are also educational innovators, the goal of this project is to bring mathematicians from the different campuses together to discuss contemporary issues facing their departments, to have them exchange ideas on how these issues are being addressed on their campuses, and to facilitate future collaborations among mathematics departments geared toward addressing these issues.