Minutes
Executive Committee Meeting
Wisconsin Section of the MAA
January 25, 2008
 

Present: Mohammad Ahmadi, Kristen Lampe, Jim Marty, Ken Price, Andy Matchett, Jeganathan Sriskandarajah, Steve Szydlik, Mark Snavely. We were also joined by John Beam.

1. Before the meeting, representatives from local hotels gave a presentation on their facilities for the upcoming Section meeting in Madison.

2. The meeting was called to order just after 4:15 by Mohammad Ahmadi. Minutes of the Executive Committee Meeting of September 21, 2007, were approved.

2.  The treasurer's report was accepted. Future meeting sites were discussed, and Sri generoursly offered to have the Executive Board continue to meet at MATC even after he is off the board. Preregistration and registration fees for the spring meeting were discussed, and it was the concensus of the body to increase the preregistration fee to $20, and to raise the onsite registration fee to $25. We will also increase the price of the banquet to $20 for early reservations, $25 for onsite reservations, and $5 for students.

3.  Governor John Koker was not present, so his report was given by Mohammad Ahmadi. The possibility of online registration and payment was discussed, but it would be difficult. The section will continue to look into the possibility. Issues from the Section Officer's Meeting in San Diego regarding MathFest in Madison were brought to the board for information, including soliciting feedback from the section on issues important to the national MAA organization.

4. Kristen Lampe presented the Contest Report. A total of 1976 Wisconsin students participated in the AMC 8 competition, down from 2017 last year. There was one perfect score, by Laura Xu of Jefferson Middle School in Madison. The AMC 10 and AMC 12 contests will be held in February. The Section contest examination had 88 schools order the examination, with 81 reporting their scores, for a total of 3464 student participating. There were 4085 students participating last year. There were no perfect scores this year.

5. Ben Collins set the due date for spring newsletter reports as February 8, 2008, but did not attend the meeting due to weather conditions.

6. Andy Matchett gave an update on the spring meeting. There will be three invited speakers: Colin Adams of Williams College, Richard J. Cleary (MAA speaker) of Bentley University, and Art Benjamin of Harvey Mudd College, who will give two talks. Twenty abstracts have been received to date, and abstracts for contributed talks are still being accepted.

7. Ken Price and Steve Szydlik presented their written report. The mathematics game show FaceOff! will return to the spring meeting. Remind students that they will receive a complimentary MAA membership if they give a talk at the spring meeting.

8. Irfan Ul-Haq reported via e-mail that the Speaker for the Fall Workshop was Aparna Higgins. She is the co-director of National Project NExT. Section NExT paid for her stay, meals and $400 honorarium. We (NExT fellows) are leaning towards the topic "Grading without Tears: Assessment Strategies that Work" for our Spring Panel discussion. Irfan asked all of the committee members to recommend some people who can serve on the panel.

9. Jim Marty reported for the WMC. The discussion initiated at the conference in the fall will continue at the Green Lake Conference.

10. We have no nominees for the section teaching award. We need to find ways to encourage nominations!

11. The next "star" for Know Your Wisconsin Mathematician was chosen. Ben Collins will be responsible for the interview.

12. The committee nominated Bob Wilson for the position of Chair-Elect.

13. Next meeting: Lunch on Saturday, April 26, 2008, in Madison.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Snavely,
Secretary/Treasurer