Message from the Governor......................................................... Ockle
Johnson
The Board of Governors met
this summer prior to a very successful Mathfest in
The MAA is in good shape
financially with a $10 million operating budget, $7.5 million in endowments and
investments, $9 million in buildings and $6 million in grants. There were two
areas of concern, however. The 2008 budget projected a $300,000 deficit, but
due to conservative budget practices, it is anticipated that the final deficit
will be considerably less. (We know that Rick Cleary will be keeping an eye on
this as a member of the budget committee.)
Second, membership dropped 3%, due in part to a restructuring of dues, a
sizeable increase in dues for retirees and a transition period without a
Membership Director.
Membership issues will be
addressed as one of the topics for cycle 2 of the strategic planning process,
along with governance and students. We
voted for the following cycle 3 topics: meetings, sections, and STEM issues.
The Carriage House at MAA
headquarters officially opened in April and there is much excitement about its
potential. $40,000 has been raised through the “brick campaign” for a brick
walkway to the Carriage House. Engraved bricks cost $303—Paul Halmos’ birthday was 3/03—and sections as well as
individual members are encouraged to buy one.
Ivars Peterson, our new Director of Publications for
Journals & Communication, has been working on MAA On-Line and invites us to
see what’s new every day. While on-line
you can check the list of MAA committees and let me or Martha Siegel know if
you would like to be on one.
Don Albers, now the Editorial
Director, Publications-Books, reported that sales are up 8%. The Euler Series has done very well. A new series will debut soon: MAA guides for
curriculum, with Algebra, Number Theory, and Complex Analysis in the works and
Real Analysis to follow.
NExT now has over 1000 fellows.
This year there are 84 fellows representing every section of the MAA. We welcome to
our section Lynette Boos,
It was a pleasure to vote for
Ken Gross as one of the recipients of the national Haimo
Award for
At the urging of Ed Sandifer and the backing of others from the section, I
raised the issue of conducting job interviews in hotel rooms. The Board of
Governors approved a motion made by Martha Siegel and me that states: “The MAA strongly discourages the use of personal
hotel sleeping rooms as the site for professional interviews of prospective
employees. This practice is intimidating to some job-seekers, particularly
those who find the situation uncomfortable and potentially unsafe. This practice also has the potential for
serious legal consequences for the interviewer.”
If anyone has any issues they
would like me to bring to the January Board of Governors meeting, please let me
know.
I hope you are having a good
fall semester. I hope to see you at the fall section meeting at Framingham
State College and at the Joint Meetings in