“…that which is in locomotion must arrive at the half-way stage before it arrives at the goal”
Halfway there! I’ve heard back from the committee and the administration, and passed my third-year review with flying colors. The only constructive criticism was a suggestion to get my in-preparation manuscripts submitted, which, well, duh. It’ll happen. I’ve heard I may have an in-person meeting with them at some point, but for now the written feedback was very helpful and validating.
I’ll say again that really enjoyed the way I set up my electronic dossier. Mathematicians like websites built in a text editor the way God intended, but other professors were going to read this thing. Professors from disciplines without our carefully cultivated sense of web asceticism. I can’t say for sure that it actually helped me, but WordPress made me look good. I dumped all my documents in Google Drive and linked them where they belonged, and that was about it. Once I make sure I have permission to publish the link, I’ll do so for anyone who’s curious.
The process really wasn’t that painful. The worrying about it was much worse than actually doing it, but I was pretty sure that was the case going in. Next time won’t be so bad.
American Mathematics Competitions
Earlier this month, Hood hosted the AMC 10/12 for the first time (or at least the first time in recent memory). These exams are for high school students – one for 9th and 10th graders, the other for juniors and seniors – and high-scoring students qualify for competitions like the AIME and the Math Olympiad.
A local homeschooling family asked if we’d host the exam this year. It seemed like an easy thing to do to help out these kids and the department, so I volunteered to organize it. I registered on the MAA’s website and ordered a packet of each of the tests, made a flier, and sent it to local schools and homeschooling families.
We wound up with six students taking the exams. The dates got a little screwed up by a snowstorm, but otherwise it was easy to organize. The students found their exam challenging, but I think they enjoyed the opportunity to visit a college campus and work on some interesting problems.
I mention these exams for two reasons:
- This is a really easy way to market your school to prospective students. If you’re at a school like ours, low enrollment can be a major concern. And no matter what your numbers are, everybody wants to attract high-quality, motivated students. This exam will at least get them in your door.
- The questions on these tests are great! If you have a group of students who like to solve problems but aren’t ready for Putnam-level content yet, you might want to give these a shot. Sure they’re just from high school curriculum, but they’re sophisticated and interesting enough for undergraduates. A collection of a few of them might even make for a fun Math Tea.
Registration for next year’s exams won’t start until next year, so put this on your calendar if you think you might be interested. I hope we’ll have an even bigger group of students then.