by Kathryn Kozak, VP of the SW Region of AMATYC
The American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) is the main professional development organization for mathematics teachers at two-year colleges. Part of its mission is to “offer multiple opportunities for the preparation and continuing professional development of a competent and diverse mathematics faculty skilled in a variety of teaching modalities addressing different learning styles.” To fulfill this, AMATYC offers an annual conference, webinars, traveling workshops, an online community for members to discuss topics, a mathematics journal (MathAMATYC Educator), and a newsletter (AMATYC News). In addition, AMATYC has several position statements and guidelines that range from mathematics teaching to preparation of mathematics faculty.
If you were able to attend the AMATYC annual conference in Anaheim, I hope that you enjoyed it. I liked seeing all of you who were there. If you weren’t able to attend, next year’s conference will be in Nashville, TN, so you may want to start planning. In fact, proposals for sessions are currently being accepted at amatyc.org. The deadline is February 1, 2014. In addition, proceedings from the Anaheim conference are available online at amatyc.org. So if you missed the conference, or wanted to attend a session and weren’t able, go to the website and look to see if the proceedings are posted.
There is a webinar in December on how to get a job at a community college. If you weren’t able to attend, or know someone who would benefit from this webinar, you can still view the webinars. All webinars are posted on the amatyc.org site. In addition, if your college has some funds for professional development but can’t send everyone to a conference, consider bringing a traveling workshop to your campus. This way you bring the conference to you.
The current and previous issues of the AMATYC News are available at amatyc.org. Abstracts for the MathAMATYC Educator are also available there. Currently, the Educator’s past issues are not available, but with the redesign of the AMATYC website, there is now the ability to have a members-only section of the website. There is a task force that will be working on what items would be appropriate for a members-only section. Look for details in a future News.
The Developmental Mathematics Committee is working on a position statement called “The Appropriate Use of Intermediate Algebra as a Prerequisite Course.” In addition, AMATYC has a task force work on revising the “Guidelines For The Academic Preparation Of Mathematics Faculty At Two-Year Colleges.” Both drafts of the position statement and the guidelines have been sent to the affiliate presidents in the Southwest Region. Please contact your affiliate president to obtain a draft and give input.
As you can see, AMATYC is more than the annual conference. Consider joining or renewing your membership to AMATYC. It is easy to join, and you would be helping to support the mission of AMATYC.