Highlights of 2006 meeting (March 18, 2006)
Report of the Secretariat
AMS Secretary Robert Daverman gave a report on the March 17 Secretariat
meeting.
- The Secretariat reviewed International Meetings through 2009 with
Shanghai at the end of 2008 as the 2009 meeting. Other meetings reviewed
were New Zealand for 2007 and Brazil for 2008.
- The 2007 Erdos Lecture will be held at Davidson College in Davidson,
NC in the spring of 2007.
- The 2007 Einstein Public Lecture will be held at Rutgers University.
Roger Penrose will be asked to speak.
- A recommendation to eliminate By Title abstracts will be sent to the
Council
- The Special Session on Current Events, organized by David Eisenbud,
will now be called the Current Events Bulletin.
- The Secretariat discussed those special sessions held at the JMM that
are repeated each year or what is called "endowed sessions".
The Secretary asked that CoMC look at this topic for the 2007 CoMC meeting
including checking to see how many have repeat speakers.
Report on the Subcommittee to Review the National Meeting (overall
program, including Governance meetings).
This subcommittee was composed
of Gregory Smith
(Chair), Gail Ratcliff
and Joel Hass.
The subcommittee reported that in their assessment, the Joint Mathematics
Meetings does an excellent job fulfilling the AMS needs for national meetings.
- Add a statement to the JMM web page and JMM Program stating that all
participants are invited to all advertised social events.
- Continue with the Meetings Department's ongoing efforts to make the
JMM Program easier for participants to find information including making
some adjustments to the JMM web page.
- Continue to support events that assist with networking such as the
combined First Timers/Graduate Student Reception.
- Continue the helpful Bulletin Board that assists participants to find
roommates
Report on the San Antonio Focus Group.
Joel Hass moderated the
CoMC Focus Group discussion in San Antonio. The comments and suggestions
from the Focus Group were discussed during Hass's report. Some suggestions
were to put a flyer in the pre registration packet announcing the social
events and receptions that are open to the public and to hold a social
event in the JMM city. When asked what sessions could be eliminated, the
focus group said none. They had several suggestions for the Meetings web
page and asked that the instructions on how to participate in a contributed
paper be made clearer to the reader and the young mathematician. The group
also suggested that there be a way to find mentors for young mathematicians.
CoMC moved that a Bulletin Board be made available at the JMM where spontaneous
social events could be listed.
New Types of AMS Conferences.
The CoMC subcommittee to look at
topics for a new type of conference, headed by Jon McCammond, met at the
JMM in San Antonio. McCammond reported on the subcommittee meeting. Ellen
Maycock reported on the Proposal that has been developed based on the
discussion at that meeting. The program, tentatively entitled "Y-Research,"
would provide opportunities and support for young mathematicians as they
begin their research careers. Several comments and suggestions were given
to Maycock for help in presenting the proposal to the Council in April
2006.
Videotaping Policy.
CoMC approved the following policy: "The
videotaping of any American Mathematical Society sponsored events, including
but not limited to special sessions and contributed paper sessions, short-
courses and colloquia, is forbidden without the explicit written permission
of the Director of Meetings and Conferences for the American Mathematical
Society." A permission form will be designed.
Policy on Diversity for Organizers of AMS Meetings & Conferences.
A subcommittee consisting of Joel Hass, Catherine Roberts and John Ewing
was appointed to write an AMS Meetings policy on diversity to include
young mathematicians and underrepresented groups. This policy will be
posted on the meetings web pages and on all Call for Papers.
Other informational items.
CoMC's topic for annual review for
2007 is to be the review of International Meetings. Jon McCammond will
chair the subcommittee to prepare a report on this topic for the next
meeting.
CoMC will host a Focus Group during the New Orleans meeting on Saturday,
January 6, 2007. Judy Kennedy will chair the focus group.
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