AWM at MathFest 2015

Poster Session: Highlights from Student Chapter Abstracts

This poster session will highlight achievements by AWM Student Chapters in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the formation of the first chapters. This program has expanded to fifty chapters and has impacted thousands of undergraduate and graduate women across the country. AWM Student Chapters sponsor and host a range of activities including invited speakers, Pi Day Celebrations, field trips, outreach programs to local schools, Sonia Kovalesky Days, and career panels. In this poster session, AWM Student Chapters are invited to share their stories, ideas, and successes with other AWM Student Chapters and with the mathematical community.

Posters:

AWMUTA: A Group Engaged In Outreach

Julie Sutton, The University of Texas – Arlington

Theresa A. Jorgensen, The University of Texas – Arlington

Since our formation in 2006, AWM@UTA has been a group focused on outreach and support. Through a series of grants from the AWM and the TENSOR Foundation (MAA) we have hosted numerous events at our sprawling urban campus in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with the flavor of a Sonia Kovalesky Day. Through our ongoing partnerships with local Title I public schools, we have engaged in mathematical activities and discussions with hundreds of young women in grades 5–12. More than sixty UTA students generally attend our twice monthly AWM@UTA meetings, where dynamic women from both industry and academia present inspirational stories about their lives and career paths. Funds to support catered lunch for meetings are raised through on-campus exam reviews for six highly coordinated mathematics courses.

Engaging Students in Mathematics through AWM at Georgia College

Emily Baum, Georgia College and State University

Kirsten Morris, Georgia College and State University

As the Association for Women in Mathematics celebrates their 10th anniversary of the formation of the first AWM student chapters, the AWM chapter at Georgia College celebrates their first year. In March 2014, Georgia College brought AWM to Milledgeville, Georgia. Since then, we have already begun to grow while working on our campus and in our community to promote equal opportunity and access to the study of mathematics. We have accomplished this through bringing guest speakers to campus, leading math activities for high school and middle school students, and hosting events on campus to promote discussion about the impact of women in mathematics. The poster will highlight the activities of our AWM Chapter.

JMU’s AWM Adventures!

Victoria Kelley, James Madison University

Katie Sipes, James Madison University

This poster will highlight the achievements of JMU’s AWM Student Chapter.We will discuss our activities, including planning a Pi Day Celebration and a talk by a representative of the NSA’s Women in Math Society, attending the AWM Research Symposium, taking a day trip to the NSA museum, volunteering at the JMU Expanding Your Horizons Conference, and more!

Clemson Student Chapter of Association forWomen in Mathematics

Rachel Grotheer, Clemson University

Sarah Anderson, Clemson University

Amy Grady, Clemson University

Fiona Knoll, Clemson University

Clemson’s AWM Student Chapter was founded in the spring semester of 2013. Over the past two and a half years we have held numerous events. We have held department colloquiums, in which Dr. Suzanne Lenhart and Dr. Sarah Greenwald were both speakers, an interview fashion show, pi day celebrations, panel discussions on careers in math, and much more. Our organization is unique at Clemson because we have both undergraduate and graduate members. There are also many Clemson faculty members who actively participate in and support our events. One of our main goals is to create a space where the undergrad students, graduate students, and faculty can meet and get to know one another outside of class. We do this through various events such as monthly tea times at Starbucks, and end of the semester celebrations. As a chapter we strive to encourage the undergraduate and graduate students as they pursue an education and careers in mathematical fields.

Society for Women in Mathematics at Mines

Rebecca Swanson, Colorado School of Mines

Debra Carney, Colorado School of Mines

The Society for Women in Mathematics (SWiM) was founded by two faculty members in the spring of 2013 and became a student chapter of the AWM the following semester. The group’s two main goals are: 1) to build a community for undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty and 2) to support women in mathematics at the Colorado School of Mines. SWiM members meet monthly and invite a woman in mathematics (typically a CSM alumna) to share her “mathematical story”. At each monthly meeting, SWiM sponsors a meal and members are able to talk and get to know one another during dinner. This simple act has provided us with numerous cases of informal mentoring. Additionally, the invited guest speaker gives an informal talk (about 10 to 20 minutes long) during the meeting in which she discusses how she became interested in mathematics, her career path, and how she uses mathematics in her profession. The speaker also shares any advice she may have for SWiM members. Ample time is left for discussion and questions. Through these monthly meetings SWiM members have been exposed to a variety of different career paths that different successful women in mathematics have taken. After a positive first year, SWiM members requested to meet more frequently. As a result, beginning in the fall of 2014, SWiM added a second monthly meeting devoted either to practical programming or a social activity. This additional programming has included workshops on graduate school, the Impostor Syndrome, and salary negotiation. Additionally, social events have included a paint-your-own pottery night, a game night social, and a celebration for graduating students.

AWM at Clarkson University

Katie Fowler, Clarkson University

Leah Granger, Clarkson University

Clarkson’s AWM student chapter has been informally known as the ‘math club’ since 2004. Meetings are open to all students regardless of gender and activities are often developed in collaboration with our SIAM Student Chapter and Pi Mu Epsilon. Meetings and activities expose students to the world of professional mathematics, help students obtain information about graduate school and careers, and develop leadership skills through service to the university and local community. Events included peer tutoring for the freshmen gateway exams in Calculus, grading for the national MATHCOUNTS competition, sponsoring industrial and academic speakers, running activities at the local Pi Day Celebration (roughly 300 local middle and high school students and teachers attending and 40+ volunteers) and the Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium in Mathematics Dessert Reception held each Fall.

Boston University AWM Student Chapter

Emma Previato, Boston University

The poster presenters are the founders of the Boston University (BU) AWM student chapter. The poster will include: A feature on our sponsor, a curriculum development company that awarded us membership funding to establish the chapter (2013–2014); A series of vignettes on our activities, ranging from A Conversation with Past AWM President Prof. Ruth Charney, to a Workshop entitled Mathematics inMotion: Modeling Poi Flowers with Parametric Equations and GeoGebra, by Prof. Eleanor Farrington (Massachusetts Maritime Academy), to stress-coping sessions sponsored by bakery Insomnia Cookies, to informal meetings for students to present research conducted in their classes, and staffing a table at Freshman Orientation, bringing our mission message to the whole student body and collecting an e-mail list; Our main projects: We created a public multimedia ePortfolio, which we hope will be a clearinghouse of opportunities, consisting of sections such as Announcements of Conferences for Women in STEM, Community Service projects to provide tutoring in the Boston Area Public School System, Tips on Mentorship, Presentations by our Chapter Members, Contacts and Literature on Research and Organizations on Women in STEM, Internships for Students; We planned a searchable, BU-supported Open-Access archive, sustained by research in the Digital Humanities, which will profile theWomen of Mathematics and Statistics at BU, since its foundation in 1839; This year, we will be co-hosting an NSA-sponsored research conference titled “R.D.M. Accola’s Work: In Memoriam,” spanning two days: our Chapter will be involved in day-one activities, reaching out to other AWM Chapters in the Greater Boston Area and to Speakers in the AWM Student Chapter Speaker Program.