Project NExT

MAA Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) is a program sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) to aid in the professional development of mathematicians, statisticians, and mathematics educators after they receive their PhDs. It involves workshops and lectures on teaching, academic research, academic scholarship, and professional activities. The participants in the program are called Project NExT Fellows or sometimes Dots, and the program also provides ample networking opportunities for them. Each fellow is also provided with a consultant, who serves as a mentor for them.

For the New Zealand public transport payment system, see Project NEXT.

History

Project NExT was founded by James (Jim) Leitzel (Ohio State University) and Chris Stevens (Saint Louis University). The first fellows were selected in 1994. Jim Leitzel died in 1998, and Aparna Higgins (University of Dayton) and Joe Gallian (University of Minnesota Duluth) became co-directors of Project NExT. Chris Stevens stepped down as director in 2010, and was succeeded by Aparna Higgins. Judith Covington (Louisiana State University, Shreveport) and Gavin LaRose (University of Michigan) first served as Associate Co-Directors and later became Co-Directors. In 2007, the total number of fellows surpassed 1000.[1] David Kung (St. Mary's College of Maryland) currently serves as Director of the program, with Associate Directors Julie Barnes (Western Carolina University), Alissa Crans (Loyola Marymount University), and Matt DeLong (Marian University). [2] By 2017 the total number of fellows reached 1700.

Selection of fellows

The program is aimed at faculty who are in the early stages of their higher ed teaching career, in a mathematics (or closely related) department, after receiving their doctorate. Fellows are selected based on an application, including a short curriculum vitae, a research statement, and a teaching statement expressing interest in the program. The application also requires a letter from the applicant's department chair guaranteeing funding to attend several conferences. The number of selected fellows depends on funding. Currently, just under 100 are selected each year.[3]

The program

Project NExT is a professional development program for college-level faculty interested in teaching. The program provides workshops and an electronic mailing list for its members.[4] Fellows participate in MathFest during the year of their selection and the year after, and in the Joint Mathematics Meeting in the January after their selection as fellows. Each fellow is also assigned a consultant outside of their own institution. NExT fellows organize several sessions at the Joint Meeting and MathFest, on topics of their choosing.[5]

Since 2016, all MAA Project NExT events at the Joint Mathematics Meetings have been open to all conference attendees.

Affiliation with other professional development organizations

The national Project NExT program is strongly affiliated with Section NExT programs, which are run by local sections of the MAA, and involve many of the same activities. Section NExT fellows can also participate in the national workshops.[2][6]

Project NExT is also strongly associated with the Young Mathematicians Network.

Dot colors

Every year a group of fellows is selected, the cohort is assigned a color, and thereafter wears a sticker (or dot) of that color to national mathematics meetings of the MAA. There are seven colors for the stickers, so cohort seven years apart have the same color sticker, although they are assigned a different name. Colors are frequently chosen according to the location of MathFest in the year of selection (for example, the peach dots first meeting was in Georgia, and the Brown dots first meeting was at Brown University). The colors since inception of the program are listed in the following table:

Red years Green years Blue years Orange years Silver years Brown years Gold years
1994: Red 1995: Green 1996: Blue 1997: Peach 1998: Silver 1999: Brown 2000: Gold
2001: Cardinal 2002: Forest 2003: Sky 2004: Orange 2005: Sterling 2006: Sepia 2007: Sun
2008: Red'08 2009: Pine'09 2010: Blue'10 2011: Peach'11 2012: Silver'12 2013: Brown'13 2014: Gold'14
2015: Red'15 2016: Green'16 2017: Blue'17 2018: Peach'18

The color yellow is reserved for Section NExT fellows.

gollark: I'm THINKING.
gollark: no.
gollark: Great!
gollark: Are the .5 games meant to go really fast, then?
gollark: CEASE THINE ABUSIVE DELETINATION OF MINE COMMENTATIONS!

See also

References
  1. Views of Project NExT Mathematical Association of America (accessed Sep 13, 2012)
  2. Project NExT Mathematical Association of America (accessed Dec. 6, 2017)
  3. MAA Project NExT Mathematical Association of America (accessed Dec 6, 2017)
  4. Matters Mathematical: The Newsletter of the Pacific Northwest Section, Mathematical Association of America. Spring 2003
  5. Project NExT: New Jobs, New Responsibilities, New Ideas Mathematical Association of America (accessed Sep 13, 2012)
  6. Project NExT in the MAA Sections Mathematical Association of America (accessed Sep 13, 2012)
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