Project NExT: Leadership Team

As with other programs of the MAA, Project NExT will be directed by a leadership team whose members have fixed terms. The first step in this change took place in 2009, when T. Christine Stevens, who co-founded Project NExT and was at the helm for over sixteen years, stepped aside as Director. The year after that, a two-year non-renewable position on the leadership team was created. In order to provide opportunities for interested individuals to work on one of the more exciting and visible programs of the MAA, while still providing enough continuity to maintain the program's high standards and quality, the following process will be implemented.

The Project NExT Leadership Team
Project NExT is currently run by a leadership team of five: a Director and three Associate Directors, who serve four-year terms, and another member of the team, who serves a two-year non-renewable term. We expect the Director and Associate Directors to serve on staggered terms, so that every two years there will be a search for two of the Associate Directors, or an Associate Director and the Director. This may be altered slightly if a Director or Associate Director is reappointed. A search committee for new team members will be appointed by the President of the MAA, and will have at most one member from the current Project NExT Leadership Team.

The following is the current Project NExT Leadership Team's understanding of these aspects of team members. Please note that it may not directly reflect that of the selection committee, which will be appointed by the President of the MAA.

What are the duties of the Project NExT Leadership Team?
Project NExT is a complex, tightly-managed, year-long professional development program which requires that the leadership team work collaboratively and interact with many members of the mathematical community. The work-load is significant and extends all year round, including the summer.

Duties for all team members include helping with all aspects of the program, as requested by the Director of Project NExT, and nurturing the leadership qualities in the Project NExT Fellows. Specific tasks will include:

• reading applications and selecting Project NExT Fellows,
• helping plan the incoming Fellows' workshop preceding Mathfest,
• helping run the workshop,
• helping to evaluate the sessions,
• helping with the organization of logistics for the Project NExT activities at the national meetings,
• communicating with Fellows and Consultants and the MAA staff,
• helping the Fellows organize sessions for the meetings,
• helping with the management of the email lists and the Project NExT webpage,
• helping with the Project NExT booth at the JMM,
• helping Section NExTs as needed, and
• working with Fellows who are interested in teacher preparation.

In addition, Associate Directors and Directors will deal with issues of policy and funding.

What characteristics would be useful for serving on the Project NExT Leadership Team?
The workload is significant. Members of the Project NExT leadership team should be able to commit time and attention to Project NExT as their primary professional service activity. To effectively manage the administration of Project NExT, candidates for the Associate Director positions should:

• Have an understanding of the annual cycle of Project NExT. Associate Directors and, especially, the Director, must understand how Project NExT unfolds over the course of a year and be able to immediately be engaged with its administration.
• Have the time and commitment to participate fully throughout the year, including summers. The administrative tasks connected with Project NExT are greater at some times in the year than others, but extend throughout the year. The time commitment is significant, and therefore should preclude mortals from having other large professional jobs.
• Have the experience in the profession to be able to run a professional development program that requires selecting 80 Fellows from a large pool of qualified applicants, recruiting 30 presenters each year, finding Consultants for new Fellows, and interacting with the MAA and other groups.
• Have demonstrated an ability to provide attention to detail and to deadlines. Project NExT runs on a tight schedule with short deadlines, and includes many "moving parts." Associate Directors and the Director must be able to keep track of all of these, and to accomplish tasks associated with Project NExT in a timely manner.
• Have excellent communication skills (oral and written), and the ability to work well within a team while taking responsibility for specific tasks. This requires having creativity along with respect for the precedents that have already been set in Project NExT, including the embrace of diversity (of institution, of mathematical area, of geography, in addition to diversity of gender, race, etc.).

The Project NExT leadership team encourages interested individuals to contact any of the current team members for additional information about any of these items. The Director of Project NExT is Aparna Higgins, <aparna.higgins(at)notes.udayton.edu>; Associate Directors are Joe Gallian <jgallian(at)d(dot)umn(dot)edu>, Gavin LaRose <glarose(at)umich(dot)edu>, and Judith Covington <judith.covington(at)lsus(dot)edu>, and the two-year member of the team is Julie Barnes, <jbarnes(at)email(dot)wcu(dot)edu>.

What experience and connection with Project NExT is desirable?
Given the preceding description of the characteristics of members of the leadership team and their duties, there are a number of more quantifiable qualifications that the current leadership team expects that an applicant for any of the leadership positions on the team must have:

• S/he must be a tenured (or equivalent) mathematics faculty member, who has not yet retired, at an institution in the geographical area in which the MAA has a presence.
• S/he must hold the rank of Associate Professor or higher.
• S/he must be a member of the MAA.
• S/he must have been involved with Project NExT in some way (e.g., as a Project NExT Fellow, a presenter for a workshop for incoming Project NExT Fellows, or a consultant). In addition, an applicant for the position of Associate Director must have had significant prior involvement with Project NExT, and especially with the workshop for incoming Fellows. For example, an applicant for the position of Associate Director should have been a presenter at multiple Project NExT Workshops for incoming Fellows.
• S/he must be actively involved in the mathematical community so as to be familiar with trends in teaching techniques and their practitioners, and with projects in undergraduate mathematics and their investigators. For the Associate Director positions, such involvement must be sustained and extensive.
• S/he must be able to commit to Project NExT as her/his primary professional interest for the duration of the term of appointment, and in particular, to attend and participate fully in the national summer and winter meetings of the MAA (and the attendant Project NExT activities) during the term.

What is the compensation?
In addition to working for an exciting and fulfilling program, and working for enthusiastic new members of our profession, members of the Project NExT leadership team do receive some monetary compensation. The idea of compensation establishes that being on the Project NExT leadership team is not a volunteer activity. However, the compensation is not so large as to actually account for the number of hours that team members devote to Project NExT. The MAA will decide matters of compensation. The members of the current Project NExT leadership team receive compensation in different ways. Some opt for a fixed annual amount, while others use a course release (at adjunct rates). The position of Director carries with it a certain percentage of academic salary towards a course release.

What is the application procedure?
Send a resume of not more than 6 pages and a letter describing your qualifications and interest in the position.  More specific details of the position may be found on the website www.maa.org. Nominations and applications should be sent to the MAA Secretary, Barbara Faires, at <secretary(at)maa(dot)org> or Box 15, Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA 16172. Review of applications is scheduled to begin December 1, 2011.

For other information about these positions and the application process see this position description [updated Nov 15, 2011] published by the MAA.