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Grand Valley State University

GVSU Math Major Newsletter

This newsletter comes to your inbox each week from the GVSU math department. You can find past newsletters and information about previously announced events and opportunities at the newsletter webpage.

 

Featured event

this friday! Applied Math Seminar. Mark your calendars! The first Applied Math Seminar of the semester will take place on Friday, September 27 from 1:00-1:50pm in MAK A-2-117 or online via Zoom. Dr. Lon Mitchell from Eastern Michigan University will present about "Abelian Triangle Mysteries". See this flyer for more information. 

 

Upcoming events

Find these on the calendar of math major events (add it to your calendar at http://gvsu.edu/s/25s).

  • new! Student seminar: Meera Mainkar, Central Michigan University Friday October 4th, 1 - 2 pm, in the PCS (MAK A-2-610)

    Title: "Symmetry of Geometric Figures and Algebraic Structures" by Meera Mainkar, Central Michigan University.

    Dr. Meera Mainkar from CMU will visit us to talk about math and graduate school. Come enjoy her talk (involving graphs, combinatorics, Lie algebras, and research completed with an undergraduate student), and be ready to ask questions about graduate school too! This talk will be appropriate for all math majors. See this flyer for more information.
 

Featured opportunity

Study abroad in Tanzania 2025: Teaching, Learning, and Culture. You will explore the rich culture and beauty of Tanzania while teaching and studying issues in education in the U.S. and Tanzania. You will learn from and interact with teachers and students in a culture different than your own. A 4-day safari, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, touring a coffee plantation and learning Swahili are all part of this incredible experience. This program is open to all education majors and honors students. Priority deadline: December 1, 2024. Final Deadline February 1, 2025. Apply online at http://www.gvsu.edu/studyabroad.

 

Internship, career, and job information

  • new! GVSU Fall 2024 Career and Internship Fair will be held on Wednesday, October 9 from 1-5pm at the DeVos Place Convention Center. Things to do to prepare for the fair:
    • Check out the career fair preparation site which includes prep events - www.gvsu.edu/careers/fallcf24
    • Drop in to CareerLab to get your resume reviewed
    • Check out Career Center social media content - @gvsucareers  
    • Check out the Work Like a Laker podcast - Career Fair Etiquette, How to Follow-Up After Career Fair, How to Introduce Yourself
    • Check out the employers who are attending career fair related to each career community - Business and Management I Communication and the Arts I Education I Healthcare I Human and Public Service I STEM I Career Explorers
  • new! Amway has a number of Data Analytics internships seeking out students with math/statistics background. You can learn more and apply using this link. 
  • https://app.ripplematch.com/v2/public/company/amway?preview=true&banner=false
  • BIG Career Panel on Friday, September 27 from 1:00-2:30pm (online via Zoom). Spectra, the Association for LGBTQ+ Mathematicians, is hosting a virtual panel on business, industry, and government (BIG) careers. This event is open to all, with a particular emphasis on undergrads and grad students looking for internships or graduating soon. Our panelists hail from diverse backgrounds and will speak to their experience in navigating their BIG jobs. See this flyer for more information. 
  • Auto-Owners Tech Summit will take place on Friday, October 25 from 10:00am - 4:00pm at the Auto-Owners South Campus Addition in Lansing, Michigan. This is an on-site event which shows students how their degree can be used in the insurance industry. Sophomores, juniors, seniors, and recent graduates of the following majors are invited. See this flyer for more information.
  • Capstone credit for your internship (MTH 490): Applied math majors who are planning to do an internship might be able to earn capstone credit! If your internship is "mathy" and meets some other requirements, you can get capstone class credit (MTH 490) for that internship. Click the link for more information. The process to get approved for MTH 490 takes time -- if you intend to apply for a MTH 490 internship capstone, email or talk to Dr. Short right away to get the process started. Don't wait!
  • Mathematics Summer Internships at the National Security Agency: There are 3 exciting Summer 2025 opportunities at the National Security Agency (NSA) for students majoring in mathematics! Applications for Summer 2025 will be open for submissions on September 1st for the Directors Summer Program (DSP), Cryptanalysis and Signals Analysis Summer Program (CASASP), and Graduate Mathematics Program (GMP). These 12 week paid internships provide students with the opportunity to work directly with NSA Mathematicians on mission-critical problems and experience the excitement of the NSA mathematics community. This document provides additional details on the three programs, as well as the hiring process and requirements. While next summer is a ways away, we do encourage early applications as every participant must obtain a security clearance. Completed applications must be submitted by September 30th, 2024. Please note that U.S. citizenship is required.
  • Jackson National Life Insurance Company internships: There are internship opportunities available at Jackson within our Actuarial Department for Summer 2025. Students who are interested in applying for an internship are strongly encouraged to apply using the link here or visiting the career page on Jackson.com.  We further encourage students to submit applications no later than September 20th, as selections for the 2025 intern class will likely be made before this year’s end.
  • GVSU Joint Applied Math and Data Science & Analytics MS degree program: Did you know about this combined bachelors-masters degree program you can take right here at GVSU? You can complete both an Applied Math major and a Data Science and Analytics MS degree together at GVSU! There's significant overlap between these degrees, and with careful planning they can take as little as 5 years together. If you'd like to make this happen, now is the time to plan. See Dr. Ortiz-Robinson for more information!
  • The Student Public Research Interest Group has internship opportunities that may involve data analysis and other mathematical skills.
  • Auto-Owners internships and jobs: Auto-Owners Insurance has hired several GVSU math graduates in the past. Click the link to see their current job and internship openings, including some in Grand Rapids and Lansing!
  • The GVSU Career Center can help you find career and internship opportunities:
    • Employer Showcases: Every week, different employers come to campus to talk about jobs and internships. Check out the STEM showcase in front of the Mackinac POD!
    • Career Communities: Receive direct communication about job & internship postings, events, and resources related to the industry area you are interested in.
    • CareerLab offers drop-in hours virtually and in-person.
 

Scholarships and Fellowships

ScholarshipUniverse is GVSU's main website for finding and applying for scholarships. You can search by all kinds of filters and find matches for your major, minor, or other criteria.

  • NASA’s Michigan Space Grants Consortium (MSGC) has just announced the next round of requests for Undergraduate Research Grants and Graduate Student Fellowships for year 2025 funding cycle https://www.mispacegrant.org/. Deadline for applications is November 13, 2024. Awards will be announced in February 2025, and successful fellows and grantees may utilize the funds during May 2025-December 2025 period.
  • MI Future Educator Fellowship. The MI Future Educator Fellowship offers a $10,000 scholarship for future educators, renewable for up to three years. There is a commitment to teach in a Michigan school as part of the fellowship.
  • MI Future Educator Stipend. This stipend is for students in their student teaching semester, offering $9,600 in support. It is a one-time stipend. Click the link for details!
 

Research and graduate school opportunities

  • Opportunities to present your research: Here are some upcoming conferences and events where you could share your work! Talk with a research advisor or Dr. Short if you have questions:
    • new! Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Math (NCUWM): This is a conference we attend each year with GV math undergrads and we always have fun! It’s a great place to give a talk or poster if you’ve been doing research, or a great thing to go to if you’re curious about opportunities in math.  
      • Dates: Jan 31 – Feb 2, 2025
      • Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
      • Who Should Attend: All undergraduate women with a passion for math!
      • What to Do Next: Contact DocK (keoulaur@gvsu.edu) if you’re interested! Registration is open 9/30-10/18, so we need to act soon!
    • The 2024 SIAM Great Lakes Sectional Meeting will be held at Purdue University Northwest on October 12, 2024. Any students interested in giving talks should reach out to Dr. Fernando Charro (fcharro@wayne.edu), Wayne State University, who is organizing the undergraduate research mini-symposium at the conference.
    • The Joint Mathematics Meetings will be held in Seattle, WA, January 8-11, 2025. If you are a member of our Michigan Iota chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon (PME), there is a travel funding opportunity that may be of interest to you: PME will be organizing student poster sessions, student paper sessions, and is pleased to offer up to $1,200 to defray travel, housing, and subsistence expenses for eligible PME student speakers. To learn more about submitting an abstract and funding, please see PME Annual Conference 2025.  
  • Graduate school information: Interested in graduate school? Did you know that most math graduate programs are funded (that is, they pay you to complete a masters or doctorate)? Talk with your advisor (or Dr. Clark) and use these resources too.
    • Finding graduate programs: Looking for graduate programs to apply to? Here are two websites that will help find and filter graduate programs that are right for you: USA/Canada Math PhD Programs GRE Requirements and AMS Find Grad Programs.
    • Learning about graduate school: Want to learn more about what graduate school is and how to prepare for it? Try these sites: Grad Guide (advice on applying to graduate school), STEM Graduate Programs website (help creating resumes, applying to fellowships, and more). 
 

Extracurricular and other opportunities

  • Hey Doc! Questions for the MAA Math Horizons. Do you have a burning question you've always wanted to ask your math professor? Now is your chance! Math Horizons, an undergraduate magazine of the MAA, is collecting questions that will be answered by our resident staff mathematician. All questions submitted are anonymous and may be answered in a Math Horizons issue.
 

Save the Date

Put these dates on your calendar!

  • October 20-22: Fall Break
  • November 8 by 5:00 pm: Withdraw with a "W" Grade Deadline
  • November 27 - December 1: Thanksgiving Recess
  • December 7-14: Examination Week
 

One important thing to know

Our secondary math education students should try to complete their content area MTTC test as soon as possible after completing their math coursework, typically after their junior year and before starting their TA semester. Secondary majors in catalog year 2023-2024 and earlier should take the MTTC test (022). For secondary majors in the catalog year 2024-2025:

  • if you are in the dual band emphasis grades 5-12, then you will need to take both the 5-9 test (133) and 7-12 test (131)
  • if you are in the 5-9 emphases, then you will need to take the 5-9 test (133).

You can make sure you are signing up for the correct test by contacting the CECI office of certification and accreditation (OCA): https://www.gvsu.edu/education/office-of-certification-and-accreditation-253.htm.

Please note that former elementary math majors and new PCKET majors take different tests. Any students in one of these programs should contact the CECI office of certification and accreditation (OCA) to learn more: https://www.gvsu.edu/education/office-of-certification-and-accreditation-253.htm.

 

If you have any questions about the newsletter, suggestions for things to add, or general advising questions, please email me!

 

Taylor Short

shorttay@gvsu.edu

Mathematics Advising and Engagement Coordinator

GVSU math social media

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Don't miss our calendar of math major events too.

1 Campus Drive

A-2-178 Mackinac Hall
Allendale, MI 49401

 

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