Math Major Newsletter - Winter 2026 Week 4

Career fair, integration bee, and a math circle

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.

tonight! Math & Stats Club: Integration Bee!

Wednesday February 4, 6 - 7 pm in the PCS -- MAK A-2-610.

Any level of experience is welcome. There will be free pizza!

Math circle: Better questions

Friday February 6, 1 - 2:30 pm, in the PCS -- MAK A-2-610.

Join us to explore a fun strategy game -- how quickly can we solve the puzzle?

Everyone is welcome. Join any time, leave any time!

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

Faculty research showcase. Friday February 13, 1 - 2 pm, in the PCS. Are you looking for a research project next year? This is the place to connect with a research mentor!
new! Datafest 2026: Datafest is a data analysis competition. Teams of 2 to 5 students compete to analyze a large, complex, and surprise data set. Register by February 13. The event is held March 27 - 29, all weekend! Visit the website for more info.
There's an event every Friday at 1 in the PCS! The math department hosts events throughout the semester on Fridays at 1pm in the PCS (MAK A-2-610). Keep this time available so you can attend. Everyone is welcome!

GVSU's Winter Career and Internship Fair:

Thursday February 19, 1 - 5 pm in downtown Grand Rapids at the DeVos Place Convention Center.

If you're looking for a job or internship, this is the place to go! Even if not, it's worth going to learn how the fair works (it's free!) and make your future job search easier.

Here are some resources to help:

CareerLab can review your resume and help you practice.
Find a list of employers at the fair.
Find much more at the Career Center website.

What can you do with a math major? Check out job and salary info from GVSU alumni:

Math scholarships! Applications are due March 1st. Apply at ScholarshipUniverse. Log in and search for the scholarship's name to apply and see the full requirements.
- Mathematics Department Scholarship: Math major or PCKET with math concentration; 45+ credit hours completed; 3.2 GPA; and a few more requirements.
- Donald and Barbara VanderJagt Scholarship: Math major, PCKET with math concentration, or CS major with math minor; 3.0 GPA; and a few more requirements.
Lathisms Scholarship: Scholarship open to Hispanic/Latinx students. Apply by February 27.
soon! OURFA2M2 is the Online Undergraduate Resource Fair for the Advancement & Alliance of Marginalized Mathematicians. The 6th OURFA2M2 Conference will be held on February 7-8, 2026. It includes "crash courses" on math topics, resource presentations, stories, and panels from professional mathematicians. Check out their website for more info and also subscribe to OURFA2M2's incredibly useful monthly newsletter.
Career & Internship Info! If you're looking for a summer internship or a post-graduation job, now is the time to do it! Here are some resources to help:
- Resources to find an internship: Handshake, the Career Center, LinkedIn and Indeed, plus the Career & Internship fair.
- The GVSU Career Center can help you find career and internship opportunities via their many events, including Career Communities and CareerLab.
- 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!
- Unpaid Internship Support. If you find an internship and register for MTH 490 but aren't paid for it, you can apply for up to $1500. There are many details; click the link for more.
- Community-Based Work Study: If you are eligible for work study, this is a chance to earn money and make a difference in your community.
- Employer of the Day: Informal opportunities to connect with potential employers.

due Monday! Math T-Shirt Design Contest: Design a GV Math shirt! Your design could be GV themed, a math joke, or both.

Send your design as a .png file to Dr. Keough at keoulaur@gvsu.edu by February 9.

All students will be eligible to vote February 11-February 18. Shirts will be available for purchase later in the semester. The winner gets a free t-shirt with their design!

Note: be careful about adapting the GV logo, the t-shirt will need to be approved by University Marketing (some info here, if you aren’t sure, contact keoulaur@gvsu.edu).

Volunteer at the Math in Action conference! Math in Action is a mathematics education conference for pre- and in-service teachers that is hosted and run by the GVSU math department. Its success depends on students like you, who volunteer to help out during the conference. Volunteers at Math in Action get free registration to the conference and a free meal in exchange for working approximately 4.5 hours on Saturday, February 28. As a volunteer, you will have the opportunity to meet and network with current teachers, administrators, and other pre-service teachers from around Michigan, and to learn about the innovative things they're doing in their classrooms. Questions? Contact Dr. Taylor Short, volunteer organizer. Register to volunteer by February 13.
MathPath Summer Camp Counselors: MathPath is a summer camp for middle school students who love math. We are looking to hire camp counselors. Counselors receive room and board (living on a college campus), travel reimbursement, and regular pay as well. Questions? Ask Dr. Clark (he helps run the camp)! Applications are due February 15.
Budapest Semesters in Mathematics Education is a 6-week summer program in Budapest, Hungary, where mathematics educators study problem-solving, creativity, and mathematical communication. Designed for pre-service teachers! Applications are due April 1.

Summer research program opportunities: Here are a few that we've learned about recently:
- Kindschi Fellowship: Applications for Summer 2026 are due March 20. Provides financial support to students pursuing rigorous, independent scholarship during the academic year, mentored by a faculty member, up to $5000 plus travel and supplies funding. Talk with a mentor soon!
- soon! Student Summer Scholars (S3): Applications for Summer 2026 are due February 6. Apply with a mentor to be funded for a 12 week, 40 hour per week summer project. Pay is $5000 plus some travel funding too. There's also a Modified S3: Similar to S3, but half time and half pay. Talk with a mentor soon if you're interested!
- soon! SIAM-Simons Summer Undergraduate Research Program: Summer research in applied math at five different sites. Applications are due February 6.
- TechBio REU at University of Pittsburgh: A research program for those interested in computational biology and math-biology applications. Applications are due February 13.
- Check out this list of Summer REU programs to find many more opportunities.
Michigan MAA Conference: March 27-28 at SVSU. This is the Michigan meeting of the Mathematical Association of America, one of the largest professional groups for mathematicians. This is an excellent place to present your research work! See the website for registration details.
Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Conference: Saturday March 28 at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, Indiana). This is a good place to share your work and meet others interested in research. Register by February 27 to get first consideration for travel funds!
The 4th International Mathematics and Statistics Student Research Symposium (IMSSRS) will be held virtually on Saturday, April 11, 2026. IMSSRS is a free conference welcoming students to present research in the mathematical sciences, explore current research topics, and connect with peers worldwide.The abstract submission deadline is March 27, 2026. While presenters must be students, all are welcome to attend. Please visit our website or see our conference flyer for more info. This year’s program features a plenary by Dr. Katherine B. Ensor (Rice University) titled “The Critical Role of Statistical Thinking, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.” The program also includes a panel discussion, “Life After College,” on career paths for mathematical science graduates, with audience Q&A.

Put these dates on your calendar!

Thursday February 19: Winter career fair, 1 - 5 pm, DeVos Convention Center.
March 8 - 14: Spring break! (This is a week later than usual -- watch the schedule carefully!)
April 25: Last day of classes
April 25 - May 2: Exam week

One important thing to know:
Credit/No-credit grade deadline

Did you know that you can choose to take classes with a pass/fail grade, also called "credit/no-credit"? This means you can choose to receive only a grade of "Credit" (equivalent to passing with a C or better) or "No Credit".

You can find out more on the Registrar's Frequently Asked Questions page, which includes information about some of the limits on this option. Look under "How do I take a class as credit/no credit?" There are limits on how many classes can be taken this way, and which classes are eligible.

Important: Some graduate or professional degree programs require you to take certain classes for a regular letter grade. Make sure you know these requirements first!

You can make the request to change a class to credit/no-credit grading at the Registrar's online form. The deadline to apply is this Friday February 6 at 5 pm.