Requirements for Founding a Chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon at an Academic Institution

Pi Mu Epsilon, a national honorary mathematics society, was founded in 1914 at Syracuse University and was incorporated on May 25, 1914, under the laws of the State of New York. Its roots date back to a mathematics club that was founded at Syracuse in 1903. Pi Mu Epsilon is a non-secret organization whose purpose is the promotion of scholarly activity in mathematics among students in academic institutions.

The local organizations of Pi Mu Epsilon are the Chapters. To found a Chapter at an academic institution, a petition must be submitted to the Council of Pi Mu Epsilon to establish that there is credible interest and enthusiasm for mathematical scholarship on the part of both the students and the faculty. In particular, the Council requires evidence that there has been an ongoing history of student mathematical activity outside the classroom; that there are adequate facilities to support this activity; and that the faculty at the institution is fully supportive of the goals and objectives of Pi Mu Epsilon. Further, the Council requires evidence that the group submitting the petition has the support of the faculty and administration at the institution..

To expedite the petition process, institutions with an interest in forming a new Pi Mu Epsilon Chapter should first contact the Pi Mu Epsilon President . The President will assign one of the national Council members to serve as a Liaison to work with the institution during the process of writing a petition.

The following paragraphs detail the format that should be followed when submitting the petition; additional evidence that enables the Council to determine the mathematical activity of students at the institution is welcome. The author(s) of the petition, the proposed Chapter Advisor, and the proposed Permanent Faculty Correspondent should submit their telephone numbers, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses with the petition.

Minimum Requirements for Consideration

The following requirements must be met in order for a petition to be considered.

  1. The institution must offer a bachelor's degree in mathematics.
  2. The Petition for a Chapter must be initiated by a mathematics club or similar organization that has been an active scholarly body at the academic institution for more than one year.
  3. The number of students receiving a bachelor's degree in the mathematical sciences must have averaged at least four per year for the past three years.
  4. The undergraduate major in mathematics must require at least the equivalent of two semesters of calculus, and also require the equivalent of at least 21 semester hours of more advanced work in the mathematical sciences.
  5. The mathematics department at the petitioning institution must have on its staff at least one person with an earned doctorate in one of the mathematical sciences.
  6. The Petition for a Chapter must be accompanied by signed, written endorsements from the chair of the mathematics department and of a senior academic officer of the petitioning institution.
  7. The proposed Chapter Advisor and the proposed Permanent Faculty Correspondent shall submit signed statements indicating their willingness to accept the responsibilities of fulfilling these roles. If one faculty member fills both roles, one letter will suffice.

Required Information

Each Petition should contain the following information:
  1. Petitioning Institution

    1. Name and date of founding of the institution.
    2. Type of institution, e.g., private, public, liberal arts, comprehensive university, etc.
    3. Total enrollment:

      1. Lower division, undergraduate;
      2. Upper division, undergraduate;
      3. Graduate school; and
      4. Professional schools not included above.

    4. National honorary societies installed in other disciplines.
    5. Accreditations.
    6. The name, email, postal address, county, and phone and fax numbers for the person who will be the contact on behalf of the petitioners at the institution. The name(s), phone and fax numbers and e-mail address(es) of the proposed Chapter Advisor and Permanent Faculty Correspondent.
    7. Other pertinent information about the institution as a whole.
    8. The name and email address of your department chair, and the name and email address of at least one higher academic official (dean, provost, president, ...), all of whom you will contact to submit a letter indicating institutional support for establishing a Pi Mu Epsilon Chapter at your institution if your petition is approved.

  2. Petitioning Mathematics Organization

    1. List of members initiating the petition.
    2. List of proposed charter members, if different from the above list. Not more than 1/3 of the Charter Members can be members of the faculty at the institution. [See PME Constitution, Article VII, Section 4.]
    3. Name and date of founding of local mathematics club or similar organization.
    4. Programs sponsored by the local mathematics club or similar organization during the past year. This should list activities such as local meetings, trips, attendance at conferences, etc. Speakers at meetings of the local organization should be identified by name and status (e.g., undergraduate, graduate, local faculty member, visiting lecturer) and their topic given.

  3. Mathematics Department

    1. List of full-time faculty with rank of Instructor or above. This list should be arranged in order of rank, with highest rank first and alphabetical within each rank. The following information should be given for those faculty members who have a history of involvement in undergraduate research, the petitioner, the proposed Chapter Advisor, and the proposed Permanent Faculty Correspondent. For the remaining department members, you need only complete items III. A. 1. and 8. If this information is available online then please indicate the URL for it.

      1. Highest degree earned, name of conferring institution, date, dissertation title, name of major professor.
      2. Books, manuals, and chapters published (if any) during the past five years. Give title, date, and general nature (unless the latter is obvious from the title).
      3. Articles and essays published (excluding book reviews), editing, and refereeing during the past five years. Give title, name of journal and date, or volume. If a work has been accepted for publication, but not yet published, it should be included. This is not to be interpreted as prohibiting citation of publications more than five years old if they are believed to be pertinent.
      4. Memberships in professional societies and mathematics honorary societies; service as editor or referee for journals; service as officer or member of committees of mathematical organizations.
      5. Outstanding teacher or distinguished educator awards, and other special recognitions during the past five years. Please give title and date of award, and the conferring body.
      6. Supported research during the past five years.
      7. Directed student research.
      8. If full-time faculty members teach mathematics part-time then this should be indicated and the approximate fraction of their time devoted to the Mathematics Department stated.

    2. List the requirements for degree(s) (courses, grades, etc.) with a major in mathematics. The units of measurement (e.g., semester hours, trimester hours, quarter hours, courses) should be defined. Requirements for graduate degrees in mathematics should be included.
    3. List of courses actually offered. List the semesters (or other terms) in which each course has been offered during the last two years.
    4. Describe activities such as student participation in regional and local professional meetings, student conferences, and colloquia.
    5. List the number of mathematics majors as of the date of the Petition by classes, including graduate school, if any.
    6. List the number of students who received a bachelor's degree with a major in the mathematical sciences for each of the past three years.

  4. Learning Resources

    1. Library

      1. Recent acquisitions:

        1. List the approximate number of books and manuals in the mathematical sciences acquired in the last year.
        2. List the number of journals and other collected works in the mathematical sciences acquired in the last year.
        3. List the last ten (10) books in the mathematical sciences ordered.

      2. Does the Library or the department of Mathematics hold institutional membership in MAA, AMS, SIAM, ASA, etc.?

    2. Technology

      1. Describe the computing environment at the petitioning institution.

        1. Describe the computer facilities available to the department and their use by students and faculty.
        2. Do faculty members and students have access to Internet?

      2. Describe the technological environment at your institution. How is technology used in the classroom?

To complete your presentation, include a cover page and paginate your Petition.

Submitting a Petition for a Chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon

After working with the assigned Liaison to prepare a Petition, an electronic copy of the Petition (in the form of a single PDF or MS Word document) should be sent to the National Pi Mu Epsilon Secretary-Treasurer (secretary-treasurer@pme-math.org), for distribution to the Council. At the same time, mail signed endorsements of the Department Chair and of a senior academic officer of the petitioning institution along with signed statements from the proposed Chapter Advisor and the proposed Permanent Faculty Correspondent (If one faculty member fills both roles, one letter will suffice.) to the following address:

Pi Mu Epsilon, Inc.

Please do not send any money at this time. If the Council unanimously votes in favor of the petition, the petition will be granted. If a majority (but not all) of the Council approves the petition, it shall then be circulated among the Chapters. This will require a $25 petition filing fee. The petition will be circulated electronically, accompanied by the reasons the Council did not vote unanimously on it. We allow about two months' time during the academic year for the Active Chapters to cast electronic votes.

Preparation of the Charter takes about three weeks and cannot be undertaken until the list of the Charter Members and the date of the installation of the new Chapter have been received by the Secretary-Treasurer.

Submitting a Petition for a Chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon

Costs for Installing a New Chapter

The costs for installing a new Chapter are:

A chapter Installation Package is available to new Chapters only for $100. The package contains the following items:

If these items were ordered individually at the regular prices, this package would cost $165. Therefore we strongly recommend that all new chapters purchase the Installation Package.

The Chapter's Permanent Faculty Correspondent is required to file an annual report on the Chapter's activities and local awards. This information should be submitted electronically using the form provided here.

The Pi Mu Epsilon Constitution and Bylaws can be found here and printed copies are available from the

National Pi Mu Epsilon Secretary-Treasurer. (secretary-treasurer@pme-math.org)

June 20, 2010


 
Home | Top | Contact PME