This is a summary for all Pi Mu Epsilon Chapters of the meeting of the National Council of Pi Mu Epsilon, Inc., August 4, 2005 in Albuquerque, NM.

Angela Spalsbury and Paul Fishback were welcomed to this, their first Council meeting since having been elected to the national Council of Pi Mu Epsilon. Re-elected to the Council were Councillors Michelle Schultz and Eve Torrence, Secretary-Treasurer Leo Schneider, Journal Editor Brigitte Servatius, President-Elect David Sutherland, Past President Robert Smith, and President Joan Weiss.

Reports:

Seven new Chapters, bringing our total number of Chapters to 317, were installed since the January meeting of the Council. These were:

• Wisconsin Zeta Chapter at the University of Wisconsin at Steven's Point.
• New York Alpha Lambda Chapter at Hofstra University in Hempstead.
• Maryland Eta Chapter at Mount Saint Mary University in Emmitsburg.
• Maryland Theta Chapter at Goucher College in Baltimore.
• Arkansas Delta Chapter at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock
• New York Alpha Mu Chapter at the State University of New York at Brockport.
• Connecticut Epsilon Chapter at Connecticut College in New London.

The winners of the Andree Awards for the best student-written articles in the 2004 issues of the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal were:

• Stephen Hruska, Rebekah Johnson, and Ryan Yates from Wheaton College, IL.
• Molly McGinty from Washington and Lee University.
• Peter Horn from Hendrix College and Ryan Westbrook from Texas A&M University.

The 28 Pi Mu Epsilon student speakers at 2005 MathFest will receive $200 for their subsistence at the meeting in addition to their travel. This stipend was higher than in the past years because the number of speakers was down a little bit from previous years. Pi Mu Epsilon is able to give these students this subsistence because of a grant from the National Security Agency. Nine of these students received $150 cash awards for the excellence of their presentations. Eight of these cash prizes are subsidized by a grant from the American Mathematical Society and the ninth is furnished by the Council on Undergraduate Research.

The financial report for the July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005 fiscal year showed that Pi Mu Epsilon is in good shape and was accepted unanimously by the Council. The budget for the July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006 fiscal year was approved.

Pi Mu Epsilon is slowly computerizing its Membership records. As of the August meeting, almost 60K members from 126 of our 317 Chapters had been entered into the data base.

The Editor of the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal reported that during the past year 39 papers were submitted for publication. Of these, 11 of the papers were written by college students, 1 by a high school student, 19 by faculty, 6 joint papers by faculty and students, 1 by a high school teacher, and 1 by a hobby mathematician. The fall 2004 issue of the journal contained 6 papers, 2 by students, 2 by faculty, and 2 joint student-faculty papers. The spring 2005 issue contained 7 papers, 3 by students, 3 by faculty, and 1 joint faculty-student paper. The fall 2005 issue will contain only 5 papers since the Problem Department will be using more space in that issue as a one-time exception. Last year there were 29 problems published in the Problem Section of the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal.

The annual breakfast for Chapter Advisors to Pi Mu Epsilon Chapters and MAA Student Chapters will be in San Antonio on Saturday January 14.

Pi Mu Epsilon will display its booth at the January 2006 mathematics meetings in San Antonio, and at a few regional meetings during the academic year. The first of these will be at the October Michigan Undergraduate Mathematics Conference.

Visits were made to four Chapters in the Pi Mu Epsilon National Lectureship and Enhancement Program for 2004-2005:

• Former Pi Mu Epsilon President Richard Poss visited the Michigan Gamma Chapter at Andrews University in Berrien Springs April 7-8, 2005.
• Pi Mu Epsilon Councillor Eve Torrence visited the Maryland Delta Chapter at Hood College in Frederick on April 10, 2005.
• Pi Mu Epsilon Secretary-Treasurer Leo Schneider visited the Michigan Gamma Chapter at Siena Heights University in Adrian on April 13, 2005.
• Pi Mu Epsilon Councillor and Webmaster David Sutherland visited the Texas Eta Chapter at Texas A&M University in College Station on April 18, 2005.

The Council approved funding for applications from five Pi Mu Epsilon Chapters for our 2005-2006 National Lectureship and Enhancement Program:

• Florida Delta Chapter at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
• Florida Zeta Chapter at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
• Illinois Alpha Chapter at the University of Illinois in Urbana.
• New York Phi Chapter at SUNY Pottsdam.
• Rhode Island Beta Chapter at Rhode Island College in Providence.

The Council approved a new policy regarding reimbursement of Student Speakers from Chapters with more than one Speaker. The new policy is either the same, or slightly more generous, than the old, depending on the situation. Under no circumstances will the Speakers from a Chapter receive less under the new policy. In order to contrast the two policies, both are stated here:

• New Transportation Reimbursement Policy: One speaker per Chapter receives full transportation reimbursement up to $600. If there are additional speakers from a Chapter, the maximum transportation reimbursement for the Chapter increases by 20% for each additional speaker up to four additional speakers for a maximum of $600 + 4*$120 = $1080 for a Chapter with a total of five speakers.
• Old Transportation Reimbursement Policy: One speaker per Chapter receives full transportation reimbursement up to $600. If there are additional speakers from a Chapter, each additional speaker up to four additional speakers receives 20% of the amount of reimbursement for the first speaker, for a maximum of $600 + 4*$120 = $1080 for a Chapter with a total of five speakers.

The Council also discussed the precise meaning of "undergraduate presentations" at our summer meeting, but the motion was tabled until the January 2006 meeting to allow more time for thought and discussion before the vote. The discussion seems to be heading toward a policy something like:

• Student speakers and delegates cannot have received their undergraduate degree more than 15 months before our summer meeting, and cannot have completed more than 30 semester hours (or the equivalent) in a graduate program in mathematics (or a related field) prior to the date of the meeting. For students who have already graduated before our summer meeting, the presentation must be on work accomplished as undergraduates and not on material learned during graduate school.

During the remainder of the Council meeting, revisions to the national Pi Mu Epsilon Constitution were discussed. This discussion has been occupying the Council for over three years. The Council hopes to present the revisions to the Chapters for a vote during this academic year.

The complete minutes of this meeting will be available from the Pi Mu Epsilon Secretary-Treasurer after they are approved at the January 2006 meeting of the Pi Mu Epsilon Council in San Antonio, TX.

Leo J. Schneider
Secretary-Treasurer, Pi Mu Epsilon, Inc.