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Measure of Success Vol. 44 No. 3 From the Vice-President’s Desk President’s Report Elena Braverman, University of Calgary Measure Evaluation processes have certainly been 22 in place for quite a while, but there have of Success recently been changes in the direction of a larger carrot and a harder stick. These IN THIS ISSUE s university changes have led to much more controversy DANS CE NUMÉRO faculty, we compared to previous evaluation methods. In are from time A the past, the nominal merit increments in the From the Vice-President’s Desk . Cover to time evaluated: for university assessment process varied mainly Editorial . .2 tenure, promotion, from 0.4 to 1.6, with an average of 1.0-1.2. during the annual or biennial assessment Calendar of Events . .4 An exceptional effort was required to get process (in which I have been for several Book Review anything outside this interval, including a lower years involved as a division chair) and during increment. Previously, the value of an NSERC Harmonic Analysis on Finite Groups . .5 grant applications. This evaluation, as a rule, discovery grant in mathematics mostly varied Outer Billiards on Kites . .6 has the following common features: while from $8- 30,000, with some exceptions, and the initial review is done by mathematicians, Education Notes . .8 all reasonably active faculty members had it. later it goes through some committees which Research Notes At that time, there was a consensus that a include administrators and colleagues from fair, and probably not very exciting, game was Why Banach Algebras? . .10 other disciplines, usually working in natural going on. This is reminiscent of the situation The Shape of Associativity . .12 sciences or engineering. The evaluation at most Canadian universities where tenure- is done in the same way as any other Long Range Plan Steering Committee Update . 15 track positions turn to tenured ones with little evaluation: for example, when we grade Competition Notes . .19 exceptions, and some top US universities our students’ tests, we usually compare the 2012 Summer CMS Meeting. .20 where tenure is very rare — in both situations, presented solutions with some ideal version. there is little interest in the outcome of the President’s Report . .22 Sometimes, the students give an unexpected tenure application. However, if the success Executive Director’s Report . .24 or elegant solution, for which they receive a rate is between 25% and 75%, the evaluation bonus. To some extent, a similar approach Treasurer’s Report . .29 process creates a lot of pressure. Not such a is used in the assessment process, both at Call for Nominations . .30 sharp but certainly a painful process occurred the university, within faculties and colleges in faculty assessment when there appeared of science, and in grant evaluation. From the a tendency toward “extreme evaluations”; in point of view of faculties of science, an ideal particular, the zero increment was assigned applicant is the head of a laboratory which to several faculty members. The point is that includes many graduate and undergraduate the collective agreement allows termination students, and some postdoctoral fellows. of the tenure in the case of an unsatisfactory An ideal applicant publishes papers in performance, and several successive zero high-impact journals such as Nature or increments is considered to be a definite Science and has a substantial support for indication of it. I am not aware of the cases the research program that allows them to when low students’ satisfaction was the only employ many research associates. Any reason for such evaluations, but low research prestigious national or international prizes activity certainly was. The level of uncertainty come as a bonus to the application. This with grant applications is even higher when short note presents some thoughts on the the success rate is going down; approaching evaluation process. 50%. What is worse, if you are given reports Canadian Mathematical Society Société mathématique du Canada FRANÇAIS PAGE 3 continued on page 16 CMS Notes EDITORIAL Volume 44 No. 3, June 2012 forever. But with some courses (and I’m « Il n’est pas facile Rubber thinking, for instance, of first-year calculus) the d’amener les étudiants à opposite problem appears. Even though first and Steel year calculus isn’t very “rigorous”, it’s often expérimenter, et il nous very “rigid”. It’s not easy to get students to arrive de ne même pas By Robert Dawson, experiment - and sometimes we don’t even try. Saint Mary’s University, Keeping the balance - the correct blend of essayer. » Halifax rubber and steel, in the right places - is an ne can build things from steel ongoing challenge to all of us. la création d’une structure mathématique that one simply cannot build plus compliquée que la montre mécanique O from rubber. Not just towers and la plus complexe. Prenons par exemple la bridges, but engines and watches. théorie des groupes, la géométrie euclidienne, Rubber has its uses – it shapes itself to la théorie des catégories ou même le things, it absorbs shocks – but when you jeu de la vie de Conway. Un ensemble know where one end of an extensive piece of d’axiomes que l’on peut écrire au verso rubber is, you have only a vague idea of what d’une carte postale produit un ensemble the rest might be doing. With steel, or any de Mandelbrot infini et infiniment complexe other rigid material, information is transferred de théorèmes et de nouveaux concepts. accurately from one point to another. The Par contre, quand un chercheur se lance value, and the price, of this is internal dans un nouveau domaine, il met souvent consistency; if it doesn’t fit you can’t put it in. la rigueur de côté dans sa réflexion, même Mathematics can be like either steel or rubber. si ce sera sans doute son objectif ultime. Il A handful of rigorous axioms allow us to set fait des analogies, il prend des idées qui ont up a mathematical structure more complicated fonctionné dans un contexte et les laisse se than the most complex mechanical watch. transformer (on ne peut pas les forcer) dans Think – just for a few examples – of group un autre contexte. Tout est négociable à cette theory, Euclidean geometry, category theory, Acier et étape-là. Plus tard, une fois qu’il connaîtra or even Conway’s game of Life. A set of axioms la forme du corps, il ajoutera l’ossature. that you could write on the back of a postcard caoutchouc Il n’est pas toujours facile de transposer gives rise to an infinite, infinitely complex ces notions dans notre enseignement. Les Mandelbrot set of theorems and new concepts Par Robert Dawson, programmes scolaires en particulier pèchent On the other hand, when we explore a new Saint Mary’s University, parfois par excès de souplesse : l’heure est area, we often set rigor aside in our thoughts à Halifax toujours au jeu, le médium est le message, et - even though it may be our eventual goal. We vec de l’acier, on construit des toute réponse est valable à condition qu’elle think in analogies, we take ideas that worked in objets impossibles à construire ne vienne pas du manuel ou de l’enseignant. one setting and we let them shape themselves A avec du caoutchouc. Non La rigueur finale est parfois reportée aux (we cannot force them) to another. Everything seulement des tours et des ponts, mais Calendes grecques. Pour certains cours, is negotiable - for now. Later, once we know aussi des moteurs et des montres. toutefois (je pense ici, par exemple, aux the shape of the body, we will add the bones. Le caoutchouc a toutes sortes d’usages; cours de calcul différentiel et intégral de Sometimes it can be a challenge to reflect this on s’en sert entre autres pour façonner des première année), on assiste parfois au in our teaching. School curricula in particular objets ou absorber les impacts. Par contre, problème inverse. Même si la première année sometimes err on the side of flexibility: it’s si l’on connaît l’emplacement d’une extrémité de calcul n’est pas très « rigoureuse », elle always playtime, the medium is the message, d’un morceau de caoutchouc flexible, on n’a est souvent très « rigide ». Il n’est pas facile and every answer is valuable, provided it qu’une vague idée de ce qui arrive au reste du d’amener les étudiants à expérimenter, et didn’t come from the textbook or the teacher. morceau. Avec l’acier, ou tout autre matériau il nous arrive de ne même pas essayer. The final addition of rigor can be postponed rigide, l’information est transférée de façon Garder l’équilibre – ou la combinaison précise d’un point à l’autre. La valeur – et le parfaite de caoutchouc et d’acier aux endroits “ It’s not easy to get prix – de cette propriété est la consistance appropriés – est une préoccupation constante interne : si un objet n’est pas de la bonne taille pour chacun de nous. students to experiment - pour une cavité, on ne pourra l’y faire entrer. and sometimes we Les mathématiques sont parfois à l’image don’t even try.” de l’acier, parfois à l’image du caoutchouc. Une poignée d’axiomes rigoureux permettent 2 © Canadian Mathematical Society 2012. All rights reserved. Notes de la SMC Tome 44, numéro 3, juin 2012 Du bureau de la vice-présidente Elena Braverman, University of Calgary Letters to Mesure de réussite the Editors omme membres du personnel enseignant à l’université, nous Lettres aux C faisons à l’occasion l’objet d’une Rédacteurs évaluation : pour une permanence, une promotion, dans le cadre du processus d’évaluation annuel ou The Editors of the NOTES welcome letters in English or biannuel (processus auquel j’ai participé pendant plusieurs French on any subject of mathematical interest but reserve années comme présidente d’une division) et dans le cadre des the right to condense them.
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