Committee of Heads of Departments of Mathematical Sciences

MINUTES OF COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON 12 FEBRUARY 1996 AT 13.30 IN THE
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AT UCL 


Present:  Graham Wilks (Keele) in the Chair, Michael Atkinson 
(St Andrews), Martin Everett (Greenwich), Ken Houston (Ulster), 
Allan Norcliffe (Sheffield Hallam), Alan Ryley (Glamorgan), Chris 
Wright (Middlesex) and Alan Zinober (Sheffield). Also present were 
Dr Ekkehard Kopp (subsequently coopted), and coopted members Dr A M 
Lepper (IMA), Professor K Brown (LMS) and Professor D G Crighton 
(Cambridge).

(ACTIONS ON ITEMS BY BRACKETED, INITIALLED INDIVIDUALS)
1.	Apologies   

David Larman, Stephen Ryrie (late) and Donald Davison.   Valerie 
Isham deputised for Adrian Smith.


2.	Minutes and Notes of AGM held on 14 September 1995  

It was noted that HoDoMS had paid for the lunch.  An electronic 
version of the minutes would be posted on MATHSHEADS.(CCW)

The minutes were then approved.


3.	Matters Arising   

The following members had accepted cooption:

	Prof KA Brown, Glasgow 
	Prof DG Crighton, Cambridge
	Dr A Lepper, IMA 
	Prof AFM Smith, Imperial College, London

Dr Ekkehard Kopp was proposed for and accepted cooption at the meeting.

Min 5  EPSRC/learned societies:  it was reported by David Crighton 
that Geoff Richards of EPSRC was anxious for EPSRC to consult the 
learned societies.  He would copy comments of the minutes of the 
recent CPAM meeting to the HoDoMS committee for 
distribution.(DGC,CCW)

The next meeting would allow some time for reports from the coopted 
members on research and research funding.


4.	Financial matters   

4.1	The Treasurer, Martin Everett, reported on the 1994/95 accounts 
which are reproduced below.

4.2	 It was agreed that Martin Everett and Graham Wilks would 
initiate the call for 1996-7 subscriptions.





5.	Annual General Meeting 28 May, 1996, at UCL

This would be an interim meeting bridging the full meetings in  
September 1995 and March 1997.  Chair suggested a theme carrying 
forward the Howson Report 'Tackling the mathematics problem'.

The Committee agreed the following outline programme:

	11.00	Committee Meeting
	12.30	Annual General Meeting
	14.00	Afternoon Meeting
	17.00	Close.

Possible speakers were suggested, including:

	Margaret Brown, 
	 Royal Society Mathematics Instructional Sub-Committee
	SCAA Official (Chief Executive Nick Tate or Richard Browne)
	Ralph Smith (Jaguar) representing Engineering Council
	Christine Hopkins
	Kath Cross (HMI)

The Chairman would pursue some or all of the above.(GW)


6.	MATHSKILLS Network 

6.1.	Ekkehard Kopp summarised progress with the Mathskills bid, 
which had been successful.   He expressed the hope that the network 
would become self-sustaining beyond the 2-year life of the support 
programme.


6.2.	The Chairman asked for support from members for this venture.  
Committee agreed a subvention of £2000 per annum initially to be 
reviewed at the March 1997 AGM.CCW


7.	AGM/Conference 24-25 March 1997   

This would be a 2-day event at which HoDoMs would act as a catalyst 
involving other bodies, (including MATHSKILLS), probably restricted 
to 120 delegates.

The Chairman intended to target prominent speakers including 
possible coverage of quality audit.  There would need to be a small 
programme committee - Ken Houston, Ekkehard Kopp, Graham Wilks, 
Alan Ryley and Chris Wright.

(GW,EK,AR,CCW)


8.	School Curriculum Assessment Agency (SCAA) Conference

Stephen Ryrie gave a verbal report of the proceedings.  While SCAA 
had always stressed that Maths Departments in HEIs represented only 
one cataegory of school mathematics 'users', there were signs of a 
broader concensus over at least some issues.




9.	Roles of Committee Members   

Joint Mathematical Council:  The Chairman reported on recent 
activities of the Joint Mathematical Council and suggested we 
develop a stronger relationship with them.  John Berry had been 
HoDoMS representative on the Executive Committee and Martin Everett 
likewise within the Higher Education Section (now disbanded).

Stephen Ryrie agreed to act as HoDoMs representative and a channel 
of communication with JMC (and would forward their minutes). (SR)

SCAA:  The representative at the forthcoming seminar on 'A level 
mental mathematics' on 25 March would be Allan Norcliffe.

Undergraduate Mathematics Teaching Conference (UMTC): we already 
have strong representation.

Competitions: it was useful to keep in touch with the many school 
competitions now taking place.   Alan Zinober agreed to act as the 
focus for information.(AZ)

British Association for Advancement of Science (BAAS): Ekkehard Kopp 
had a contact.

SET 96:    An approach would be made to have maths/statistics 
included in the title via Anne Campbell and the SET Executive.
(GW,CCW)


10.	Pupil Research Initiative   

A stronger maths input was needed.  Allan Norcliffe and Graham Wilks 
would pursue this with Bill Harrison.(AN,GW)


11.	Next meetings

	16 September, 1996, at UCLCCW
	13 January, 1997 (venue to be decided). (CCW)


12.	Any other business

12.1. 	Ken Houston reported that he was a member of several 
committees of the Royal Irish Academy and that he would liaise with 
them.  The 'World Mathematics Year 2000' initiative might be a 
useful area for cooperation.  A directory of Irish mathematicians 
was being set up on the World Wide Web.

12.2. 	We would use the internet to distribute committee 
documentation to committee members, and also the HoDoMS homepage 
(MATHSHEADS) to distribute them more widely.

12.3. 	Ekkehard Kopp said that the CPAM had received useful 
clarification from the RAE Applied Maths Panel and a similar 
approach on behalf of pure maths might be useful.        

12.4. 	Martin Everett said that the postgraduate awards mechanism 
had created problems and the HoDoMS group should look for 
alternative models and put them forward to Geoff Richards at EPSRC. 

The meeting closed at 15.45. 

Head of Departments of Mathematical Sciences


Accounts for 1994/95



Balance brought forward from 1993/94	£10,882.40	

Subscriptions for 1994/95
(86 @ 100)	£8,600.00	
Overpayment	£19.65	
Committee Expenses		£872.36
JMC Subscriptions 1994/95		£80.00
September Conference		£1,969.35
	
TOTAL  £16,580.34