Skip to Main Content

Committee on the Profession (CoProf)

General Description

Membership is as follows:

  1. Three Council members, appointed by the President from among the Vice Presidents and Members at Large of the Council;
  2. One member of the Board of Trustees, appointed by the Chair of the Board;
  3. The President of the Society;
  4. The Executive Director of the Society (non voting);
  5. The Secretary of the Society
  6. The AMS Staff Liaison
  7. Eight at large members, appointed by the President.

The chair is appointed by the President to a one year term as chair, with the possibility of extension, extending her (his) term on the committee if necessary.

The Associate Executive Director for Professional Programs and Services (the AMS Staff Liaison) shall provide administrative and staff support.

Principal Activities

Committee reports to the Council.

The Committee is to take a long range view of and provide major direction for Society activities on issues of a broad professional nature, concerning the status of the profession and the situation of mathematics and mathematicians in the U.S. and abroad.

Issues to be addressed in this area include:

  1. Human rights of mathematicians
  2. Employment issues and opportunities
  3. Professional Development
  4. Increasing participation at all levels of under represented groups (e.g., women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, native Americans)
  5. Recognition and Awards
  6. Membership and member services
  7. Professional ethics and responsibilities
  8. Increased communication and cooperation with other disciplines

Fundamental to these is the issue of increasing public awareness of and appreciation for the nature of mathematics and its role in modern society.

The Committee will conduct an annual high level review of the Society's efforts relating to these issues: evaluating progress toward Society goals, and reviewing Society activities and structure with an eye to how best accomplish these goals.

The Committee will conduct a dialog with the Society's membership, through presentations and open forums at meetings, articles in the Notices, and other appropriate means.

The Committee will coordinate with other professional organizations.

The 11 January 1994 Council approved the following resolution:

The Council charges the committees on Education, Meetings and Conferences, Profession, Publication, and Science Policy to carry out at least every six years reviews and appraisals of Society activities in the areas of their charges and to report the results of these reviews to the Executive Committee and to the Council.

Miscellaneous Information

Ordinarily the Committee has one face to face meeting per year. In addition to face to face meetings, committee business may be transacted by email, telephone, fax, and conference call, expenses for all of which may be reimbursed by the Society.

This committee has been designated at LEVEL P.

Note to the Chair

Committee chairs should be informed, at the beginning of each fiscal period, of the budget of their committees and cautioned to remain within the budget. Such items as travel reimbursement, accommodations, and meals for guests of any kind fall within these budgets.

For the purpose of archiving the committee activities, the Secretary maintains a central file system for archiving committee records. Committee Chairs are asked to submit committee records on yearly basis. Chairs can submit material at their discretion, and some materials that they may wish to provide are meeting minutes, agenda, and emails. Confidential material should be noted, so that it can be handled in a confidential manner.

Authorization

Past Members

A list of current and past members is available here:
http://www.ams.org/about-us/governance/committees/coprof-past.html