INFORM-ED Newsletter

Spring 2009

Keeping members of the OR/MS community informed of innovation in education

 

President’s Corner – Chris Zappe

Dear INFORM-ED Members,

 

As many of us conclude yet another academic year, I’m writing to invite you to review the accompanying updates from the officers and editors of INFORM-ED to learn more about our ongoing activities and the new initiatives that we are pursuing this year.  As always, the leadership of INFORM-ED is dedicated to enhancing the teaching of operations research and management science in a wide variety of settings. 

 

I also would like to extend a special welcome to those of you who serve in very small academic departments, training teams, or other types of work groups.  To the extent that you may feel somewhat isolated from the larger operations research/management science community of educators, we want you to know that the officers and membership of INFORM-ED are committed to providing you with both support for your instructional activities and fellowship with others who share your professional interests and passion.  In preparation for this fall’s annual meeting in San Diego, Professor Dave Rader of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, our Vice-President for Programs, has been working hard to formulate a program of sessions which will be of interest and value to faculty in liberal arts, engineering, and business programs, trainers and practitioners in corporate environments, educators in governmental organizations, and many others.  If you are an isolated educator, please do not hesitate to reach out to Dave Rader, other INFORM-ED officers, and me for support with your educational initiatives.

 

As always, my fellow INFORM-ED officers/editors and I encourage you to share your suggestions for enhancing our programs and activities in the coming year.  Please contact any of the following individuals if you have any questions or suggestions for enhancing the programs and services that we support:

 

Vice President -- Programs:  Dave Rader (david.rader@rose-hulman.edu)

Vice President -- Projects:  Mike Racer (mracer@memphis.edu)

Vice President -- Publications:  John Kros (krosj@mail.ecu.edu)

Vice President -- External Relations:  Dawn Strickland (stricklandd@winthrop.edu)

Secretary/Treasurer:  Judith Norback (judith.norback@isye.gatech.edu)

"Issues in Education" Column in OR/MS Today: Matt Drake (drake987@duq.edu)

INFORM-ED Website:  Kellie Keeling (kkeeling@du.edu)

INFORM-ED Newsletter:  Matt Bailey (matt.bailey@bucknell.edu)

Case Competition Chair:  Mike Racer (mracer@memphis.edu)

 

If you would like to speak with me over the phone about your specific thoughts in this area, I would welcome your call.  I can be reached at zappe@bucknell.edu or at my Bucknell office (570-577-3292).  I truly want to hear your suggestions for how we can better serve your needs and interests.  After all, this organization exists to benefit each of us.

 

Best wishes for an enjoyable and productive summer,

 

Chris Zappe

Bucknell University

 

 

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

 

President’s Corner – Chris Zappe

2008 INFORM-ED Business Meeting Minutes – Judith Norback

Publications – John Kros

INFORM-ED @ INFORMS 2009, San Diego – Dave Rader

 

2008 INFORM-ED Business Meeting Minutes

2008 INFORMS Meeting in Washington, DC

October 12, 2008

 

Chris Zappe opened and ran the meeting, which covered the following topics.  Information supplementing the summary below is included on the powerpoints (see the INFORM-ED website) for the meeting agenda, the special projects, and the international effort.

 

  • President’s remarks

 

  • Officers’ and editors’ reports
    • Of special interest was the report given by Mike Racer, our VP of Special Projects, on lone academics, business school faculty support, and K-12 interactions.  More detail is included on the attached slides.

 

  • International effort:  Jim Cochran reported on the plethora of activities involved in the INFORMS International OR Education Initiative.  The attached powerpoint includes details.  Jim described three international conferences, their attendees and some results:
    • The 1st ALIO/INFORMS Workshop on OR Education, in November, 2006 in Uruguay; the 1st ORPA/INFORMS Workshop on OR Education in September, 2007, in South Africa; and the 2nd ALIO/INFORMS/IFORS/EURO Workshop on OR Education, held in September, 2008, in Colombia.
    • Attendees to these conferences represented countries from Argentina, Austria, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ethiopia, France, Guatamala, Honduras, India, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Uruguay, Tanzania, the US, and Venezuela, to Zimbabwe.
    • As a result, interest and commitment was expressed by many organizations, including INFORMS, IFORS, EURO, UNESCO, and WHO.

 

  • Public Awareness Committee (PAC) sponsored teacher training

 

  • Ninth Annual Case Competition

 

  • Board representation report

 

  • INFORMS Transactions on Education (editor:  Jim Cochran)

 

  • Case and Teaching Materials Initiative (led by Tom Grossman)

 

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Publications  - John Kros

Howdy All!

I hope the beginning of the Summer Sessions has treated everyone well.  

Here are some thoughts as we all prepare for San Diego this Fall.  

The INFORM-ED website is still being updated at its new location (http://www.informs.org/site/inform_ed/). Kellie will be working this summer to move over and update the History section of the website.  If you have any missing Newsletters (http://www.informs.org/site/inform_ed/index.php?c=15&kat=Newsletters&p=19|) or Minutes (http://www.informs.org/site/inform_ed/index.php?c=20&kat=Business+Minutes&p=19|) please send them to Kellie along with any general comments or ideas you have for the website (Kellie Keeling - Kellie.Keeling@du.edu).


OR/MS Today publishes the Issues in Education column in every issue. This column is sponsored by INFORM-ED and the new editor is Matt Drake. Contact Matt (drake987@duq.edu) to contribute an article to this series.

We are all looking forward to another successful case competition.  This year is the 10th annual.  Wow, ten years!  Please contact Chris Zappe
(zappe@bucknell.edu) for questions regarding the competition.

See y'all in San Diego!

John F. Kros (
krosj@ecu.edu)

 

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INFORM-ED @ INFORMS 2009, San Diego – Dave Rader

We have a very exciting cluster planned for this year's annual meeting in San Diego. Our track consists of fifteen sessions, and we are co-sponsoring two additional sessions in other sponsored tracks. We have made a concerted effort to provide a well-rounded group of sessions with something of interest to a broad group of educators-whether in schools of business, engineering, or liberal arts. Some of the highlights include

·         Two sessions on Communication Instruction in Industrial Engineering and Business

·         A Tutorial by Jill Hardin on “Exploring Best Practices in the Teaching of OR/MS”

·         A session on Business Analytics in the Business School

·         Showcase session on undergraduate research in OR

My sincerest thanks go to all session chairs and presenters for their hard work in organizing such an excellent cluster. We hope to see you in San Diego.

Dave Rader
VP/Programs


 

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Helpful Links

 

INFORMS

INFORM-ED

Science of Better

 

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