Candidate for Treasurer
Jennifer M. Tobias
Illinois State University
Professor
Participation in AMTE and/or AMTE Affiliates(s)
I’ve been participating in AMTE on some level since I was a doctoral student and attended my first conference in 2006. Since attending my first conference, I’ve continued to actively participate in the organization through various capacities. I’ve participated in the conference almost every year since 2006 either as an attendee, proposal reviewer, and/or speaker, have served on the program committee twice (first for the 2011 conference and now as a current member of the conference program committee (2023-2026)), and was the recipient of the 2017 AMTE Early Career Award. Additionally, I have been a discussion table facilitator at four annual conferences, have served on the local arrangements committee for the conference, and am also a current member of the Illinois affiliate IMTE.
Participation in Related Organizations
Outside of AMTE, I have served in similar roles in other mathematics education organizations. I have served as a conference program committee member for the NCTM annual meeting and as a strand leader for three PMENA conferences. Outside of mathematics education, I’m an active member of the clogging community and am currently the president of the Illinois Prairie Clogging Association and have been in that position since 2019 and have served on the board for that organization in different capacities for the past 10 years.
Qualifications for the Position
Having served as a board member and president for state organizations, I have done many of the same things in those roles that serving a leadership role with AMTE would require. This includes organizing regular meetings with individuals and/or the board, planning an annual workshop for a large group of people, working with hotels, working with budgets, discussing and responding to participant feedback, working with outside vendors, taking the safety and wellness of members and workshop attendees into consideration when planning events, helping to recruit new members, and encouraging membership renewals. Throughout the various experiences I’ve had, I’ve learned what it means to serve as a board member of an organization and understand what that responsibility entails. In addition, these experiences have given me a greater understanding of how nonprofit organizations are structured.
Three Goals AMTE Should Make a Priority
The first goal I think AMTE should prioritize is being more proactive, open, and transparent with current members regarding decisions that are being made, while also considering member input on those decisions. Due to recent situations, there have been tensions coming from members regarding this specifically as well as members feeling as though some populations are not being treated as equitably as others.
The second goal AMTE should prioritize is increasing membership and conference participation. From my current role on the conference program committee, I know that the number of submissions for the conference has drastically decreased the past couple of years.
The third goal AMTE should prioritize is expanding to other disciples that also include mathematics education (e.g. STEAM, special education, science education etc.). Attending the conference in Orlando this year, there were attendees from these areas who made comments about the importance of more discussions around these topics.