The Skidmore College Problem Group is a group of students who meet regularly to work on problems posed in various undergraduate mathematics journals. Faculty participants are also welcome. Solutions to problems are then submitted to the editors (either by individuals within the group or by the group as a whole). Solutions are acknowledged in subsequent issues of these journals. The journals publish a solution to each problem from among the correct submissions.

Students in the Poblem Group during Spring 2010

• David C. Vella organized the group in January, 1992, as an outgrowth of the practice sessions for the annual Putnam Exam. The group also works on problems from previous Putnam Exams when not working on journal problems.
  
  David Vella in 2010

• In the summer of 1997, this group petitioned to start a local chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon, the national honorary mathematics society. This petition received a favorable review, and the new chapter New York Alpha Theta) was officially installed on November 17, 1997.

• The Skidmore College Problem Group has had over 10 submitted solutions published by the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal. The published solutions include:
  • problem #869 [see the Fall, 1996 issue (vol. 10, #5)],
  • problem #886 [see the Spring, 1997 issue (vol. 10, #6)],
  • problem #909 [see the Spring, 1998 issue (vol. 10, #8)],
  • problem #948 [see the Fall, 1999 issue (vol. 11, #1)],
  • problem #955 [see the Spring, 2000 issue (vol. 11, #2).
  
  Vella showing the Pi Mu Epsilon journal to the class.

• Beginning Fall, 1999, students who sign up for the problem group will earn 1 credit, which may count towards Honors Forum credit. The course may be repeated for credit. All grades are on an S/U basis for the course. There will be an enrollment cap of 20 students for the course, which will meet once per week.

  Typically, the course is taught by David Vella in the fall semester and Dan Hurwitz in the spring semester.

Currently, the Mathematics & Computer Science Dept. subscribes to the following journals, all of which contain sections devoted to posed problems. The following links will take you to information about the journal from the publishers:

In addition, we may entertain problems posed in sources to which the dept. does not currently subscribe, such as the Journal of Undergraduate Mathematics, the The New York State Mathematics Teachers Journal, or the Fibonacci Quarterly.

The American Mathematical Monthly	Mathematics Magazine	The College Mathematics Journal
Crux Mathematicorum	The Pi Mu Epsilon Journal	Math Horizons

Students in the Poblem Group during Spring 2010

Other Web-sites regarding mathematical problems:

• Math Pro Online

• Problem of the Week at Macalaster College (provided by Stan Wagon).

Return to the Mathematics & Computer Science Dept. Home Page: .

This page maintained by David Vella.