Dear colleagues,

Our interviews for tenure-track positions start later this week. We have always had excellent participation from faculty, and I appreciate the efforts you will put into making our candidates feel welcome and in helping with the many activities. I will send out titles and abstracts for the candidates, but we will not be posting them on announce since we have one candidate already in a tenure-track position and want to preserve confidentiality. The interview schedule is attached.

The Dean's office has had a lot of discussions with department heads and chairs of search committees about ensuring that we avoid topics that we are not allowed to bring up with candidates, including race, sex, marital/family status, religion, national origin, birthplace, age, and disability. We have had few problems with this in the past in our department, but it is good to keep this in mind.

We have given specific instructions to candidates about their job talks, and I have included the main part of these below:

"The talk is scheduled for 50 minutes, from 3:30 to 4:20, with a short period for questions afterward... Most of the audience will not be an expert in your field and would like to gain some understanding of the importance of your area and your work in a broader mathematical context. We like for the first 15-20 minutes of the talk to be accessible to a doctoral student who has completed the core doctoral courses in algebra, analysis, and topology. It will be especially helpful if in the latter portion of your talk you can explain to a general mathematical audience your contribution to your area."

Leticia and the Appointments Committee (David Wright, Jiahong, Paul, and Weiwei) have done a great job in getting us an excellent pool of candidates.Thanks in advance for the faculty's help in our recruitment this year.

Best wishes, Chris

-- Chris Francisco Professor and Head Department of Mathematics Oklahoma State University Office: 401 MSCS Phone: (405) 744-8225 E-mail: chris.francisco@okstate.edu