The Riverbend Community Math Center works with many different departments and offices at Indiana University South Bend (IUSB).
Our executive director, Dr. Amanda Serenevy, has taught Math for Elementary Teachers, Basic Algebra, and Calculus in the IUSB math department. Our treasurer, Dean Serenevy, has taught Liberal Arts Math and Trigonometry. IUSB math professor Dr. Anne Brown serves as a member of our board of directors. We have organized study circles for IUSB students in the past. We are currently working with the math department to explore some options for improving retention and mastery in basic IUSB math classes.
During the 2010 - 2011 academic year, the Riverbend Community Math Center and the IUSB Math Department are working together to establish a Math Circle at John Young Middle School in Mishawaka with the support of a Dolciani Grant from the Mathematical Association of America.
The Riverbend Community Math Center has also collaborated extensively with the Office of Campus Diversity before its dissolution in 2008. The Office of Campus Diversity sponsored a variety of events open to the community that promoted understanding among people of different backgrounds.
Charlotte Pfeifer, the former director of Campus Diversity, serves as a member of our Board of Directors and has helped the Riverbend Community Math Center to connect with a variety of community organizations and programs.
In April 2008, the Office of Campus Diversity organized a Next Steps in Science and Mathematics Conference to start a community-wide conversation on science and math education in our community. A follow-up conference was organized by NISMEC in April 2009 and held at the Century Center.
In spring of 2007, we collaborated with Dr. Michelle Verges in the IUSB psychology department. Students in her statistics class assisted with many of our programs to fulfill the service learning segment of their course. We helped with their BagFest -- a festival designed to raise awareness about our society's excessive consumption of plastic bags. We led several hands-on math activities relating to plastic bag consumption during the festival.
The Riverbend Community Math Center also collaborates with professors and staff in the school of education and the departments of physics, biology, sociology, and many others.
