MATHEMATICS LEAGUE

8. Governance

Having begun in 1980-81 as a group of four schools, and having grown to a group of 156
schools in 1986-87, we were, on September 10, 1987, officially incorporated under the laws of
Minnesota Corporate Charter Number 18-388 with the name MINNESOTA STATE HIGH
SCHOOL MATHEMATICS LEAGUE .

We include below a summary of the League Bylaws; a complete copy is available from the
League Office.

MEMBERSHIP: Members are high schools in, or bordering on, the State of Minnesota.
Membership is granted for an academic year and must be renewed annually. Member schools
must affiliate with an existing division of the Corporation or be assigned to a new division by
the Board of Directors. It is the intention of the board that each division be composed of at least
five teams. The Board of Directors sets dues that member schools must pay before the date of
the first fall meet.

Following the state tournament, each division shall appoint a Coordinator for the following
year. This Coordinator is a member of the Board of Directors.

DIRECTORS: The Board of Directors consists of

1. one Division Coordinator to be chosen by each division of the Corporation, each
of whom shall serve for a one (1) year term that commences with the summer
conference in the year of appointment.
2. up to five (5) members elected at large by the Board, each to serve for a three-year
term
3. the League Director, elected for a five-year term, serving as an ex officio voting
member.

Directors may succeed themselves, and there are provisions for removal of any director.

MEETINGS: The annual meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held in the fall at a time
agreeable to the members. Other meetings may be scheduled as needed, and the Executive
Committee may call special meetings.

DECISIONS: A majority of the Directors constitute a quorum, and decisions at meetings
having a quorum present shall be made by a majority of those present, unless a greater number
is required by an applicable law or Robert's Rules of Order .

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: The President, Secretary and Treasurer of the
Corporation and four (4) additional Directors shall constitute an Executive
Committee of the Board. In addition, the League Director and Associate Director shall serve
as nonvoting members of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee exercises the
power of the Board of Directors between meetings of the Board.

COMPENSATION: The League Director and such staff as the Board of Directors shall
approve from time to time shall be compensated on an annual basis at rates to be set by the
Board of Directors. Other members of the Board receive no compensation for services as
Directors, but may be compensated for services rendered in a capacity other than that of a
member of the Board.

COACH'S MANUAL: The League Director shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, a Coach's
Manual for each academic year, which shall consist of a compilation of the rules adopted by the
Board of Directors from time to time and then in effect, and which shall be subject to the
approval of the Board of Directors. The Coach's Manual shall include all rules for meets,
information regarding League business and affairs, and topics to be included in the tests for the
year.

AMENDMENTS: The Board of Directors may amend the Articles of Incorporation of the
Bylaws at a meeting of the Board of Directors for which proper notice, stating the purpose
thereof including the proposed amendment, has been given at least five (5) days in advance of
the meeting. If notice required by this Article has been given, the proposed amendment or a
duly modified version thereof, may be adopted at any meeting of the Board of Directors by a
two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Directors present at the meeting and entitled to vote.

Officers and At-Large Board Members

Officers
Tom Young, President, Coordinator, North Suburban Divsion (elected Oct 1, 2007 for a 3 year
term)
Dale Kain, Treasurer (elected Oct 1, 2007 for a 3 year term)
Lynn Fryberger, Secretary, Coordinator, St. Louis River Division (elected Oct 1, 2007 for a 3
year term)

At-Large Board Members
Karl Bunday
Dale Kain
Mike Reiners
Lucie Taylor
Kathy Trier

9. Division Alignment Rules

It is the intention of the board that each division be composed of at least five teams. If a
division drops below five (5) teams, it may operate with fewer teams for one (1) year. If the
division does not have at least five (5) teams the following year, the teams in the division may
be placed in existing division(s). The Hibbing Rule does not apply to divisions operating with
fewer than five (5) teams.

There are several reasons for wanting, in so far as possible, to have divisions of at least 5, and
more desirably, about 8 teams. They are as follows:

1. First and foremost, small divisions give rise to a feeling of inequity in the drive to get to the
state tournament. Schools in a division of 8 or 10 teams clearly have a harder time getting to
the tournament than those in a division of 4 or 5 teams.

2. Costs of the tournament are rising dramatically. Our budget remains tight and we must do
what we can to control it. Aiming at an average of one tournament invitation for every 8 teams
seems to be a reasonable goal.

3. As already mentioned, we face increasing pressure from teams in large divisions to break
themselves into smaller divisions. This exacerbates the problem described above (2), but it is
hard to resist when supplicants can point to divisions already smaller than the ones they
propose to create by dividing.

Recognizing the difficulty of always finding 5 schools in a geographic area that want to
participate, the League Board passed at its September 2001 meeting the following motion:

In cases where distance makes it impractical for teams in a division to come together at
one site for each of the five meets of our season, the division may designate two sites ,
so long as at least three teams gather at each site. Provisions should be made to have the
sites in electronic communication so that teams at each site can see their standing in the
meet as each event is graded, and the results should come to the league office as the
report of a single division.

Division Alignment Policy

New schools, merging of existing schools, schools dropping out of or joining the League, the
forming of new athletic conferences: these and other changes require that each fall we do some
reorganizing of our divisional structure. In setting up divisions, the office staff should observe
the following guidelines:

a. Member schools should, in so far as possible, be put in a division with schools where
they are most comfortable.
b. Unless prompted by external requests, we should attempt to keep intact the same
divisions from year to year.
c. When an existing division is to be changed slightly by addition or deletion of a team
or two, this should be done with the cooperation of the Division Coordinator.
d. Great effort should be made to have divisions consist of at least five teams.
e. When major realignments are undertaken , coaches of all teams affected should be
invited to a meeting to discuss implementation issues. In all cases, alignment of
divisions worked out through negotiations between the office staff and the affected
teams, must be approved by the League’s Executive Committee.

10. Divisions for 2008 – 2009 (unofficial)

11. Schedules

MN State HS Mathematics League - Schedule
 

ARML May 29-30, 2009
Summer Conference    July 24-25   July 30 - 31   July 29 - 30

American Mathematics Competitions - Schedule
AMC 8 November 18, 2008
AMC 10/AMC 12 February 10, 2009 FORM A or February 25, 2009 FORM B
AIME March 17, 2009 or April 1, 2009
USAMO April 28 & 29, 2009

12. Hall of Fame

In 2005, in celebration of its 25^th anniversary, the Math League instituted a Hall of Fame.
These people were inducted into the inaugural class:
 

In the fall of 2005, the Board voted to select more members for the hall of fame during 2010,
in conjunction with the League’s 30th anniversary.

Also, to celebrate the 25th anniversary, Wayne Roberts wrote a book looking at the history of
the Math League. The book is filled with anecdotes about instrumental people who help form
the league, students who have left a big impression during their tenure and statistics from all
the years the league has been in existence. That book is available by contacting the league
office.