Councilor's Corner - September 2008

The Council of the American Chemical Society convened in Philadelphia on Wednesday, August 20, 2008. As your Councilor, I want to give you the highlights from that meeting as it deals with Council business.

The following summary was provided to help Councilors report to their local sections and divisions on key actions and discussions of the ACS Council and Board of Directors at the 2008 fall national meeting.

ACTIONS OF THE COUNCIL

Election Results

· The Committee on Nominations and Elections presented to the Council the slate of nominees for membership on the Committee on Committees beginning in 2009. By written ballot, the Council elected Cherlynlavaughn Bradley, Rigoberto Hernandez, James M. Landis, Howard M. Peters, and Sara J. Risch for the 2009-2011 term.

· The Committee on Nominations and Elections presented to the Council the slate of nominees for membership on the Council Policy Committee beginning in 2009. By written ballot, the Council elected Ray A. Dickie, Bonnie A. Lawlor, Mamie W. Moy, and Eleanor D. Siebert for the 2009-2011 term.

· The Council Policy Committee presented to the Council the slate of nominees for membership on the Committee on Nominations and Elections. By written ballot, the Council elected W. H. (Jack) Breazeale, Jr., Peter K. Dorhout, Catherine C. Fenselau, Peter C. Jurs, and Andrea B. Twiss-Brooks for the 2009-2011 term; Angela K. Wilson for the 2009-2010 term; and Dwight W. Chasar for the remainder of a 2007-2009 term.

Candidates for President-Elect and Board of Directors

· The candidates for the fall 2008 ACS national election were announced as follows:

President-Elect 2009
Joseph S. Francisco, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Josef Michl, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO

Directors-at-Large – 2009-2011
William F. Carroll, Jr., Occidental Chemical Corporation, Dallas, TX
Richard L. Deming, California State University- Fullerton, Fullerton, CA
Thomas R. Gilbert, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Marinda Li Wu, Science is Fun! Orinda, CA

Director, District III 2009-2011
Pat N. Confalone, DuPont, Wilmington, DE
Alan B. Cooper, Schering-Plough Research Institute, Kenilworth, NJ

Director, District VI 2009-2011
Bonnie A. Charpentier, Metabolex, Inc., Hayward, CA
Gary D. Christian, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Petition

· The Council VOTED to accept the Petition on Society Affiliate Dues. The petition raises Society Affiliate dues to be equal to the (full) membership dues, while specifying that Society Affiliates are not subject to any of the discounts otherwise applicable to membership dues. To be valid, the petition next must be confirmed by the Board of Directors within 90 days, and will become effective five months following confirmation.

Committee Review

· As part of a regular review, the Council VOTED to continue the Committee on Chemistry and Public Affairs, and the Committee on Patents and Related Matters. The Committee on Chemistry and Public Affairs is responsible for advice and recommendations for ACS action on public policy matters involving the chemical sciences and technologies. The Committee on Patents and Related Matters considers patents and other related items insofar as such consideration and possible action are appropriate under the Society’s Charter.

Registration Report and 2009 National Meeting Registration Fee

· As of August 20, 2008, the ACS fall national meeting had attracted 13,800 registrants. Totals in select categories are as follows: Regular attendees 8,196; Students 3,087; Guests 481; Exhibit Only 546; and Exhibitors 1,490. In keeping with the objective of the National Meeting Long Range Financial Plan, previously approved by the Board of Directors and Council, the Meetings and Expositions Committee voted to support an increase of $10 for the 2009 national meetings advance registration fee.

Membership Activity

· In 2007, the number of paid new members nominated by current ACS members was 1,559. Currently, there are 988 paid new member applications. The Society’s Member-Get-a-Member program is on track to have its best year ever.

Professional Employment Guidelines

· The Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs submitted its latest version of the Professional Employment Guidelines for consideration. These guidelines offer a broad spectrum of recommended practices in employment for professional scientists and their employers. The Council will vote on the Professional Employment Guidelines at the 2009 spring meeting in Salt Lake City.


Revision of the Division Funding Formula and Formation of a New Division

· After a motion to recommit failed, the Council VOTED, as recommended by the Divisional Activities Committee (DAC), to accept a revised division funding (allocation) formula. DAC reported that the formula improves clarity, offers simplicity, and rewards collaborative programming between divisions. The change will take effect in 2009 for 2008 activities.

· The Council also VOTED to approve the formation of the Probationary Division of Catalysis Science and Technology. The primary objective of this probationary division is to provide a “home” for the chemical science of catalysis within the ACS in a way that will also insure a continual connection between this science and the essential chemical technology of catalysis.

ACTIONS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Board’s Standing and Special Committees

· The Board of Directors received reports from its Executive Committee, and the Committees on Grants and Awards, Public Affairs and Public Relations, Professional and Member Relations, and Budget and Finance. On the recommendation of the Committee on Grants and Awards, the Board VOTED to approve nominees for the 2009 Perkin Medal and the 2009 Othmer Gold Medal. On the recommendation of the Committee on Professional and Member Relations, the Board VOTED to approve in principle a proposed alliance between the ACS and the RSC titled Research in Chemistry for Society/Sustainability (RICHES). On the recommendation of the Committee on Budget and Finance, the Board VOTED to include funding requests for the ACS Leadership Development System and ACS Green Chemistry Institute ® in the 2009 budget, and to accept the 2008 report from Program Review Advisory Group, as amended. The Board also accepted the recommendations from the 2008 Financial Planning Conference with one modification.

· The Board received a status report from its International Strategy Implementation Task Force and an update on plans for a Board-Presidential Task Force on Education. The International Strategy Implementation Task Force is charged with implementing the recently approved Society international strategy, and the Board-Presidential Task Force on Education will attempt to answer the question: “What can a Society with 160,000 members uniquely do that can have a transformative effect on education in the United States?”

Strategic Issue

· The Board of Directors continued its deliberations of the global scientific challenge Sustainability (e.g., energy, food, and water) and considered a proposed set of principles from the Committee on Environmental Improvement in this area. Addressing global scientific challenges is fundamental to strategic goal #3: ACS will be a global leader in enlisting the world’s scientific professionals to address, through chemistry, the challenges facing our world.


The Executive Director/CEO Report

· The Executive Director/CEO, along with several of her direct reports, updated the Board on the following items: the ACS Green Chemistry Institute ® Strategic Plan; the Web Presence Initiative; emerging issues affecting the Society; recommendations resulting from the new IRS Form 990 filing requirements; and the activities of Chemical Abstracts Service, the Publications Division, and the Society’s General Counsel. The emerging issues discussion was particularly vibrant as the ACS Board considered many of the key factors and trends that affect Society membership. As a follow-up to these reports the Board took several actions. The Board VOTED to amend its Regulations to conform with the new IRS Form 990 filing requirements; and on the recommendation of the Joint Board-Council Committee on Publications, the Board VOTED to approve the reappointment of several Society journal editors.

Other Society Issues

· The Board received an update on its substantial progress toward achieving its 2008 goals, and discussed a draft of proposed 2009 goals. The Board concluded its session with introductions and briefings from several international dignitaries representing the Royal Society of Chemistry, the German Chemical Society, the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences, the Canadian Chemical Society, the Mexican Chemical Society, and IUPAC.

IMPORTANT NEWS: At the Philadelphia National Meeting, the Rochester Section received a ChemLuminary Award for “The Most Innovative New Activity or Program in a Local Section in 2007”. This award was for our efforts with NTID at RIT. We plan to have this award at the Local Section’s Award dinner in October so you will want to make sure you attend to see the beautiful honor.

As I stated in an earlier article, I am proud to represent Rochester as Chair of the ACS Membership Affairs Committee. I wanted to take some time in this article to describe what MAC is all about.

The ACS Committee on Membership Affairs is involved with recruiting and retaining ACS members by ensuring that ACS membership is a valuable resource in their professional lives. We do so by incorporating three subcommittees that meet, as an offshoot of the whole Committee, at each National ACS meeting. The three Subcommittees are:
o Categories and Dues
o Benefits and Services
o Recruitment and Retention

Categories and Dues

This Subcommittee is charged with the review of all membership dues categories and potential discounts. For instance, if there was a request for a special dues category and level for High School Chemistry Teachers, that proposal would be brought forth to this Subcommittee. The one thing that this Subcommittee does not handle is the base ACS dues level from year-to-year. That is handled through the Budget and Finance Committee.

Benefits and Services

This Subcommittee is charged with the review of all membership benefits and services in order to insure that we are maximizing the benefits of membership to our members. This is the Subcommittee that reviews al potential partners in business that offers members discounts, as was covered in my “Council Corner” within the June newsletter. One of the other positions I acquired, when I became Chair of this Committee, is a position on the Member Insurance Trust. This is the group the reviews all of the insurance programs offered to members. Updates from this Trust are brought forth to this Subcommittee. If you have an idea of a service or benefit that you would find valuable to you, please let me know so I can pass it onto this Subcommittee.

Recruitment and Retention

This Subcommittee is charged with coming up with programs that can help in the recruitment of new members as well as the retention of present members. This is a key area within the ACS because, like with any membership organization, people often come in and leave for a variety of reasons. For every person leaving, we have to bring in two new members to be ahead of the game. Many of you may have received a promotion called the “Member-get-a-Member” campaign. This is one of the programs that comes forth from this Subcommittee.

As you can see, the core of membership, what the ACS is all about, is within this Committee. I, for a long time, have been a champion for “membership value”. I would love to hear from any of you as to your ideas on what can bring better value to your ACS membership so that we can act on it and see if we can bring it to fruition.

Please remember that as Councilor, I am your voice on the national level. Feel free to contact me at 477-4903, email me at d.richard.cobb@kodak.com

or write me at:

15-C Greenleaf Meadows, Rochester, NY 14612.

D. Richard Cobb

Thank you!