Operations Manual

Kalamazoo Section of the American Chemical Society

Last updated 2018-03-20

Executive Committee

Chair

  • The major functions of the Local Section Chair are to preside over monthly executive committee meetings and to make sure the necessary committees are fully operational with a good cross-section of the membership participating. The current committees are Awards, Communications, Education, (incl. Competitive Exam), National Chemistry Week, and Project SEED
  • The chair acts as host (or arranges for another member to host) for Local Section meeting speakers: this includes making local accommodation arrangements, dinner arrangements (the Local Section has in the past paid for the host, the guest and two additional people) and being in contact with the speaker or speakers about meeting site arrangements. Following a meeting, a report is submitted to the National Speakers Tour Service (optional).
  • The chair introduces or arranges for the introduction of Local Section meeting speakers.
  • The chair makes an effort to keep informed of Local Section members’ wants and needs in respect to Section activities. The chair keeps aware of new activities originating from National, which represent opportunities to serve local members better. The chair brings the above information to the executive committee with suggestions for appropriate action, and also makes an effort to present National ACS activities to the membership through one-on-one contact, or by means of the Section Newsletter.
  • The chair keeps a record of the year’s activities and prepares the Annual Report for his or her year of service.
  • The chair appoints Tellers to verify annual election results. See Bylaw VII for details.
  • The Chair-Elect of the Section shall be elected for a term of one year, which is followed by one year as Chair, and which is subsequently followed by one year as Immediate Past Chair

Chair-Elect

  • Attends all Local Section Executive Committee meetings as a voting member.
  • The chair-elect is responsible for drawing up the program for the calendar year during which he or she is chair (or the year after serving as chair-elect). He or she may convene an ad hoc committee of representatives from the local membership to help with program development. Services that can be used to develop a program are the National ACS Speakers Directory or other sources as directed by the Executive Committee.
  • Serves as acting chair at meetings in chair’s absence and in other capacities as assigned by the Local Section chair and executive committee.
  • Attends the ACS Leadership Institute held in January of the year before term as chair-elect (year of election as chair-elect).
  • The chair-elect organizes nominations for annual elections with optional assistance from an appointed Nominations Committee (ad hoc). See Bylaw VII for details.
  • Attends those Local Section committee meetings to become acquainted with Section activities, in preparation for the year as chair.
  • The Chair-Elect of the Section shall be elected for a term of one year, which is followed by one year as Chair, and which is subsequently followed by one year as Immediate Past Chair

Secretary

  • Maintains records for the section.
  • Participates in Executive Committee meetings as a voting member; records the proceedings; prepares and distributes the minutes to board members.
  • Prepares and distributes election material annually. See Bylaw VII for details.
  • Prepares and sends correspondence, on direction of the Executive Committee.
  • The Secretary of the Section shall be elected for a term of two years

Treasurer

  • Pays all section bills and maintains financial records.
  • Gathers and retains expense summaries and receipts for all authorized travel.
  • Submits federal income tax return.
  • Prepares annual budget.
  • Attends monthly Executive Committee meetings and presents Treasurer’s report.
  • Authorizes ACS request to receive annual Local Section allotment.
  • Oversees investment of section funds over and above operating budget, subject to Executive Committee approval.
  • The Treasurer of the Section shall be elected for a term of two years.

Councilor

  • Makes every effort to represent the Section by attending at least one of the two yearly meetings of the Council. Ordinarily Council meetings are held in conjunction with the Spring and Fall National Meetings of the Society. Voting at Council meetings is in accordance with instructions from the Section Executive Committee; or, in the absence of instructions, according to his or her best judgment.
  • The Councilor brings before the Council, or any of its committees, subjects of particular interest to the Section either on his or her own judgment, or by instruction of the Executive Committee. The Councilor answers inquiries, questionnaires etc., that are submitted to Councilors by the National Society.
  • Though all but 3 National ACS Committees are open to any member for participation, for most effective interaction in this governance function full engagement by the councilor is highly recommended by selecting a Committee (there are 29 as of 2021) in which to participate (opportunity is given to apply for appointment to any one of up to 4 committees whose function is of interest to the individual).
  • Prepares a summary report of each Council meeting attended and submits written and oral reports to the Section Executive Committee at the next meeting following the Council meeting.
  • Participates and votes in all meetings of the Section Executive Committee. If no Councilor can attend a scheduled Council meeting, the Secretary of the Section should be advised as early as possible so that the Secretary can notify the Alternate Councilor who will then represent the Section in the Council meeting. The Alternate Councilor must be properly certified by the Secretary to be admitted to the meeting.
  • The Councilor(s) shall be elected by the members of the Section for a term of three years

Alternate Councilor

  • The duties of the Alternate Councilor are the same as those of the Councilor when the Councilor is unable to serve.
  • The Alternate Councilor(s) shall be elected by the members of the Section for a term of three years

Working Committees

Archives Committee

Each year, gathers and organizes monthly minutes, agenda, Treasurer’s reports, important Section correspondence, programs, event summaries, Newsletter publicity, and other materials relevant to Section operations along with the annual budget and the Annual Report. These are submitted every 5 to 10 years to the Regional Archives Library housed at Western Michigan University.

Awards Committee

Solicits names from the Local Section membership of those member(s) who have served selflessly for an extended period of time and selects awardee.

Communications Committee

This committee shall coordinate and distribute announcements of local section activities as requested by the elected officers of KACS. Committee members include the newsletter editor, webmaster, and social media site managers, all of whom may be called upon to serve in place of each other to maintain timely communications. Resources such as site login credentials and email distribution lists shall be accessible to all committee members to ensure smooth coverage. Content consistent with the mission of KACS and ACS may be submitted by the elected officers of KACS and posted directly without Executive Committee approval. The committee will explore new approaches to improve the efficiency and impact of local section announcements. The committee will initiate and recruit help to collect written summaries and photos of local section activities. Some functions of the committee may be outsourced to qualified professionals with officer approval of budget and services.

Education Committee

Calls and conducts any necessary meetings for planning and implementation of:

  • Spring Science Symposium
  • Spring awards event (high school)

Communicates arrangements for meetings, plans, etc. to members of the committee and the Section Executive Committee.

Attends meetings of the Kalamazoo Section ACS Executive Committee and submit yearly report and budget.

Spring Science Symposium:

  • Plans date, agenda, publicity, places, food, arrangements, allocation of responsibilities, etc.
  • Sends flyers to all Section high schools in tri-county area (Kalamazoo, Allegan and Van Buren) and possibly to neighboring areas, e.g. Battle Creek.

Spring Awards Event:

  • Plans (as in a above)
  • Solicits high school teacher nominations from principals
  • Solicits high school student nominations from teachers
  • Sends letters/flyers to: Kalamazoo Section publicity committee, high school principals, high school teachers, high school students, high school principal of Outstanding Teacher (with check)

Holds meeting after awards ceremony to evaluate programs and do advance planning for Fall.

Designates a person to administer high school chemistry exams.

Competitive Exam Subcommittee

Conducts the annual KACS Competitive Exam and the US National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) program. This includes preparation, scheduling, distribution, and grading of the KACS Competitive Exam. The subcommittee will subsequently select qualifiers from these results and administer participation accordingly in the USNCO National Competition as warranted by community interest. To promote and support these activities, the subcommittee will establish and maintain a local platform to provide instructions and study resources for students and teachers as well as a mechanism for community feedback on the conduct of the program. The subcommittee will provide timely updates to KACS leadership.

Chemists Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW) Chair

  • In early March contacts the Kalamazoo Nature Center Outreach Coordinator and other area venues involved in Earth Day-related activities to arrange for opportunity to present Chemistry and the Earth Week-theme activities in conjunction with any of their Earth Day Celebration events.
  • Recruits volunteers to assist in the presentation of appropriate educational materials/activities at such venues.
  • Communicates with the student chemistry clubs at Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University to encourage their participation in CCEW outreach venues.
  • Shares theme-related publications with volunteers to use and distribute at venues
  • Recognizes volunteers appropriately in the local section newsletter.
  • Promotes and coordinates participation in other Earth Week-related ACS activities suggested by the ACS Outreach office.
  • If enough volunteers, coordinates team visits to schools to present chemistry activities that are pertinent to the CCEW theme.
  • Submits report of events to ACS outreach office.
  • Oversees activity as needed to ensure that the program runs smoothly, and summarizes activity in a report to the Executive Committee, and to the membership through the section newsletter.

National Chemistry Week (NCW) Committee

The Chair of the NCW Committee can operate alone or select a committee. The main function of this committee is to design and execute an effective National Chemistry Week celebration for our Section. Detailed duties are listed below.

  • Solicits volunteer workers from the Local Section membership and local schools to help with our annual Chemistry Day of hands-on activities at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. Coordinates the scope and nature of the activities to reflect the annual theme for NCW.
  • Works closely with Kalamazoo Valley Museum Program Coordinator to facilitate registration of volunteers, assignment of activities, submission of material needs, development of experiment plans and descriptions. Provides timely updates and reminders to volunteers in advance of Chemistry Day.
  • Ascertains that volunteers are appropriately recognized for their service.
  • Creates timely advertising messages about NCW and Chemistry Day activities to distribute to Local Section members, and schools in Kalamazoo, Allegan and Van Buren counties.
  • Coordinates connections with the major libraries in each county and oversees the distribution (free of charge) of theme-specific publications provided by the ACS National office, which may be given to patrons.
  • Coordinates team visits to schools to present chemistry activities that are pertinent to the NCW theme; shares theme-related publications with the local section’s undergraduate chemistry clubs with encouragement to use them in their hands-on events at schools.
  • Submits reports to the National ACS Outreach Office
  • Summarizes activity in a report to the Executive Committee and to the membership through the newsletter and website.

Project SEED

Project SEED is part of the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) commitment to the development of a scientific work force that is more broadly representative of the American population. The program was established in 1968 by the ACS to help expand the career outlook of high school students from families defined as economically disadvantaged by federal poverty guidelines. Each student performs research with a mentor in an industrial or academic chemistry lab. Participating students are divided into two groups, Summer I students, participating for the first time and Summer II students, who are in their second and final summer of the program. The committee (coordinator) is expected to:

  • Solicit matching funds from the local chemical community and recommend annual budgeting for KACS Project SEED funding.
  • Solicit scientists to act as mentors for the Project SEED Program.
  • Coordinate submission of project proposals to National Project SEED.
  • Contact high school chemistry teachers in Allegan, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties to recruit students to apply to the program. This invitation will provide eligibility requirements and instructions for how to apply.
  • Select the students to be involved in the program, match them with mentors and see that any students who are under 18 years old obtain appropriate State of Michigan work permits.
  • Once the program starts in June, meet regularly with the students and mentors to ensure that program is running smoothly and that students are receiving their payments.
  • Encourage mentors and students to plan a presentation activity, such as a poster session or half-day symposium, to allow students to present their work. Help to coordinate this with mentors from different institutions.
  • Collect student written reports and ensure that they are submitted at the end of the program.
  • Ensure that ACS mentor and student surveys are completed by the end of the program.
  • Prepare summary report for the local section and follow up with the KACS treasurer to ensure that all financial transactions are properly executed and logged.

Publicity Committee

The Chair of the Publicity Committee can operate alone or select a committee. The main function of the Publicity Committee is to provide publicity to nonmembers for Local Section activities. Detailed duties are listed below.

  • Maintains a current mailing list of HS teachers, Middle School teachers and Elementary teachers in the schools in Kalamazoo, Allegan and Van Buren counties.
  • Issues communications to school teachers throughout the year to support ACS activities and education initiatives in our section. These typically include NCW and Chemists Celebrate Earth Week, tour speakers, Science Cafés or other activities of potential interest to these communities.

Women Chemists Committee (WCC)

The Women Chemists Committee (WCC) serves the membership of the American Chemical Society. Its mission is to be leaders in attracting, developing and promoting women in the chemical sciences. The committee shall:

  • Serve as a forum for women in chemistry and related professions.
  • Develop recommendations regarding issues of interest to women chemists.
  • Provide a means of increasing and improving participation of women in the chemical sciences and the SOCIETY.
  • Promote the recognition of women chemists.