April 2023, Vol. 13(4)

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Picnic Planned … Volunteers Needed!

KACS members, please note that this is the second alert of our KACS members’ meeting on Saturday, June 24 at the Oshtemo Township Park at 7275 West Main Street. We view the evening starting at 4:00 p.m. as a time to socialize outdoors, to have members get re-acquainted in person, and to highlight benefits of the ACS to members and other attendees. Members and their families will be treated to a hotdog and hamburger cookout starting at 4:00 p.m.; this will be followed around 5:00 p.m., by the meeting itself. If this is something that interests you and you have been looking for a way to increase your involvement in the KACS, please volunteer.

Volunteers Still Needed

Thanks are due to those of our members who volunteered to cook and help with logistics on the day of our meeting. Anyone else who would like to help secure supplies, or help with set-up or clean-up would be welcome. We also still need a few members to volunteer for 2 meetings with Ed Thomas to further plan and solidify the agenda for the members’ meeting. More details on final setup and needs will follow in a future article. If interested, please contact the meeting organizer, Ed Thomas (edwardwthomas@gmail.com).

Last Call for Section Award Recipient

The KACS Local Section Meritorious Service Award recognizes individuals in our Section who have selflessly and continuously contributed their time and energy to the service of our section. (For a list of recipients since its inception in 1989, visit https://kalamazooacs.org/past-recipients-of-the-kacs-section-award/)

If you have such a person in mind, please send your nomination, along with your rationale for the nomination, to the committee chair, Lydia E.M. Hines, at lemhwgh@gmail.com, by April 21.

Dr. Melanie Cooper: Transforming STEM Learning Using Theory and Evidence

The Western Michigan University Department of Chemistry presents Dr. Melanie Cooper, speaking on “Transforming STEM Learning Using Theory and Evidence.”

Dr. Cooper, Lappan-Phillips Professor of Science Education, Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, will speak on Monday, April 10, at 4:00 p.m. in 1260 Chemistry at WMU.

There is a large body of work from the learning sciences providing us with insights into how people learn; and from Discipline Based Education Research (DBER) we know what discipline-specific difficulties students face. However, it is quite surprising that relatively little of this understanding has made its way into the design of science and engineering curricula offered at most colleges and universities.

This presentation will focus on the need for evidence-based curriculum transformations, the research findings that can guide them and how we might assess the results of these transformations. An approach to systemic reform that focuses on helping students use their knowledge in scientifically meaningful ways, will be discussed. Examples of such curriculum reform efforts “Chemistry, Life, the Universe and Everything” (CLUE) and a subsequent organic chemistry version (OCLUE), will be presented, along with the evidence to support how these transformations impact student learning and course culture. Implications for systemic reform will also be discussed.

Annual Awards Gathering

Reserve May 8, 7:00 p.m. for our 2023 Awards Gathering on ZOOM again this year.

To attend this gathering please register at the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsd-6tqjgjEtSSwceiyMbaLYSs-WzERVaR

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Among those to be recognized will be:

  • Five 50-year members and two 60-year members!
  • One outstanding College Chemistry graduating senior from Kalamazoo College and one from WMU
  • Outstanding HS Chemistry Students as nominated by their HS Chemistry teachers in our section’s three-county area
  • Our three 2022 Project SEED participants

Chemist Celebrate Earth Week: The Curious Chemistry of Amazing Algae

The theme for Chemists Celebrate Earth Week, April 16-22, is “The Curious Chemistry of Amazing Algae.” If you would like to request copies of a publication (most appropriate for children ages 10-14) pertinent to the theme and provided by the ACS Outreach Office, please contact our CCEW coordinator Lydia E.M. Hines at lemhwgh@gmail.com. These contain descriptions of hands-on activities and may be given to teachers to use in the classroom or to send home, or may be placed in “Little Libraries” in various neighborhoods.

Councilor Summary, ACS Spring 2023 Meeting

The ACS Council meeting was held in a hybrid manner on March 29, and the Board of Directors meetings were held on March 24-25, 2023.

Actions of the Council

Election Results:

Candidates for President-Elect, 2024

  • The Committee on Nominations and Elections presented to the Council the following nominees for selection as candidates for President-Elect, 2023: Mary K. Engelman, Dorothy J. Phillips, and Florian J. Schattenmann. The fourth nominee withdrew for personal reasons prior to the Council meeting. By electronic ballot, the Council selected Dorothy J. Phillips and Florian J. Schattenmann as candidates for 2024 President-Elect. These two candidates, along with any candidates selected via petitions, will stand for election in the Fall 2023 National Election.

Other Council Actions

Highlights from Committee Reports and Key Actions

  • On the recommendation of the Council Policy Committee (CPC), Council approved the Petition to Amend the Duties of the Council Policy Committee to authorize CPC to review the conduct of Councilors.
  • As required by the ACS Governing Documents, CPC has set the divisor for Local Section and Division representation at Council for the period 2024-2027. The formula is based on membership numbers as of December 31, 2022. Notification will be sent by the Secretary to all affected units by May 1, with details on how they will be impacted.
  • CPC reviewed the Councilor Expense Program and voted to approve a streamlined process for fall 2023. The committee also voted to review further streamlining options for the program going forward.
  • On the recommendation of the Committee on Committees (ConC), and with the concurrence of the Council Policy Committee, Council approved the Petition to Amend the Duties of the Committee on Environmental Improvement to change the name of the committee to the Committee on Environment and Sustainability.
  • ConC announced that the opening of the online preference form to all ACS members begins on April 3 and will run through July 3. Councilors interested in serving on an ACS Committee in 2024 should go to CMTE.acs.org to complete their preferences.
  • On the recommendation of the Committee on Nominations and Elections (N&E), and with the concurrence of the Council Policy Committee, Council approved the Petition to Add Plan B to Council Meetings, which authorizes the postponement of voting at Council in case of technology failures or natural disasters.
  • N&E reminded Councilors that any petition candidates to ACS National Office must certified by the July 15 deadline to be placed on the ballot this fall.
  • On the recommendation of the Committee on Membership Affairs (MAC), Council approved the 2024 Schedule of Membership.
  • The Committee on Local Section Activities (LSAC) announced the launch of the ACS Speaker Directory (www.acs.org/speakerdirectory), a new resource for our component group leaders to access (using their ACS ID) a wide range of speakers for their in-person, hybrid, and asynchronous events. The Officer Insights newsletter will be renamed the Local Section Officer Insights so that local section officers will be sure to read it.

Council Special Discussion

President Judy Giordan introduced and led a special discussion on the ongoing review of Society Committees. She sought Councilor input of positive ideas, key issues, and opportunities to improve the structure of committees.

Four specific prompts were posed to Councilors for their input and suggestions:

  1. Ideally, for ACS to have a committee structure that is forward thinking and able to address opportunities for members, ACS and the chemistry enterprise, we would…
  2. Current and future key issues impacting ACS, the chemistry enterprise and our committees include…
  3. I wonder what the positive impact on committees, member involvement, and ACS would be if we were to…
  4. I wish that committees at ACS could…

Councilors provided their ideas and thoughts, and relevant Society units will receive this input within the next several weeks.

As of March 29, attendance at the spring 2023 hybrid meeting was as follows: there were 12,623 registrations (10,792 in-person and 1,831 virtual).

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Actions of the Board of Directors -Executive Session (March 24-25, 2023)

Upon recommendation of the Committee on Professional and Member Relations (P&MR), the Board approved recommendations for establishing The David A. Evans Award for the Advancement and Education of Organic Synthesis, the 2024 Othmer Gold Medal nominee, and the screened lists of five nominees each for the 2024 Award for Volunteer Service to the ACS and the 2024 Priestley Medal.

The Board Working Group on Structure and Representation provided an update on their efforts to add an International District Director to the Board of Directors in the form of the Petition to Add International Representation on the Board of Directors, which was considered by the Council at thespring meeting.

Other Society Business

The Board held general discussions on two topics. The first focused on raising items of strategic concern from members of the Board, and the second was dedicated to sharing feedback received from ACS members, elevating their voices to all Board members.