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

Past Chair

Attends all Local Section Executive Committee meetings as a voting member.
Serves as an advisory member who helps the current chair maintain continuity and steady leadership from one year to the next
Acts as a mentor for the chair and chair-elect, helping with transitions, and offering institutional memory on section operations, priorities, and procedures

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

This section of the operations manual serves as a reference guide that defines the purpose, responsibilities, and activities of KACS committees to ensure efficient and consistent functioning from year to year.

Responsibilities of All Committees

Ensure activities and events are properly budgeted for
Compile notes during planning and execution of committee events for preparation of the following year’s events. Submit notes to Section Secretary for archiving on a shared Google drive
After each event, prepare and give a report to the Local Section and a summary for publication in the monthly newsletter and online (KACS website, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc)
Save receipts and submit all expenses for reimbursement to the KACS treasurer
Committee members are encouraged to attend most meetings of the Kalamazoo Section ACS Executive Committee
Ensure all volunteers comply with ACS Youth Protection Policy when applicable
- See KACS guidelines https://kalamazooacs.org/guidelines/

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.

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.

Awards Committee

Recognizes Kalamazoo Local Section members and local area students and teachers for outstanding contributions to chemistry, education, and community service. The Awards Committee plans and executes the Section’s annual awards event, including budgeting, securing the venue, coordinating nominations and award selections, managing event logistics and volunteers, and overseeing communications and recognition items.

Spring Awards Ceremony activities and committee responsibilities include:

Estimates budget and obtains budget approval from EC
Selects date of awards ceremony
Reserves event location
Solicits outstanding high school chemistry student nominations from teachers
Solicits outstanding high school chemistry teacher nominations
Solicits names from the Executive Committee (or Local Section membership) of those member(s) who have served selflessly for an extended period of time and selects awardee, usually no more than one per year. Presents engraved plaque and possibly a small gift from the Section.
Receives names of 50- and 60-year ACS members from National ACS Office and contacts them by phone and letter to invite them to the KACS Awards Gathering
Deliver unclaimed 50/60-yr certificates to their home(s) with or without the KACS chair
Determines the number of attendees at the event
Orders hors d’oeuvres from caterer and coordinates delivery and setup
Recruits volunteers, coordinates setup and cleanup, emcees event
Prepares trifold program listing all awardees for the year
Prepares congratulatory letters and mails them with unclaimed certificates
Provide names and addresses of awardees who did not attend to treasurer to mail checks directly
Holds a meeting after the awards ceremony to evaluate the event and do advance planning for Fall

Competitive Exam Committee

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 committee will subsequently select qualifiers from these results and administer participation accordingly in the USNCO National Competition as warranted by community interest. Additionally, the committee will use the results to identify KACS scholarship recipients
To promote and support these activities, the committee 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

Fall/Winter

Registers the local section with the USNCO office (typically November)
Recruits volunteers
Determines date of national exam based on USNCO dates and identifies host site
Request funds from executive committee for USNCO competition
Writes and submits article for newsletter advertising competitive exams
Communicates with teachers about the exam and registration process
Formally invites teachers to participate via email (usually November/December)
Order local exam materials from ACS if necessary (deadline usually early January)
Identifies USNCO volunteers
Coordinates with host site for USNCO competition

Spring

Writes competitive exam, unless using USNCO local section exam
Grades exam, unless using USNCO local section exam with USNCO grading
Communicates results to EC via program summary
Prepares and delivers participation certificates to students via parent/guardian or teacher email
Communicates scores to teachers, if requested
Communicates UNCO qualifiers and KACS scholarship recipients to students and teachers
Communicates USNCO qualifiers and KACS scholarship recipients to awards chair
Prepares certificates for awards ceremony or direct delivery to recipients via parent/guardian or teacher email
Completes USNCO national registration form (usually due early April)
Prepares COI document for chair, as requested
Conducts USNCO at host site

Ongoing

Maintains email preferences of teachers, principals, guidance counselors
Ensures old exams and answer keys are up to date on website
Attends USNCO coordinator webinars hosted by ACS and stays current with all USNCO communications via email and chat group
Keeps updated list of registered students, communicating as necessary
Maintains communication with USNCO host site
Maintains communication templates and documents in a shareable location
Attends KACS EC meetings to provide updates (or sends electronically)

National Chemistry Week (NCW) Committee

Designs and executes an effective National Chemistry Week celebration for the KACS.

Solicits volunteer workers from the Local Section membership and local colleges to help with our annual Chemistry Day 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 STEM 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.
Advertises NCW and Chemistry Day activities through the KACS newsletter and social media pages (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc).
Submits reports to the National ACS Outreach Office

Project SEED Committee

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. Eligible students may participate for two summers. The committee (coordinator) is expected to:

Solicit matching funds from the local chemical community and recommend annual budgeting for KACS Project SEED funding.
Recruit 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 the 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.

Teacher Outreach Committee

This committee engages local section chemistry teachers in partnerships with our members and local institutions/companies to enhance classroom and teaching lab curricula.

Organizes regular meetings with teachers and members and may purchase instructional materials, fund curricular development, and offer awards to recognize contributions of its members.
Coordinates activities with local educational organizations such as KRESA and maintains a website (Southwest Michigan chemistry network).
Submit yearly report

Chemists Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW) Committee

Design and execute an effective Chemists Celebrate Earth Week celebration for the KACS promoting the positive role of chemistry in sustainability and the environment.

Contacts the Kalamazoo Nature Center Outreach Coordinator and other area venues involved in Earth Day-related activities to arrange for an 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.

Women Chemists Committee (WCC)

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.

Past Versions:

2018 KACS Operations Manual Committee