MILWAUKEE SECTION
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

Councillors' Report

1. SOCED Report: (Councilor, Thomas Holme, is an Associate Member of the Society Committee on Education, SOCED). SOCED continues to consider several important topics associated with Education for the Society. The Exploring Molecular Visions conference has profited the question of what should the chemistry curriculum look like as we move forward in the 21st century. Holme is on the Task Force of SOCED that is considering the next steps needed to expand on the initial efforts in Exploring the Molecular Vision. Information about this program can be found at http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=education\soced\molecularvision.html.
2. Report from the President. Dr. Charles Casey (from UW-Madison) noted his efforts in working with federal and state officials on matters related to science policy. He indicated that efforts of the ACS helped secure a 7% increase in the budget of the Department of Energy Office of Science – an important accomplishment in a difficult budget climate. He also mentioned the importance of working with the US State Department about the issue of visa for visiting scientists and students who wish to study in the US. Due in part to attending the Tokyo C-6 conference, Dr. Casey indicated an increase awareness of sustainability for the chemical industry and called for further emphasis on Green Chemistry in the undergraduate and graduate curriculum. Finally, he noted that the initial event of the Academic Employment Initiative (AEI) was held at the Philadelphia ACS meeting with over 120 candidates who are seeking academic jobs presenting posters about their work and interests. Funding for the AEI is from the National Science Foundation.
3. Report from President-elect. Dr. William Carroll described his major agenda items for next year. First he referred to the Chemistry Enterprise 2015, a program he is launching to try to consider what will chemistry "look like" in 10 years (a process he called "doing current analysis of vectors affecting the enterprise of chemistry"). He has asked many components of the Society to consider this question so that long range planning can take place within the context of expectations rather than a vacuum of information for planning. Second, he noted his intention to turn the spotlight on high school teachers – particularly people who are migrating to teaching as a second career in the chemical sciences. Finally, he mentioned his interest in continuing to enhance outreach efforts with an emphasis on the importance of using service projects to enhance local visibility of the society, particularly through it's Local Sections.
4. Report from the Past-president. Dr. Elsa Reichmanis noted that she has continued her emphasis on communication. She noted meeting with executives from chemical corporations to discuss issues of broad import to the Society, such as globalization and multidisciplinarity. These items dovetail with her interest in recruitment and retention in the society. She noted that it is crucial that the ACS support all professionals in chemistry and related sciences, particularly as more people who practice chemistry operate under titles that do not include "chemistry".
5. Report from the Chair of the Board. Dr. James Burke pointed out events at the Philadelphia ACS meeting associated with the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF). These events point to the importance of collaboration with sister societies in that the CHF was formed with cooperation from both the ACS and the AIChE (American Institute for Chemical Engineering). Dr. Burke indicated that the Board and the Society continued to focus energy on exploring further opportunities for collaboration between ACS and AIChE. Finally, he noted that a Board Task Force has been empanelled to study the issue of Multidisciplinarity and it's effect on the chemical enterprise and the Society.
6. Budget and Finance. The Budget and Finance Committee noted that the financial health of the Society has recovered with strong performances from the Publications Division and Chemical Abstract Services (CAS). They also noted that they have recommended funding for Chemcensus 2005 – a comprehensive census of the Society to take place next year. Members will likely be asked to participate in this census process.
7. Report of the Executive Director. The Executive Director, Madeleine Jacobs, also noted the strength of publications and CAS. She further noted that a new journal called "Chemical Biology" will be launched in the coming months. Two other journals, "Modern Drug Discovery" and "Today's Chemist at Work" will be discontinued because of the poor financial performance of these two journals. She noted that the society was saving money in several ways, including reducing administrative expenses, travel and entertainment expenses and legal expenses. The Society has also contracted to sell the Belmont Conference Center (near Baltimore) and transfer the funds from this transaction to the general operating budget. Finally, in addition to Chemcensus, which will explore the state of chemistry in a broad sense, the Society will also undertake a more focused, but broad study of member satisfaction. Again, some members can expect to be contacted as part of a random sample to provide feedback on their satisfaction with their membership in the Society.
8. During the presentation of the Council Policy Committee a resolution was raised on the floor. It called for the Council to express it's sentiment that a recent change, initiated by the Committee on Nominations and Elections (N&E) be overturned. N&E has limited candidate statements for national elections to 750 words (previous limit was 1000). It was a very close vote in council, but the motion to express an interest that the larger word limit be restored was voted down by a margin of 203 no to 196 yes.
9. A recommendation to form a new "other" committee of the Council, an Ethics Committee, was referred back to the Committee on Committees for further refinement of the scope and duties of such a committee.
10. Perhaps the largest issue before the Council at this meeting was a petition to change the Constitution and by-laws to remove language that limits or forbids electronic balloting. Several changes are needed in both documents to remove references that indicate ballots must be sent by regular mail. Debate centered on the how robust would the security from fraud be, and how will those who have limited or no email/internet access participate. For the foreseeable future, a hybrid methodology will be utilized that will allow for either paper or electronic balloting. The package was considered as a whole and was approved on a voice vote (with little dissent).
11. 30 minutes were set aside in council for a general discussion on the issue of multidisciplinarity. The newly appointed Board Task Force will be looking into this issue to identify threats and opportunities associated with the perceived shift in the scientific fields to have an increasing number of chemists working in positions that are not identified in the "classical" sense as a field of chemistry, such as analytical chemistry or organic chemistry.
12. Membership affairs reported a new member benefit has been arranged. A new Wells Fargo Education Loan Program for members is now in place.
13. Membership affairs also brought a petition to change the Society by-laws to define a new category for membership. This sixth category allows that a person who has "Full certification, licensure, or other qualification as a pre-college teacher of chemical science and three years of employment as a teacher of chemical science" qualify for membership in the Society. This change in by-laws was passed unanimously by voice vote.
14. The Committee on Divisional Activities also brought a by-laws change before the council. The petition passed unanimously to require that technical divisions of the society submit their annual reports by Feb. 15 of each year – the same deadline that local sections must meet.
15. The Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs (CEPA) has prepared the 7th Edition of the pamphlet "ACS Professional Employment Guidelines" and the new pamphlet was accepted unanimously by the Council. The Employment Clearing House (ECH) at the Philadelphia meeting has 1556 job seekers and 107 companies offering 303 jobs. 1639 interviews were held in conjunction with ECH.
16. Two small changes were made in Local Sections, including the name of the Peoria Section which was changed to the Illinois Heartland Section (Note: the Illinois Heartland Section will be hosting the 2004 Great Lakes Regional Meeting in Peoria, IL).
17. The Meetings and Expositions committee noted that attendance at the Philadelphia meeting as of Tuesday afternoon was 13,805 which included 7741 members, 2219 students and 1929 exhibitors. The exhibition was fully subscribed with 347 companies (a record for an ACS meeting) purchasing 538 booths. The also noted that in 2005 the conference registration will increase by $10. The 2014 venues for the ACS meetings will be Washington DC and San Francisco.
18. The Chemical Safety Committee noted they have a newly published pamphlet called "Safety for Introductory Chemistry Students" which can be ordered through chemistry.org
19. The Committee on Profession Training (CPT) is undertaking a survey of 10,000 mid-level managers in the Chemical Industry to try to ascertain expectations for chemistry majors once they begin to work in industry.

Submitted by Thomas Holme and Dimitri Gorjestani