The major actions taken by the board of directors and council during the national meeting in Chicago were reported in C&EN, April 30 (page 32).
The Society Committee on Budget & Finance met on Saturday, March 24, to review the society's 2006 financial performance. The society ended 2006 with a net contribution from operations of $12.2 million, on revenues of $424.0 million and expenses of $411.8 million. This was $7.8 million favorable to the approved budget.
After including the results of the Member Insurance Program and new ventures, the society's overall net contribution for 2006 was $11.5 million, which was $7.4 million favorable to the approved budget. The favorable variance was primarily attributable to higher than budgeted electronic services revenue and investment income, as well as expense savings from lower than budgeted health care costs and reduced IT spending. In addition, the society ended the year in compliance with the board-established financial guidelines.
The Society Committee on Education (SOCED) received an update from President Catherine Hunt on the thematic programming featured in Chicago focusing on the sustainability of energy, food, and water. President-Elect Bruce Bursten solicited input from the committee pertaining to the central role of education in his agenda. SOCED received a presentation from the Membership Affairs Committee on its white paper on membership requirements.
Committee members strongly support the proposal to include undergraduates as members of the society, but they requested that financial arrangements be clearly spelled out in the petition to ensure that the highly successful Student Affiliates program remains intact. The committee discussed the Education Division programs that were reviewed in 2006 and those that will be reviewed in 2007, under the auspices of the Program Review Advisory Group. SOCED received an update from the Committee on Professional Training regarding the draft ACS guidelines for approval of bachelor's degree programs in chemistry.
Committee members discussed the report prepared by the Globalization Task Force, focusing on those sections relevant to education. The committee suggested initiatives related to the new ACS strategic plan, including a potential program that would engage retired chemists in the K-12 classroom. SOCED created a task force to consider the role of online, or "virtual," simulations in the chemistry laboratory, recognizing the value of online/virtual experiences as a supplement to, but not a replacement for, hands-on laboratory experiments.
The committee ratified two interim actions taken since the Dec. 3, 2006, meeting: to remove the financial restriction of the ACS Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF) Supplement for Underrepresented Minority Research Programs (SUMR) and to contact nominators whose nominations for the Volunteer Service Award had expired and to invite them to reactivate their nomination packet for the 2008 Volunteer Service Award.
Acting under delegated authority, the committee voted to accept the recommendations of the ACS Petroleum Research Fund Advisory Board (February 2007 meeting) for funding grants totaling $5.2 million; voted to recommend to the board a screened list of six nominees (due to a two-way tie for fifth place) for the 2008 Priestley Medal; voted to recommend to the board a screened list of five nominees for the 2008 Award for Volunteer Service to ACS; on the recommendation of the ACS Committee on Frasch Foundation Grants, voted to recommend to the board that it recommend to the trustee (US Trust) of the Frasch Foundation 12 grants for research in agricultural chemistry for the period of 2007–12; voted to recommend to the ACS Board of Directors that a new national award be established, the "ACS Award for Affordable Green Chemistry," sponsored by Rohm and Haas; and voted to recommend to the ACS Board of Directors that a new endowment be established, the "Affordable Green Chemistry Endowment Fund," to support the award.
The committee also reviewed the final report from the Special Board Task Force on the Review of the ACS National Awards Program, chaired by Ronald Breslow; established a Canvassing & Selection Subcommittee; and reviewed a list of external awards for which ACS may want to nominate candidates. The committee agreed to include the list of significant external awards in the awards locator database that is being developed.
The committee was updated on efforts to reconcile ACS's technical divisions' desires to leverage national meeting content using the Internet with our journal editors' concerns about prior publication issues. A conference call on this issue was scheduled for April 21, 2007.
The committee received a presentation on the recent actions of the ACS Board of Directors International Strategy Group (ISG). The group's charge is to develop recommendations for a short- and long-term international strategy for the society.
The committee was updated on the status of the activities of the Board Oversight Group on Leadership Development (BOG). Potential solutions for the unexpectedly high cost of facilitator training and transitioning from the current Leaders Conference format to the newly designed curriculum were presented to the committee.
The committee reviewed plans for conducting the 2007 Membership Satisfaction Survey. Preliminary results are expected in May or June with a final report to be delivered to the board at the 2007 Boston national meeting.
The committee received a briefing on the status of the MORE Project: Multidisciplinary Opportunities though Resource Enhancement. Twenty-eight proposals were received, and a decision on which proposals to support will be made in early May.
The chair led a discussion on draft 2007 committee goals, and committee members offered several suggestions related to successfully meeting them. One suggestion was to modify a communications goal to make it more completely reflect the duties of the committee outlined in the board regulations. The chair and committee members will examine the suggestion and revisit the question after the board retreat where board committee duties will be examined.
ACS President Hunt discussed her 2007-08 Presidential Task Force on Enhancing Science & Technology, which is charged with developing advocacy best practices that can enhance ACS's attainment of its public policy priorities. The task force is composed of a diverse set of ACS members as well as former U.S. Representative and chairman of the House Science Committee, Sherwood Boehlert, who will cochair the task force.
• Results of the 2007 Public Policy Priorities Survey, which resulted in a four-tiered ranking of ACS's 2007 public policies. The ranking will help focus staff resources in conducting outreach and advocacy on behalf of ACS members.
• The hiring of a communications consulting firm for 2007 to assist ACS in implementing the initial phase of the ACS Strategic Communications Plan.
• Creation of a pilot ACS state government affairs advocacy program. Committee members agreed to the creation of a pilot, and staff will propose an initial list of states, policy focus, and a budget to carry out the program.
The committee met in executive session on March 23 and in open session jointly with the Joint Board-Council Committee on Publications and the Division of Chemical Information on March 26.
The committee heard from Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) management on a range of issues including a report on continuing database building efforts, product enhancements, and CAS's centennial celebration plans.
The Committee on Chemical Safety (CCS) provides advice on the handling of chemicals and seeks to ensure safe facilities, designs, and operations by calling attention to potential hazards and stimulating education in safe practices.
CCS has several publications (many downloadable), including the flagship publication, "Safety in Academic Chemistry Labs" (SACL). Work has recently started on the translation of SACL into Arabic. This is in addition to the online Spanish version of SACL. Also online are the "Student Lab Code of Conduct for Secondary Science Programs" and a security vulnerability analysis checklist. A K-12 restricted hazardous substances list is under development. The third edition of the "Chemical Safety Manual for Small Businesses" will be ready soon.
The committee's Task Force on Laboratory Environment, Health & Safety is working on a new edition of "Laboratory Waste Management." Task force members also commented on the recent Environmental Protection Agency Proposed Rule for Hazardous Waste in Academic Laboratories. Our Video Safety Resources Task Force is developing video resources to be distributed over the Web.
CCS has been involved in collaborations for the updating of publications like "Prudent Practices in the Laboratory" and "ACS Guidelines for the Teaching of High School Chemistry." Along with other ACS units, CCS is exploring participating in the EPA's School Chemicals Cleanout Campaign.
The Committee on Chemists with Disabilities (CWD) met at the 233rd ACS national meeting, Chicago, on Monday, March 26. Judy Summers-Gates reported on the Joint Subcommittee on Diversity meeting. This subcommittee is made up of representatives of the five committees that support people in chemistry (as opposed to a category of the profession): CWD, Committee on Minority Affairs, Committee on Technician Affairs, Women Chemists Committee, and Younger Chemists Committee, and its goal is to develop ways to coordinate the efforts of the five groups.
The CWD Ambassador Program that was announced at CWD's 25th anniversary celebration at the Washington, D.C., meeting was discussed. Zelda Wasserman reported on the status of the letter from CWD to the ACS Board regarding captioning of ACS video materials. Janelle Kasper-Wolf, of ACS staff, discussed adding new questions to the ACS annual employment salary survey to obtain information for the committee.
At the Chicago national meeting, the Committee on Community Activities (CCA) partnered with the ACS Education Division and the Office of the President to host "Chemistry In Action—It's Easy Being Green" at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum on Saturday, March 24. More than 250 children participated in the hands-on activities focused on recycling. ACS President Hunt presented a Salutes to Excellence plaque to the museum for its dedication to community outreach.
The Chemists Celebrate Earth Day celebration occurred in 120 local sections with 138 coordinators leading the efforts within their communities. This represents an increase of more than 30% in local section and coordinator participation from 2006.
CCA was featured in C&EN's April 16th issue on page 53. A shortcut to CCA's homepage was created: chemistry.org/committees/cca.html.
During the Boston national meeting, CCA and the Office of Community Activities will celebrate National Chemistry Week's 20th Anniversary and its theme, "The Many Faces of Chemistry." A special outreach event is being planned for Sunday, Aug. 19. Hands-on activities will focus on health and wellness.
The Committee on Corporation Associates (CCA) advises and influences ACS to ensure that its products and services are of value to industrial members and their companies. CCA vice chair, Roslyn White (SC Johnson), provided an overview of recent interactions between Corporation Associates and the U.K.-based Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).
CCA gave feedback to a recommendations report from the ACS Board Committee on Professional & Member Relations Task Force on Globalization. Presentations were also received from the ACS Green Chemistry Institute and SCI.
Staff reported on the Department of Industry Member Programs' activities since the San Francisco meeting. The report covered the Regional Industrial Innovation Awards, the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, the Analytical Pavilion sponsored by C&EN, and the ACS/Pharma Leaders Meeting.
The Awards/Finance & Grants Subcommittee reported that CCA received two funding proposals that total $7,500. Funding was provided to the following: The Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs at $3,000 for the Chicago symposium on "Benefits Trends for the Chemical Workforce" and the Office of Graduate Education and the Department of Career Development & Management at $4,500 for a workshop on "Preparing for Life after Graduate School," to be held in conjunction with the 39th Central Regional Meeting.
The subcommittee also requested that ACS staff provide CCA with an official annual statement of Corporation Associates' financial reserves as of Jan. 1 of each year.
The Programs Subcommittee reported on planned programming activities in 2007 and beyond between CCA and SCI. The subcommittee gave an update on a Boston symposium cosponsored by Corporation Associates and the Medicinal Chemistry Division featuring past ACS Heroes of Chemistry from the pharmaceutical industry.
By request of the subcommittee, representatives from Chemical Abstracts Service gave an overview on AnaVist—a tool with potential applications for CCA's efforts to provide member companies with industry-relevant information and reports. The subcommittee also requested that CCA earmark approximately $20,000 of Corporation Associates funds in 2008 for its activities.
The Educational Outreach Subcommittee reported on its decision to collaborate with the Graduate Student Symposium Programming Committee of the Chemical Education Division on a graduate student industry roundtable program in Boston.
The subcommittee requested $5,000 in support of this effort. The subcommittee also discussed a request for corporate executive support of an American Association of Physics Teachers initiative to promote undergraduate research.
The Committee on Environmental Improvement (CEI) continues to be focused on the sustainability of the chemical enterprise. In Chicago, the committee introduced a multiyear effort to make ACS meetings more sustainable. This effort is designed to take advantage of the large size and diverse programs of the society to lead in the sustainability arena by "walking the talk."
The committee held a dialogue with representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency who are trying to "green" federal conferences and work with the travel and tourism industry to change practices and shrink the environmental footprint of meetings. The committee also used advertising and student volunteers to engage individual meeting participants in a campaign to increase recycling by asking "Are you sustainable?" Moving forward, CEI looks forward to working closely with the Committee on Meetings & Expositions to advance this agenda.
CEI was also pleased to participate in the meeting theme on sustainability through the ACS presidential programming. CEI cohosted the Monday presidential luncheon to discuss sustainability issues with the Committee on Science and is leading the follow-up to that luncheon, which will include recommendations on advancing sustainability in the three focal areas of the meeting—energy, food, and water.
The committee also continued its dialogue with the Committee on Corporation Associates about a collaborative workshop. This activity, tentatively slated for the New Orleans meeting, will seek additional insights from chemical and allied products companies about public policy barriers that limit adoption of more sustainable products and practices as well as policy incentives that would lead to increased sustainability in the chemical enterprise.
At its Chicago meeting, the committee welcomed the president of the Jordanian Chemical Society and the past-president of the Arab Union of Chemists.
The committee was briefed on Pittcon 2007, where, with financial support from the Society of Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh, ACS coordinated participation of a scientific delegation from Adriatic nations.
The committee heard reports on the 2007 Frontiers of Chemical Science III: Research & Education in the Middle East meeting; the 2007 Transatlantic Frontiers of Chemistry meeting, which was jointly sponsored by ACS, the German Chemical Society, and the Royal Society of Chemistry; planned workshops to engage U.S. and Chinese early-career scientists in chemical biology, supramolecular, and new materials chemistry; and ACS Discovery Corps U.S./Brazil Research Collaboration Project in Biomass Conversion to Biofuels, Biomaterials & Chemicals.
The committee discussed Latin American engagement opportunities created through Puerto Rico's involvement in three key chemical science events there: the 2009 ACS Southeast Regional Meeting, the 2008 Federation of Latin American Chemical Associations (FLAQ) meeting, and the proposed IUPAC 2011 Congress & General Assembly.
The committee heard reports on letter-writing efforts by the ACS president to government officials in Libya and Mexico expressing concerns about challenges to the scientific freedom and human rights of scientists there.
The Committee on Minority Affairs (CMA) approved new vision, mission, and values statements at the Chicago national meeting. The mission of CMA is to increase the participation of minority chemical scientists and influence policy on behalf of minorities in ACS and the chemical enterprise.
An aggressive new strategic plan was approved by CMA to guide its activities over the next three years. By the end of 2009, CMA will increase the number of ACS Scholars that graduate to 100 per year, add 100 new minorities to leadership positions in ACS, engage in several collaborations, and increase the number of minority members of ACS by 5,000. CMA will focus initially on increasing minorities in ACS leadership. In working toward this goal, CMA began work on two new leadership-development programs for minority chemists.
CMA continues to support the work of the Joint Subcommittee on Diversity (JSD) in developing programs, products, and services to ensure full participation of all members in ACS. In Chicago, JSD premiered a diversity booth at the meeting exposition hall and cosponsored symposia.
The Committee on Patents & Related Matters (CPRM) discussed proposed legislative and regulatory changes to the U.S. patent system as well as open-access legislation and the potential effects such matters might have on industry and academia as well as on ACS.
CPRM also continued its work on several new educational tools to assist and inform members on patent issues and other intellectual property matters important to a successful career in the chemical enterprise. Many of these tools are now available on the committee's expanded website, membership.acs.org/C/CPRM/.
At the March 2007 meeting, the Committee on Professional Training (CPT) reviewed 42 new and additional information reports from ACS-approved chemistry programs. CPT held conferences with four schools seeking approval, discussed three updates and five site visit reports, and approved three new schools. The total number of ACS-approved chemistry programs is now 642.
The committee released the full draft of the ACS guidelines for review and comment. Copies of the draft were distributed to the department chairs at all ACS-approved schools, the chairs of all ACS committees, and the chairs of all ACS technical divisions.
Several CPT members met with the ACS technical divisions during the Chicago meeting to present an overview of the draft and obtain feedback. The draft guidelines document is available on the CPT website, and the committee invites any comments to be sent to cpt@acs.org.
In other business, the committee continued development of the two workshops with minority-serving institutions that will be held in 2007. The committee reviewed the editorial policies for the 2007 edition of the ACS Directory of Graduate Research, which is using a new protocol for retrieving research publication titles in an effort to improve the accuracy of the directory.
C&EN finished 2006 with an exceptionally strong editorial package. The first months of 2007 are proving to be equally successful in fulfilling the magazine's mission of keeping its readers informed. On the advertising side, revenues in 2006 increased for the second year in a row, and the early months of 2007 show continuing positive signs. The most significant editorial achievement was the successful launch of the redesign of the print edition of C&EN with the Oct. 16, 2006, issue.
The Subcommittee on Copyright has successfully updated the Copyright Module on the ACS Publications website. The subcommittee is looking into the possibility of conducting copyright programs at future ACS national and regional meetings.
The final monitoring reports for Chemistry of Materials, Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry, and Molecular Pharmaceutics were presented and accepted by the committee. Journal of Chemical Information & Modeling, Organic Letters, Accounts of Chemical Research, and the Journal of Chemical Theory & Computation will be monitored next.
3. Examining the scientific basis of public policies related to the chemical sciences and making recommendations to the appropriate ACS units.
In the first of these areas, ComSci partnered with President Hunt and the Committee on Environmental Improvement in planning and hosting a sustainability luncheon that featured roundtable discussions centering on a key sustainability question. At the Boston national meeting, ComSci will deliver a full-day program on the subject of "Partnerships in Innovation & Competitiveness."
Regarding the second thrust, ComSci will present two programs in Boston: a box lunch that will feature two speakers taking opposing sides on the subject of "Genetic Screening & Diagnostic Testing: Do You Really Want to Know?" and a symposium titled "Creating & Sustaining International Research Collaborations."
In support of the last thrust, ComSci is planning two events for 2008: "Balancing Security & Openness" will gather data to determine if the recent emphasis on security is hindering scientific progress and "Transitioning Chemical Science to Commercially Successful Products."
The Women Chemists Committee (WCC) hosted more than 70 attendees at its open meeting recently in Chicago, where representatives from Iota Sigma Pi, Women in Science & Engineering, the Association of Women in Science, and the Chicago local section helped WCC celebrate the committee's 80th anniversary.
The Women in Industry Breakfast was also highly successful with a new format of speed networking. More than 100 participants had the opportunity to practice their elevator speeches and make several professional connections. A related workshop will be offered by WCC in Boston.
In Chicago, WCC sponsored two symposia, "Women Achieving Success: The ACS as a Platform in Leadership Development" in honor of Madeleine Joullié's 80th birthday and the ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences: Symposium in Honor of Bojan H. Jennings.
More than 225 ACS meeting attendees were present for the biannual WCC Luncheon and heard the keynote speaker Laura Kiessling, 2007 Francis P. Garvan-John Olin Medal Recipient. Twelve women presented their research at this meeting with funding by the WCC/Eli Lilly Travel Grant Award. WCC members also spent time educating expo attendees on programs offered by the ACS Office of Diversity Programs at its new booth.
In Chicago, the Younger Chemists Committee (YCC) welcomed its new committee members with an information session centered on YCC's charter as well as on its strategic plan: to make ACS relevant to younger chemists, to involve younger chemists in all levels of the society, and to integrate younger chemists into the profession.
In January, YCC again hosted a Leadership Development Workshop during the ACS Leaders Conference. There were more than 80 applications for the 15 awards, which covered travel and registration for the conference. YCC plans to again fund the travel awards and provide leadership training for young chemists in 2008. YCC also solicited applications and selected a new graduate student representative on the Graduate Education Advisory Board.
During the Chicago meeting, YCC programs included "Starting a Successful Research Program at a Predominantly Undergraduate Institution," "Career Experiences at the Interface of Chemistry & Biology," and "Chemistry Pedagogy 101."
In addition to these programs, YCC cosponsored five programs with various committees and divisions. YCC continues to reach out to ACS committees and divisions and has initiated liaisonships with 11 technical divisions to encourage technical programming that highlights the contributions of younger chemists. Looking forward to Boston, YCC is planning symposia including "The Many Faces of Chemistry: International Opportunities for Chemists"; "Being a Responsible Chemist: Ethics, Politics & Policy"; and "Changing Landscapes of the Bio-Pharma Industry."
The Committee on Committees (ConC) conducted its annual training session for new national committee chairs at the ACS Leaders Conference in January 2007. ConC's interactive session for committee chairs in Chicago served as an opportune follow-on and a forum for informative interchange among seasoned and new chairs.
ConC began developing its recommendations for the 2008 committee chair appointments for consideration by the president-elect and chair of the board. ConC continues to focus efforts to identify members with the skills and expertise specified by the committee chairs using the councilor preference form.
The form will be sent to councilors in May. ConC also seeks the names of noncouncilor members for consideration for service on council-related committees, especially those with no prior appointment.
As part of ongoing activities with the joint CPC-Board Governance Review Task Force, ConC has collected data on committee liaisons to other committees. This information will be distributed to committee chairs. The number of liaisons indicates that unofficial but strong communication channels exist within the ACS committee structure.
On Sunday evening, the Committee on Nominations & Elections (N&E) sponsored its fifth successful Town Hall Meeting for President-Elect Nominees. An estimated 200 people attended this session. This forum facilitated communication among the 2008 president-elect nominees, councilors, and other members. N&E will hold another Town Hall Meeting featuring the candidates for director-at-large at the fall meeting in Boston.
Now that voting over the Internet has become an accepted procedure for ACS national elections, the ACS technical divisions and local sections have expressed strong interest in using this method for their elections. N&E has developed protocols for elections for local sections and divisions. This document will be forwarded to the appropriate committees for their review and distribution.
N&E is responsible for reviewing annually the distribution of member populations within the six electoral districts to ensure that the districts have equitable representation. According to bylaw V, section 4(a), the member population of each electoral district must be within 10% of the result of dividing by six the number of members whose addresses lie within these districts. The committee is happy to report that the six electoral districts are in compliance.
The committee has developed a petition on election procedures for president-elect and district director. The proposed election mechanism provides for a preferential (ranked) ballot and an "instant runoff." N&E continues to address the areas of campaigning and the timing of our national election process. Between the Chicago and Boston meetings, the committee plans to sponsor online forums for input from councilors and other interested members on these issues.
In response to member concerns regarding the collection of signatures for petition candidates, N&E reviewed the society's bylaws. The bylaws state that an endorsement is required, but does not stipulate the method of endorsement. N&E has determined that original or electronic signatures are acceptable and will establish appropriate procedures for receipt of electronic signatures.
The Committee on Constitution & Bylaws (C&B), acting for the council, issued new certified bylaws to the Corning Section, the Portland Section, the Division of Colloid & Surface Chemistry, and the Division of Chemical Education. The committee reviewed new proposed amendments for the Division of Medicinal Chemistry, the Columbus Section, the Detroit Section, and the Southern Arizona Section.
Three petitions were presented to council for action at this meeting. Regarding the "Petition on Election Procedures 2006," a motion to separate the petition was approved, and the petition was divided. Provisions affecting bylaw V, sec. 2d, bylaw V, sec. 3c, and bylaw V, sec. 4f, which deal with election procedures and the timing of run-off elections, were approved by council and will become effective following confirmation by the board of directors.
The second part of the petition regarding bylaw V, sec. 2c, and bylaw V, sec. 3b, which deal with signature requirements for petition candidates for president-elect and director-at-large respectively, was recommitted to the Committee on Nominations & Elections, which has primary substantive responsibility for the petition.
The Committee on Nominations & Elections was asked to reconsider the signature requirements, procedures for acceptance of electronic signatures, and recommendations from the Governance Review Task Force on election procedures.
The second petition presented to council for action was the "Petition on Rules for Nominating Members of N&E for National Offices." This petition was not approved by council. The third petition, the "Petition on Multiyear Dues," was amended by incidental motion on the council floor, calling for the petition to become effective when technical components are instituted to track payments, but no later than Jan. 1, 2010. Council approved the incidental motion and then approved the petition.
The committee reviewed one petition for consideration, the "Petition on Local Section Affiliations," which will be submitted to council for action at the fall 2007 meeting in Boston.
The committee met with representatives of the Committee on Membership Affairs and the Governance Review Task Force to continue discussions on proposals currently being formulated on membership requirements and student membership. In addition, the committee discussed election issues of concern to the Southern California Section.
We hope you enjoyed the presidential and division thematic program, "Sustainability of Energy, Food & Water" in Chicago. A small, dedicated group of volunteers and staff labored tirelessly to create and coordinate this programming; to them the Committee on Divisional Activities (DAC) offers sincere thanks.
DAC has committed to transfer the process of choosing and organizing future national meeting themes to a body that represents all divisions. We made substantial progress in Chicago, where division, secretariat, and committee representatives convened to discuss national meeting program concepts. They proposed themes for the 2008 Philadelphia national meeting as well as a framework for a future national programming group.
Divisions have successfully served their members fortunate enough to attend national meetings. To maximize benefits to division members, DAC encourages divisions to consider extending the reach of the content they deliver at national meetings through Internet-based distribution channels and will support worthy efforts in this direction via Innovative Program Grants.
The committee voted in Chicago to propose modifications to the division funding formula that will more greatly reward interdisciplinary programming. The new formula will also be simpler and more transparent to divisions. DAC will present the revised plan to council for action in Boston.
The Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs (CEPA), working with ACS staff in the Departments of Career Management & Development and Member Research & Technology, continues to update and implement its strategic plan to address the career needs of society members.
Specifically, the committee reviewed and revised existing workshops and materials to help ACS members get jobs. CEPA is developing new programs to address the needs of mid- and late-career chemists to ensure their continued competitiveness in the workplace and to ease their career transitions. New initiatives in these areas include the development of workshops, online training, surveys to assess member needs, suggested changes to public policies, and updates to professional and ethical workplace guidelines. As a result of discussions at the Public Policy Roundtable, which was held in San Francisco, a background paper is being developed on trends in health care issues.
The newly revised "Chemical Professional's Code of Conduct" was presented to council, which approved it. The Standards & Ethics Subcommittee is preparing a revision of the "Academic Professional Guidelines" to be presented to council for consideration in Boston.
CEPA reviewed the Globalization Task Force Report. As our science diffuses around the globe, we want to make sure that our members are aware of the economic and professional challenges they will face and that they have the tools they need to succeed. Therefore, CEPA made a commitment to work with other committees, divisions, and ACS staff to develop programs and policies that position our membership to compete in the global workforce.
CEPA heard and discussed a presentation on the proposal from the Membership Affairs Committee on broadening the requirements of membership. CEPA supports the spirit of this proposal and encourages further detailed studies to assess financial impacts on local sections and student affiliates chapters.
The Local Section Activities Committee (LSAC) recognized local sections celebrating significant anniversaries in 2007, including Savannah River (50 years), Northeast Tennessee (75 years), and the St. Louis and Syracuse local sections (both celebrating 100 years).
LSAC hosted the local section leaders track in conjunction with the ACS Leaders Conference in Baltimore on Jan. 26–28. A total of 135 delegates from 124 local sections participated in the weekend leadership conference.
LSAC also hosted a Local Section Summit on March 2–4 in Arlington, Va. The summit focused on practical operational issues that will support local sections' long-term success. Specific areas that were discussed include the development of a multiyear plan to expand or develop programming for local sections, opportunities to encourage innovation and experimentation within and among local sections, and capitalizing on existing opportunities to facilitate partnerships between local sections and other ACS groups.
Following the San Francisco national meeting, LSAC launched a local section Science Café minigrant program. Fifty-five local sections accepted LSAC invitation to host Science Cafés in 2007.
A DVD entitled "ACS Close to Home: Local Sections Connecting Chemistry & the Community" was released earlier this year. The video provides a seven-minute overview of the many outreach and educational programs sponsored by local sections and the critical role they play in positively influencing the public's perception of chemistry and its practitioners. Copies of the DVD were sent to all local section officers.
The Committee on Meetings & Expositions (M&E) reported that the 233rd ACS national meeting hosted 14,520 attendees. This included 7,152 chemical scientists, 5,059 students, 1,283 exhibitors, 119 precollege teachers, 573 exposition visitors, and 453 guests. The exposition had 424 booths with 268 companies.
The 10 2006 regional meetings set a new standard for excellence with attendance exceeding 8,000, a 30% increase in average meeting attendance compared to the 2005 meetings. A total of 4,717 abstracts were submitted. A region summit was held in February at which the final report of the ReACT study group was reviewed.
The practice of tracking the number of presenter no-shows continues. M&E will collaborate with the Committee on Divisional Activities to study options for addressing this problem. Suggestions will be presented at the Boston meeting for implementation in 2008.
It is the intent of M&E to pursue the goal of making our meetings "greener." We will communicate with staff and governance units to identify actions for both the short and long term.
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and ACS will hold their 2008 spring meetings simultaneously in New Orleans. An ad hoc working group consisting of members from M&E, DAC, and AIChE are actively exploring joint programming opportunities for this meeting.
The Committee on Membership Affairs (MAC) met in executive session on Saturday and Sunday in Chicago and reported that the ACS closed 2006 with 160,491 members, our highest year-end membership count since 2002. Of the 17,857 applications processed in 2006, more than 1,000 came from the Member-Get-a-Member campaign in which many councilors participated. The society's retention rate in 2006 remained strong at 92%. The committee also reported that recruitment for the first two months of 2007 netted 2,844 new applications—729 more than for the same time period last year.
MAC continues to work with deliberate speed on the proposed new bylaw language for members, student members, and society affiliates-the three ways to connect to the society. The committee received input from the Governance Review Task Force and its action teams, the Council Policy Committee, the board of directors, the Committee on Constitution & Bylaws, and several other committees between the San Francisco and Chicago meetings. These interactions have resulted in the current bylaw change recommendations.
In Chicago, representatives from MAC attended several committee meetings and all seven councilor caucuses to summarize the current proposal for membership changes, answer questions, and seek input. In addition, all committee chairs were invited to have their respective committees review these bylaw changes and respond to MAC—if possible—before council met on Wednesday. MAC received 11 responses: eight supported the proposed changes as is, and three supported the proposed language with specified changes or considerations.
The comprehensive petition will likely represent the most significant and voluminous change in the ACS bylaws that has occurred in decades, and MAC is proud to be among the leaders in its development and in efforts to get it right the first time. Hundreds of individuals have contributed to this major effort, since MAC began such discussions at the spring 2004 national meeting.
The Committee on Ethics met in Chicago and discussed the possibility of organizing and scheduling a committee retreat in the near future to enable the committee to move from the current stage of exploring the needs and interests of ACS members to setting priorities for the next few years.
The Project SEED program offers summer research opportunities for high school students from economically disadvantaged families. Since its inception in 1968, the program has had a significant impact on the lives of more than 8,400 students. At the selection meeting in March, the committee approved research projects for 340 SEED I students and 98 SEED II students for this summer in more than 100 institutions.
The 2006 annual assessment surveys from 300 students indicate that 78% of the Project SEED participants are planning to major in a chemistry-related science, and 66% aspire to continue to graduate education. This program is made possible by contributions from industry, academia, local sections, ACS friends and members, the ACS Petroleum Research Fund, and the Project SEED Endowment.
The committee formally submitted a request to ConC to amend the Project SEED acronym and the committee duties described in the Supplementary Information of the "ACS Charter, Constitution, Bylaws & Regulations."
In Chicago, the committee's agenda focused on the ACS Strategic Plan and how Project SEED fits into it, the Program Review Advisory Group (PRAG) review of the Project SEED program, the committee's review of an online application form, and planning of the 40th anniversary celebration to be held at the Philadelphia meeting in the fall of 2008. The committee selected a task force to review the criteria for selection of the Project SEED ChemLuminary Award.
3. Making ACS relevant to technicians.
Last year, CTA, along with the Division of Chemical Technicians, the Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs, and ChemTechLinks, started the Equipping the 2015 Chemical Technology Workforce initiative. This year, the initiative awarded six $500 minigrants to activities and programs that support the educational and professional development of chemical technicians.
We are pleased to announce that the winners of the minigrants are the ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry; the Chemical Technician Program Chair for the 39th ACS Central Regional Meeting in Covington, Ky.; Delta College, University Center, Mich.; Grand Rapids Community College, in Michigan; Mount San Antonio College, Walnut, Calif.; and Southwestern College in Chula Vista, Calif.
The winners are collaborating with industry, academia, and ACS local sections on such activities as chemical technology career fairs for high school students, discussion panels on employability skills for technicians, and technical programming at regional and national meetings on the vital role technicians have in the chemical enterprise.
Because of the enthusiastic response to the minigrants, Equipping the 2015 Chemical Technology Workforce will be supporting another round of minigrants to be distributed in the fall. Details will be available on the website. For more information, go to www.ChemTechLinks.org and click on "Equipping the 2015 Chemical Technology Workforce."
CTA has also joined with the Joint Subcommittee on Diversity, formerly known as the Collaboration of Committees Working Group. Because this group is focused on increasing diversity in ACS and the chemical enterprise, we believe that this is an opportunity to raise awareness of the value of technicians. CTA looks forward to collaborating on the promotion of traditionally underrepresented chemical professionals.
In 2007, CTA will be placing renewed focus on distribution of the ACS Chemical Technology Student Recognition Award. The award recognizes academic excellence in students preparing for careers as chemical technicians. For more information on the award, please visit the CTA website at chemistry.org/committees/cta.

Question: How many people attend the 233rd ACS national meeting?
Answer: There are 14,520 attendees, including 7,152 chemical scientists, 5,059 students, 1,283 exhibitors, 119 precollege teachers, 573 exposition visitors, and 453 guests.