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A Councilor Update for the 2024 Spring Meeting Council Agenda

March 5, 2024 by Jarrod Cohen Leave a Comment

Councilor Report – Spring 2024

Prepared by: Matt Grandbois & Katie Johnson, PROF Councilors

The Spring 2024 Council Meeting of the American Chemical Society will be a hybrid session on Wednesday, March 20^th beginning at 8:00am CT hosted out of New Orleans, LA during the Spring 2024 ACS National Meeting. If you are interested in attending as an in-person or as a virtual observer to learn more about ACS Governance and Council, please contact us at councilor@acsprof.org.

There are several items that will be up for Councilor vote during this meeting that we believe are impactful to PROF members. We have summarized these items below and state our current intentions as your elected Councilors, but we welcome your feedback as we are interested in representing your voices as part of our ACS governance process. Please feel free to review the full Spring 2024 Council Agenda available on the ACS website and/or contact us to discuss these items:

During Spring ACS Council Meetings, candidates for President-Elect are voted upon by Council prior to the open election held later in the fall. A President-Elect Town Hall will be held on Saturday, March 17^th at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside at 4:30pm CT. Both PROF Councilors will attend to learn more about the candidate prior to voting for their top 2 choices, but we are in agreement that PROF Membership does have an impact for our votes. 2025 President-Elect preliminary candidates are (PROF Members highlighted in BOLD):

Rigoberto Hernandez
Thomas Holme
Ingrid Montes
Laura Sremaniak

Prior to the Spring 2024 National Meeting, Councilors from District 1, District 5, and the newly established International District will also conduct primary voting to down-select to the top two candidates for ACS Board of Directors that will be voted upon by all members of their district during the Fall open election. The preliminary candidates are (PROF Members highlighted in BOLD):
1. District I

Matt Grandbois
Barbara Hillery
Katherine Lee (incumbent)
Alyssa Thomas

District V

Lisa Balbes (incumbent)
Mark Cesa
Joseph Heppert
Silvia Jurison

International District

Hassan Bzzi
Csaba Janaky
Hooi-Ling Le
David Wu

The candidates for Director-At-Large have also been announced to be voted upon during the Fall 2024 Council meeting. Due to the newly established International District (above) only 1 candidate will be elected to the ACS Board of Directors. The candidates are (PROF Members in BOLD):
1. Chris Bannochie
2. Natalie LaFranzo (incumbent)
3. Sergio Nanita

The ACS Committee on Council Policy (CPC) has submitted a Petition to Remove Inconsistencies and Add missing provisions. This is to better define the membership of CPC, th ACS Committee on Nominations & Election (N&E), define process for replacing Director-At-Large, and include language required when excluding ACS Members from Open meetings for cause. Both PROF Councilors support this petition, yet seek clarification on the definition of “cause”.

The ACS Committee on Committees (ConC) has submitted a Petition to Amend the Duties of the Committee on Budget & Finance (B&F). This updates language to better define the role of B&F and the role of ACS Finance Staff. Both PROF Councilors have concerns with this petition, yet agreeing in principal that current workload is appropriately managed between Committee and Staff. This petition seems to represent the current situation, yet this was not always the case (nor could it be the case in the future), so further discussion and review is requested.

The ACS Committee on Divisional Activities (DAC) has submitted a Petition t Change Division Name for the Division of Biological Chemistry (BIOL) to the Division of Biochemistry and Chemical Biology. In general, the PROF Councilors are supportive of Divisions having autonomy over their name, yet there is significant objection expressed by the Division of Medicinal Chemistry (MEDI). DAC was unable to mediate a solution, so have defaulted to go forward with the original petition presented by BIOL. Both PROF Councilors currently support this petition, but have reservations pending more discussion from MEDI.

DAC also submitted a Petition to Approve an Amendment to the Distribution formula for Division Funding. This attempts to correct an oversight in the previously approved DAC petition that restricted upward growth of Divisions at +7.5% (while also protecting against greater than -7.5% decline). This amendment would raise upward growth cap to 25%, yet there is no commentary from B&F on the financial impact of this petition. Both PROF Councilors currently request additional input form B&F prior to supporting this measure.

The ACS Committee on International Activities have submitted Petitions to Charter New International Science Chapters in Egypt and Guangdong (China). Both PROF Councilors support this petition.

The ACS Committee on Local Section Activities has submitted a Petition to Change in Local Section Name for the Auburn Local Section to be renamed to the “East Alabama/West Georgia Local Section”. Both PROF Councilors support this petition.

The ACS Committee on Member Affairs (MAC) has submitted a Petition on Dues and Benefits. This petition introduces another new category of membership, codifies the inability of Student Members to run for National ACS Office, expands expulsion authority of MAC to the newly established Affiliates, and changes market testing limits for MAC studies. Matt does not support this petition as he disagrees with the premise of having yet another membership category. Katie does not support this petition on the grounds that Student Members should have the ability to run for any office within National ACS.

MAC also submitted a Petition to further detail the Dues and Benefits of Membership for 2025. In this update to the governance documents there are specific independent, third party organizations in the Governing Document (e.g. LinkedIn Learning) and other benefits provided to Members. Both PROF Councilors believe that calling out independent entities in the Governing Documents sets up potential problems in the future (e.g. what happens if the company changes names or is acquires?). Due to this, both PROF Councilors believe this Petition needs to be reworked prior to resubmission.

Finally, CPC introduces a new section to the ACS Constitution related to the role, duties, and responsibilities of International Councilors. This is being provided for consideration, not action, prior to its submission as a Petition to the ACS Council in Fall. Both PROF Councilors believe this is in a good direction for the Society and look forward to further discussions leading up to Fall 2024.

As your Councilors, we are very interested in hearing from you and hearing your thoughts, perspectives, and preferences on any of the above items described above. Feel free to contact us prior to March 11, 2024 so that we can take your voice into account prior to our vote on these items.

Your Year to Elevate Professionalism, A Letter from the 2024 Chair

January 16, 2024 by Jarrod Cohen Leave a Comment

Dear Members of PROF,

First off, I would like to personally wish everyone a happy and healthy new year! May this year bring you personal and professional growth. As we enter the new year, I would like to start off by thanking Katherine Johnson for her tremendous leadership last year as chair. Her hard work helped us celebrate our 50^th anniversary and continue growing our membership. Thank you for your service and I look forward to working with you and Sue Schelble, our chair-elect, this year to achieve our vision of Elevating Professionalism.

I also want to take this time to personally welcome our newer members to the division. Over the past two years, we have added over 500 new members. Part of the value of being a member of PROF is the community and professional network that comes with it. I can say with utmost confidence that this division contains some of the longest-serving ACS volunteers within the society, making it one of the best networks to be a part of. If you have been a PROF member for quite some time, I am writing to ask you to extend the same mentorship and leadership that was given to you early in your time within PROF to our newest members. PROF has prided itself on helping shape and grow the professional careers of many chemists over the past 50 years and we look forward to continuing to do so for the next 50 years and beyond.

Another goal of this message is to take the time to outline some of my overarching goals for my year as chair. Some of the things I would like to achieve include:

Membership Value: Provide exclusive programming, new professional development resources, and mentorship opportunities to our members to help them grow professionally.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Respect: Enable our subdivisions to not only succeed but thrive within the division. Our subdivisions underpin some of our most important core values as a division. I look to our membership to get involved with our subdivisions, make your voices heard, and help us provide the opportunities and resources needed.

Collaboration: Strengthen the bonds between our division and mirrored ACS governance units. We are given the benefit of having many society committees and offices that overlap with our goals. Combining efforts to achieve our mission and vision can help us reach newer heights as a division.

Involvement: Our volunteers have allowed us to sustain over the past 50 years and they will be just as important for the next 50. We have started to see new faces getting involved within the division’s leadership and I hope to see this continue. Volunteering and attending PROF events allow us to not only help our members grow their networks more, but also provide more opportunities to our members through awards, programming, and content.

So how will we accomplish this? We have many exciting events already planned for this year. So I ask you to look out for them, put them on your calendar, and I hope to engage with you at some of them. These events include (1) Our first ACS Pride-Merck Graduate Research Award symposium in NOLA, (2) Several exciting webinars cosponsored by the division, (3) Networking events at our national meetings and in the virtual space throughout the year, and (4) award opportunities and receptions.

Please stay tuned for more communication throughout the year and we look forward to engaging with you! If you aren’t sure where to start, please reach out to me or anyone on the executive committee and we will find ways to get you involved!

Thanks,

Jarrod Cohen

2024 PROF Chair

Ineffective Meetings: The Seven Deadly Sins

April 15, 2021 by duffion Leave a Comment

By: Matt Grandbois, PhD – Councilor for PROF

On our pathway to “Professional Paradise”, we will frequently have to call together colleagues and acquaintances to gather and achieve a goal. Meetings have been a staple of the professional experience since its inception and is now an unavoidable requirement for the modern chemist. Remembering to avoid some of the most egregious of “sins” while running and planning meetings will help you build your brand a professional chemist.

As we descend into the abyss, I have identified “7 Deadly Sins of Ineffective Meetings” that have an uncanny affinity with a similar set of iniquities that have captured the imagination of scholars since before Dante gave verse to them in his Divine Comedy. These sins naturally group into subcategories that reflect a lack of balance or control by the meeting organizer and facilitator. Effective meeting organizers exhibit virtue in their ability to schedule, run, and utilize meetings to achieve collective greatness.

Too Much of a Good Thing

Scheduling too many meetings – Deciding the right frequency for meetings is challenging. Setting a meeting cadence requires appropriate thought up front to anticipate the needs of the project and provide teams the agility they need to take meaningful action. There is a really good read on meeting design by Elise Keith that I encourage you to study if you find yourself in the gluttonous position of scheduling too many meetings.
Scheduling too long meetings – Meetings need to be the appropriate amount of time for attendees to effectively accomplish their purpose, but the emergence of the #couldhavebeenanemail hashtag highlights the sensitivity people have when it comes to scheduling marathon meetings without a purpoe. Lusting for more time with your fellow meeting attendees will only result in a growing sense of disdain for your meetings, or worse, avoidance if this problem persists.
Having too many people – Everyone in a meeting should have a purpose. They should speak to their experience and authority. If your meeting attendee list starts to grow out of control, you need to fight against your greed and desire to accumulate more attendees. Keeping meetings attendance to only people that need to be there and having those people having a vested interest in the success of the group will help you keep your meetings productive and efficient.

Sitting in the Driver’s Seat

Lack of Agenda – A meeting should have a purpose and it is the responsibility of the meeting organizer/facilitator to have a planned agenda to meet this goal. It is very easy to fall into a sloth-like habit of just throwing a meeting appointment on someone’s calendar without letting them know what will be discussed, but this lack of planning will spill-over into the meeting and create a sense of confusion for the attendees. Establishing an agenda up front will help you drive the meeting towards the desired purpose with a strong sense of urgency.
Overwhelming attendees – Some meetings are scheduled to tackle very complex problems with numerous implications that could come from the decisions reached during the meeting. In this case, there needs to be appropriate preparation made to encourage discussions without sacrificing this exchange of ideas in the pursuit of “staying on time”. Getting into the habit of cutting off valuable discussion will surely invoke the wrath of your colleagues, so make sure you properly anticipate the amount of time needed to discuss the situation, digest the information, and decide on an appropriate action plan during the meeting.

Achieving Inclusivity

Failure to contribute – As the meeting organizer and facilitator, you need to be able to keep the conversation moving and on track to achieve the meeting objective. This means you will often need to speak up to redirect the conversation if you get off track. It is not an envious position to be in when you are in a meeting full of big personalities with conflicting motivations, but you need to exhibit leadership during the meeting as needed so that the time your group spends together is viewed as productive by all attendees or their support for future meetings may diminish.
Overrunning Attendees – A meeting is not a place for you to pontificate your opinions to attendees. If you need to have a forum to delegate tasks to individuals, a meeting is a challenging place to do that as it results in many people wondering if the meeting truly should have been an email. Having pride in your abilities, thought process, and decision making is tolerable to a point, but good leaders surround themselves with people that bring valuable perspectives and capabilities that will allow you to achieve a greater good by working together.

Running effective meetings is the sign of a consummate professional. By trying to avoid some of the pitfalls highlighted above, you can elevate the quality of your meetings and increase your effectiveness as a leader inside, and outside, the lab.

Matt Grandbois is a Strategic Partnership Manager for DuPont Electronics & Industrial where he is involved in new business development activities for the world’s leading supplier of chemistries and technologies for the manufacturing of electronic devices. Matt is an active contributor to the Division of Professional Relations where he is the current Councilor and has authored past blog posts. In addition to his role in PROF, Matt is also involved in the ACS Division of Business Development & Management, Committee on Professional Training, and the Central Massachusetts Local Section.

PROF Spring Open Meeting

March 28, 2021 by duffion Leave a Comment

Join us for our Spring 2021 Open Meeting of the Division

The Executive Committee will provide oral reports, which includes reports from each of our Subdivisions.

Interested in becoming more involved the Division? This is a great way to get started!

Date: Monday March 29, 2021

Time: 6-8 PM ET

Location: Email chair@acsprof.org for Zoom details.

ACS PROF Awards – Nominations Now Open

January 24, 2021 by duffion Leave a Comment

The American Chemical Society Division of Professional Relations is accepting nominations for the following awards:

Henry A. Hill Award — recognizes people who have served the profession in a unique and distinguished manner.
Lou Sacco Award — recognizes persons who have served the Division of Professional Relations in a meritorious and exemplary manner over a significant period of time.

Nominations should consist of a letter of nomination providing justification for the award. The Henry A. Hill award requires both a primary and a secondary letter of nomination. The letters should also provide biographical information that can include education, professional experience, experience in the Division of Professional Relations (as required by the Lou Sacco Award), awards, honors and publications. Please also include a resume or CV from the candidate.

Send nominations to awards@acsprof.org by February 12, 2021.

Past-Chair Mary Crawford and Past Treasurer Sarah Kennedy present Past-Chair Pete Smith the 2019 Lou Sacco Award at a ceremony honoring his service

New ACS Books of Interest

January 18, 2021 by duffion Leave a Comment

The American Chemical Society has some of the most impressive journals, editors, and authors in the scientific community. Did you know that ACS also publishes book series? Some of these books are based on Symposia hosted at National and Regional Meetings – often organized by our own members! Others are focused on topics that are highly relevant to our community.

In 2020, a number of fantastic books were published that are directly related to the Mission and Vision of the Division of Professional Relations. In this post, we’ll highlight a few including links to where you can access. Thanks to all the authors and editors who took the time to compile these valuable resources!

Alternative Careers in Science

Editor(s):

Christopher Avery
Brian J. Walker

Publication Date: June 30, 2020

Cite This: Alternative Careers in Science; American Chemical Society, 2020. DOI: 10.1021/acs.infocus.7e4002

This book emerged from shared interests and conversations over many years between former Ph.D. chemists, now leaders in science policy and industry who all share a commitment to public service.

While the training of Ph.D. chemists is generally targeted at a research career, the opportunities that lie beyond the degree are much more diverse. Nine Ph.D. chemists who chose careers outside of academia describe their career choices and reflect on advice they have looking back on their career path for those just starting theirs.

If the stories in these pages speak to you: Welcome to the family.