Fall 2021 PROF Councilor Commentary
Author: Matt Grandbois, PROF Councilor
The ACS Council is scheduled to reconvene on Wednesday, August 25th, 2021 for their Fall 2021 session. There are several items up for action that will impact PROF members and chemists from across the Society. In this blog post, I have attempted to summarize these items and share other relevant information back to the membership in my role as Councilor for PROF. If you are interested in learning more, please note that the ACS Council Agenda for the Fall 2021 meeting is publicly available here.
The Fall Council session is traditionally where ballots are presented for election by Council members to populate the Committee on Council Policy (CPC), Committee on Committees (ConC), and Committee on Nominations & Elections (N&E) for a three-year term starting the subsequent year. Details about the activities and roles of these committees can be found at their websites linked above.
An election slate of 8 individuals are up for 4 available positions on the Committee on Council Policy. This Committee is responsible for maintaining and supporting the activities of Council, developing long-term strategies for the functioning of Council, and making recommendations for changes in the governance documents that define the activity of Council. Members of CPC must be voting Councilors for the duration of their term. The candidates up for election for CPC are (current PROF members are highlighted in BOLD):
- Mark Benvenuto
- Arindam Bose
- James C. Carver
- Gregory Ferrence
- Donna G. Friedman
- Matthew Grandbois
- Fran K. Kravitz
- Louise M. Lawter
An election slate of 10 individuals are up for 5 available positions on Committee on Committees. This Committee is responsible for assisting Committees and advising the appointment of Chairs and Members of Committees to the ACS Board and President. Members of ConC must be voting Councilors for the duration of their term. The candidates up for election for ConC are (current PROF members are highlighted in BOLD):
- Rodney M. Bennett (seeking reelection)
- Mary K. Engelman
- George L. Heard
- Malika Jefferies-El
- Brian M. Mathes
- Susan J. Olesik (seeking reelection)
- Donivan R. Portfield (seeking reelection)
- Daniel Rabinovich
- Susan M. Schelble (seeking reelection)
- Joseph P. Stoner
An election slate of 10 individuals are up for 5 available positions on the Committee on Nominations & Elections. This Committee is responsible for reviewing and populating election ballots for President-Elect, District Director, and Director-At-Large. The Committee is also responsible for supervising and conducting elections across the Society. Members of N&E must be voting Councilors for the duration of their term. The candidates up for election for N&E are (current PROF members are highlighted in BOLD):
- Allison Aldridge (seeking reelection)
- Christopher J. Bannochie (seeking reelection)
- Ella L. Davis
- Holly L. Davis
- Peter K. Dorhout
- Kenneth P. Fivizzani
- Thomas R. Gilbert
- Silvia Ronco (seeking reelection)
- Martin D. Rudd
- Frankie K. Wood-Black (seeking reelection)
In addition to presenting these ballots for election, the Committee on Nominations & Elections will also start entertaining nominations for the 2023-2025 open terms on CPC and ConC, so please let me know if you have any recommendations or provide them directly to nomelect@acs.org.
In addition to the above described elections, three other items are up for vote and action by Council:
- The Committee on Committees is recommending that the Committee on Environmental Improvement (CEI) be continued.
- The ACS Committee on Committees is also placing an amendment to the Standing Rules related to the duties of the Committee on Minority Affairs (CMA) up for vote. This would result in replacing the word “minority” from their worded duties with the more relevant term of “underrepresented and marginalized groups”. Furthermore, this would expand the role of this Committee to include “[studying] the impact of the Society’s activities on diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect on underrepresented and marginalized groups and provide impact statements and recommendations to the Council and the Board of Directors”.
- The Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs (CEPA) is proposing updates to the ACS Professional Employment Guidelines up for Council vote and action. The majority of these updates focus on increased emphasis on reducing and eliminating discriminatory actions by employers; increased support for workers with disabilities, pregnant women, and new mothers; and emphasized language supporting “professionalism”, health and safety, and a “diverse and equitable work-place”.
There will also be a special discussion on Council floor on “Ideas to increase involvement and membership from business and industry”. This is a direct response to the declining membership of industrial chemists within the Society. This will be a continuation of actions that were initiated back in 2019 following a similar discussion within Council.
As your Councilor, I am very interested in hearing from you and hearing your thoughts, perspectives, and preferences on the above proposed items that are coming up for vote in Council. Please feel free to contact me at councilor@acsprof.org prior to August 23rd, 2021 so that I can take your input into account prior to my vote on these items. Stay safe and take care!
