Prepared by: Matt Grandbois & Katie Johnson, PROF Councilors
The Fall 2024 Council Meeting of the American Chemical Society will be a hybrid session on Wednesday, August 21st , 2024 starting at 8:00am MT hosted out of Denver, CO during the 2024 ACS National Meeting. If you are interested in attending as either an in-person or virtual observer to learn more about ACS Governance and Council, please contact 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 positions and intentions as your elected Councilors, but as always, we are open to your feedback and interested in representing you so feel free to review the full Fall 2024 Council Agenda available on the ACS website and/or contact us to discuss these items:
During Fall ACS Council Meetings, candidates for elected Council Committees are voted upon to begin their terms starting the following year. This includes elections for the ACS Committee on Council Policy, the ACS Committee on Committees, and the ACS Committee on Nominations & Elections. My vote is highly dependent on PROF membership, but I encourage you to contact us if you would like to share your thoughts and perspectives on any of the election slates below so that we can incorporate it into our vote. The pending election slates are as follows:
- The ACS Committee on Council Policy (CPC) 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. Five candidates will be elected to begin 3-year terms to this Committee starting in 2025. The candidates for 2024 election to CPC are (PROF members are highlighted in BOLD):
- Donna Friedman (running for re-election)
- Matthew Grandbois (running for re-election)
- Barbara Hillery (running for re-election)
- Fran Kravitz (running for re-election)
- Louise Lawter (running for re-election)
- Sheila Murphy
- Diane Grob Schmidt
- Lori Stepan
- Keith Vitense
- Kimberly Woznack
- The ACS Committee on Committees (ConC) 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. Five candidates will be elected to 3-year terms and begin service to this Committee starting in 2025. The candidates for 2024 election to ConC are (PROF members are highlighted in BOLD):
- Allison Aldridge
- Mark Cesa
- Roger Egolf
- Mary Engelman (running for re-election)
- Katherine Johnson
- Lucian Lucia
- Brian Mathes (running for re-election)
- Susan Olesik (running for re-election)
- Daniel Rabinovich (running for re-election)
- David Roush
- The ACS Committee on Nominations & Elections (N&E) 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. Four candidates will be elected to 3-year terms and begin service to this committee starting in 2025. The candidates for 2024 election to N&E are (the only current PROF member is highlighted in BOLD):
- Mitchell Bruce
- Holly Davis (running for re-election)
- Peter Dorhout (running for re-election)
- Kevin Edgar (running for re-election)
- Gregory Ferrence
- Michael Kenney
- Donivan Orterfield
- Michael Singer
In addition to the elections described above, 5 petitions are being presented for Action (i.e. to be discussed and voted upon). These include:
- The ACS Committee on Council Policy (CPC) has submitted a Petition for Global Representation on Council for Action. This petition established the policies and procedures for the selection and election of international councilors to represent the interests of Society members that are organized by ‘Zones”. Matt is a signatory on the petition as he has been involved in its development as a current member of CPC and as a previous member of the CPC Subcommittee on Global Representation; so he supports this petition. Katie supports this petition as it allows our international colleagues and members equal representation to domestic members by allowing a member to be represented by their Division and their geographic location (i.e. Zones or Local Sections). This aligns to PROF’s visions and mission, as well as the ACS Core Values.
- The ACS Committee on Committees (ConC) has submitted a Petition to Amend the Name of the Committee on Technician Affairs (CTA) for Action. This petition would provide IAC the power to appoint an interim Executive Committee or facilitate elections if an existing International Chemical Sciences Chapter becomes inactive. This petition would change the name of this Society Committee to the Committee on Technical Professionals (CTP) to better reflect the broader roles that have similar support functions. This change occurred in the duties of CTA, so this is to harmonize with the name. Both of us support this petition as it appears to be more inclusive of chemistry technical professional roles across the enterprise.
- The ACS Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs (CEPA) has submitted a Petition for Approval of Revised Academic Professional Guidelines. This would be the 6th edition of the guidelines that outline responsibilities of members and institutions within the academic community. This is the first revision of this policy since 2016. Both of us support this petition as this is aligns to PROF Values, Vision, and Mission.
- The ACS Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs (CEPA) has submitted a Petition for Approval of Revised The Chemical Professional’s Code of Conduct. The last revision was adopted by the ACS Board in December 2019. Both of us support this petition as this is aligns to PROF Values, Vision, and Mission.
- The ACS Committee on International Activities (IAC) has submitted a petition for Action to Charter an International Chemical Sciences Chapters in Bangladesh, East and Northeast India, and West India. Both of us support this petition as expansion of governance and representation around the globe aligns to PROF Values, Vision, and Mission.
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 August 20, 2024 so that we can take your voice into account prior to voting on these items. Stay safe and take care!
