Officer Duties

Chair

The Division Chair is the Division Operating Manager and is responsible for:

  • Appointments to Division Committees, etc.
  • Executive Committee meetings, Business meetings, and Award Ceremonies at National Meetings
  • Current events, letters, and communications
  • Newsletter articles for Spring and Fall issues
  • Submitting budget for expenses as Past-Chair
  • Calling a Winter Executive Committee meeting, as needed

To have a successful tenure of office, the Chair needs to complete the following tasks:

  • In January, verify that the Division Secretary sends to the ACS Division Activities Offices an updated list of new officers and appointees.
  • In mid January, send a letter to our Past-Chair specifying the annual report and nominating committee duties, and indicate the positions that must be filled. The nominating committee should have the slate ready and worked out with you in order to present at the Spring Executive Committee meeting.
  • About three to four weeks, certainly no later than two weeks, before the spring Executive Committee meeting, send all Division Officers a copy of your Executive Committee meeting agenda for the spring meeting. Do the same thing for the Fall meeting, and for a year-end meeting if you schedule one.
  • For the Spring National ACS meeting (and also the Fall Meeting if appropriate), contact the ACS Grants and Awards Office and obtain the name of the sponsoring companies and the award winners. Send a special letter of invitation to the award winners inviting them to the spring Division Luncheon. Also invite a representative of the award sponsoring company to attend the Division luncheon as a guest of the Division. Someone else takes care of all the functions at the National Level in coordinating and formal awards that are made on Monday night at the big ACS awards dinner. The Division Chair and others in the I&EC Division are concerned only with arrangements for the Division Luncheon.
  • For both the Fall and Spring ACS Meetings, or at least at one of these meetings, contact someone from the Young Chemists Committee and the Co-op or SEED committees to which the I&EC Division makes financial contributions and ask that a representative make a brief (certainly no more than five to ten minutes) report to the Division Executive Committee. The representative should tell the Executive Committee how they are using Division money; the representative should especially make the Executive Committee members aware of the publicity and recognition that the I&EC Division receives for supporting their organization.
  • Encourage all Executive Committee members and appointees to either send to you ahead of time or bring to the Executive Committee meeting a one-page copy of their report. Ask that each reportee bring sufficient copies of his/her report to distribute to all members at the Executive Committee meeting. Reportees should also be requested to make a short oral summary of their report and lift up for attention only those items which require action or approval by the Executive Committee.
  • Drop by the ACS Books Department hospitality suite sometime during the Spring and Fall National ACS meetings to meet staffers, to see if they have any considerations or problems which need resolution, and to maintain contacts since the revenues from books is so important to the financial health of the Division and to the programming of the Division. Normally, someone in the Books Department sends out invitation letters stating where they are holding their hospitality suite.
  • Attend the Division hospitality functions to meet new members, thank sponsoring organizations, and to receive your credit and applause. Sometime at an appropriate point in the hospitality events on Sunday and Monday nights the Division Chair might wish to obtain the attention of all those present and make specific thanks to certain individuals, i.e., our Symposia chairs, Session Chairs, speakers, sponsoring organizations, officers, etc. If the Chair feels it is appropriate, he/she may want to recognize the presence of any extra-special honored guests, i.e., ACS president, for example.
  • Contact the appropriate person in the ACS Headquarters Divisional Activities Committee to see that the pin and plaque for the Past Chair of the Division be prepared and sent to you in time for presentation at the Spring ACS Meeting. Coordinate this request with the Division Secretary.
  • About a month prior to the Spring and the Fall National ACS Meetings, contact the Division Chair-Elect who will be in charge of the Steering Committee meeting and agree on topics on the agenda.
  • If you wish, coordinate with the National meeting Events Committee Chair and with the Program Secretary to be certain that coffee has been arranged for the afternoon break of the Executive Committee on Sunday and that a buffet dinner will also be served late in the Executive Committee meeting, if that is the format the Division continues to use.
  • It is appropriate to send a letter to all important ACS Headquarters Department Heads and other officials inviting them to Division Hospitality functions at both the Spring and Fall National ACS Meetings.
  • Following the Spring and Fall National ACS Meetings, send a thank you letter to the sponsoring companies of any ACS-I&EC Division related-awards. Also send letters to any corporation or individuals who did something extra for the Division at the Spring or Fall National Meeting. Included in this latter group would be Corporations Associates if they have provided funds or other support to Division hospitality events.
  • Submit a Chair’s Column to the Newsletter Editor by the deadline set by the Newsletter Editor of the year of your chairmanship. Remind the Newsletter Editor that you are to review the Newsletter manuscript before it is finalized and sent to the Division members. Be certain to review the Newsletter manuscript in time for the Newsletter Editor to meet all publication deadlines. If at all possible, the proposed new slate of Division Officers should be included in the Fall Newsletter with a ballot response (or via postcard, as the Division had done in the last two elections) to be returned in time for results of the election to be announced at the Fall Executive Committee meeting. Pay close attention to this latter item.
  • Schedule a Division General business meeting to be held during the Fall National ACS Meeting. Division bylaws require that a general business meeting be held and specify that it should be held in the fall. Be certain that the business meeting is announced appropriately in C&EN. In actuality, the General Business meeting is simply a formality to meet the bylaw requirements, ACS requirements, and to afford an opportunity for the general membership to interact. The latter seldom, if ever, do attend the Business Meeting.
  • Before the conclusion of the Fall meeting, meet with the Chair-Elect and go over all candidates for appointed positions. You should work very closely with the Chair-Elect on this matter. You may also want to send out a letter or otherwise contact other Executive Committee members soliciting recommendations for any open positions. Such contacts should be made before the Fall meeting in order to invite new appointees to sit in on an Executive Committee meeting. Certainly, all this business needs to be completed before a Winter Meeting, if one is scheduled.
  • If you choose to have a year-end Winter meeting of the Executive Committee, then you should canvass all members shortly after the Fall meeting and before the end of September to determine the best date for the meeting. Also, if you choose to have year-end meeting at some other place than Washington, DC, then you need to pick the date and make arrangements for hotel accommodations. If you choose to have a year-end meeting in Washington, DC at ACS Headquarters, contact the national office and ask them to reserve your meeting room. If at all possible, the year-end meeting should be scheduled from about 8:00 a.m. to until about 3:00 p.m. to provide a full work day and still allow attendees time to catch late afternoon and evening flights. Check with National ACS about setting up a block of rooms at a hotel that is just around the corner from the National ACS Headquarters. When all the arrangements for a year-end Winter meeting of the Executive Committee are completed, send a letter with a copy of the agenda and other meeting details to all members of the Executive Committee.
  • On call from the Division Treasurer, be prepared to submit your budget as Past-Chair for the coming year. You may want to include travel expenses plus funds for office operational costs including telephones, stationery, and postage.
  • According to the deadline set by the Newsletter Editor, send any Division Newsletter items to the Newsletter Editor for the winter-spring Newsletter. Contact the editor for an agreed-to date by which you get to review the manuscript for the spring Newsletter before it is finalized.
  • Send a formal letter of congratulations to the newly elected officers/councilors once you know who they are.
  • Work with the Publicity Committee chairman to be sure that thank you letters are prepared, signed, and sent to the companies who contributed to Division hospitality events. Some of the checks from these companies will be sent to you, others will be sent to the Division Treasurer or even to the Publicity Committee chairman. The process is relatively automated and is one of the prime responsibilities of the Publicity Committee Chair.
  • At various times during your tenure of office, you will or may be contacted by people in other ACS Divisions requesting release of our membership list for solicitation purposes. Use your own judgment about whether or not you wish to release the list. In general, people who request the membership list of the I&EC Division should understand that their only use of the list should be to contact scientists and engineers who may wish to join other ACS Divisions. Cooperation with people from other Divisions will help make membership lists of these other Divisions available to us.
  • Encourage the Program Secretary to attend the Program Planning and Coordination Conference (or “P2C2”) and the Chair-Elect to attend the ACS Officer’s orientation meeting which is usually held in January of each year. If neither of these two people can attend, then the Division Chair should ensure that at least one Division Office does attend the January meeting.

Chair-Elect

The Chair-Elect is the first position in the three-step I&EC Division Chair triumvirate: Chair-Elect, Chair, Past Chair. In 1986, the Executive Committee of the I&EC Division took important action to define more sharply the broad responsibility areas of each Chair Position as follows:

Chair: Day-to-Day Division Operation

Chair-Elect: Long Range Division Strategies/Policies

Past-Chair: Nominations Committee; Annual Reports; Job Descriptions

To have a successful tenure of office, the Chair needs to complete the following tasks:

  • January. Work with the Division Chair and Secretary to arrange for new letterheads and an updated working list of Executive Committee and active members with addresses, phone numbers, terms of office, etc.
  • January-February. Attend the Divisional Officers Conference – Program Coordination Conference (DOC-PCC). This Conference, held annually in late January – early February in a Southern (warm) city in the U.S., provides a great deal of information, ideas, and perspective on operating an ACS Division. Attendance at this Conference will allow you to meet and contact ACS HQ officers and staff-people and, especially, your counterparts in other Divisions. In short, attendance at the DOC-PCC will get you off to a running start.
  • February – March and July – August. Review minutes of recent Steering and Executive Committee meetings to familiarize yourself with the scope and detail of Divisional activities, as well as current issues and problems. Also be sure to discuss at length with the Chair and Past Chair the status of the possible actions required on new initiatives, programs, etc. which they inaugurated during their term as Chair-Elect.
  • Mid-March/Mid-August. Prepare agenda for the Steering Committee meeting to be held at the immediately-forth-coming National ACS meeting. Distribute agendas to invitees at least two weeks before the Steering Committee meeting. Steering Committee meetings customarily last 2 to 2.5 hours and are held immediately prior to Executive Committee meetings. Coordinate with the Division Chair on the date, place, and starting and ending times of Steering Committee meetings.
    • Attendees at Steering Committee meetings include the five Division officers (Chair, Chair-Elect, Past-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer), the four Division Councilors, and any previous Division Officers who are still actively involved in Division activities. Other Division members should be invited to attend the Steering Committee meeting only if they can make a contribution to the discussion of one or more of the items on the agenda.
    • Give considerable care and thought to the content and organization of each Steering Committee meeting agenda. Early on, prepare a draft list of items to be included. Then contact the Division Chair for other items that should be included and to agree upon a final list of agenda items and their order of discussion.
    • Each Chair-Elect must decide what items and issues need to or should be brought to the attention of the Steering Committee. Steering Committee meetings are the principal forum for the Chair-elect to propose and/or follow up on initiatives related to long-range Division strategies or policies. For example, the agenda for the Spring Steering Committee meeting might deal with defining policy regarding current problems and issues, developing motions to be presented to the Executive Committee in the areas where needed, and, of course, introduction of new or long-range initiatives. The Fall Steering Committee meeting, in addition to providing for following up on current matters, provides an opportunity for additional longer-range evaluations and planning for the Division. You might also want to include review and revision of Job Descriptions at the Fall Steering Committee meeting.
    • Remember priority items should always come first on the agenda. Discussion always exceeds the available time!
  • August-December. Periodically review the Job Description for the Division Chair prior to becoming the new Chair. Do this review with care and attention so that you can participate in a smooth and efficient transition of Divisional operations in accordance with the Divisional calendar.
  • August. Submit a budget request to the Treasurer, if you think you will need funds for reimbursed expenses in the ensuing year.
  • Spring/Fall National Meetings. Attend as many Divisional functions, activities, technical sessions, etc. as possible. Talk to officers and committee chairmen about their jobs. Get to know some of the ACS staff people in the Divisional Activities Committee, Meeting Operations, and ACS Books Department. Attend ACS Books Department hospitality suites to enhance and maintain the Divisionís very important relationship with them. Be visible!
  • August-October. Participate with the Chair in determining if there is a need to hold a year-end Executive Committee meeting and, if so, help decide when and where the meeting should be held and what the agenda should be.
  • September-November. Discuss with the Chair any appointment positions that will soon (say 6 to 12 months) need to be filled. Make every effort to have any required positions filled in time for the new appointees to attend the year-end meeting if one is held.
  • December. Prepare an article for the Winter Division Newsletter to inaugurate your term as Chair. Use your own judgment of the message you want to convey to Division members; consult past issues of the Newsletter to see what others have done. Arrange with the Editor of the Newsletter to review it before it is published.

Past Chair

The Past Chair provides a basis for continuity for the I&EC Division. The position provides a connecting information source that the Chair may rely on for review of at least the previous two to three years of Division Activities.

To ensure a successful tenure of office, the Past Chair should complete the following tasks:

  • Start preparing the Annual Report about February 1 in order to meet the March 15 deadline. The Secretary can assist in gathering the necessary documents if you start early enough. The Treasurer will provide the necessary financial information.
  • In the past, the I&EC Division attempted to win the award for Outstanding Large Division (ChemLuminary Award). The award would give the Division free publicity and is a good image booster.
  • Initiate conversations either at the Fall or Winter Executive Committee meetings to develop a list of potential candidates for election to Division Offices. The nominating committee is composed of the Past Chair, Chair-Elect, and Chair. Recommendations and discussion of candidates usually commence at the Fall meeting. A candidate list is needed by the Spring meeting. To meet this deadline, it is necessary to approach prospective candidates in the early Spring.
  • The time required to contact the candidates and for them to get the necessary approvals, if required, to run for office can be significantly long. Therefore, it is important to reach a selection decision early and to contact the candidates early.
  • As required, request new job descriptions from appropriate Officers and Committee Chairpersons at the Spring National ACS Meeting. The request should be included in the agenda of the Executive Committee meeting.

Secretary

The Secretary of the I&EC Division is responsible for the following listed duties:

  • Take minutes of the Steering and Executive Committee meetings. Distribute copies of typed versions of these minutes to all members of the Executive Committee.
  • Take minutes of the Annual Business meeting (if appropriate) and, as required by the articles of the law offices of:
    Hanson, OíBrian, Birney and Butler
    888 17th Street, NW
    Washington, DC 20006
  • Maintain the Division Calendar, and provide updates with each distribution of meeting minutes. Many of the dates are available from information provided by ACS staff members to Division officers.
  • Participate in the preparation of the Annual Report to the ACS. This is a joint responsibility of the Secretary and the Treasurer; the Past-Chair is expected to provide much of the requested information for the Secretaryís report.
  • Certify Divisional elections to the ACS Headquarters in the Fall. There are forms provided for this submission.
  • Certify alternate Councilors to ACS Headquarters if such alternates will be attending in place of a regular Councilor at one of the National ACS meetings. Such certification must be done at least 15 days prior to the Councilors’ meeting.
  • Prepare the Ballot for Division elections including candidate statements, biographical data, etc. The Newsletter Editor actually publishes this information, but the Secretary should make sure everything is in his/her hands prior to the deadline for publishing the Division Newsletter or sending out the election post card.
  • Order (through the ACS Divisional Activities Office):
    • Mail labels for Separates (if needed). All that are needed for an entire year can be ordered at one time on a form in the ACS Officer’s Guide. The Newsletter Editor should order his/her own mailing labels (if newsletters are being mailed), or he/she may ask the Secretary to do the ordering.
    • Division Stationery (1000 sheets) in December. Make sure that the new stationary has the correct Division Officerís names and addresses. Have ACS staff send 100 sheets to the Division Chair, 50 sheets to each other Division Officer, and the balance to the Secretary.
    • Past Chair’s pin and 5 x 7 inch plaque for the outgoing Chair. Order these in the fall so they can be presented at the Spring ACS meeting. A form for ordering these materials is also available from Headquarters.
  • Keep the National Meetings Events Chair appraised of deadlines, invitations to guests to dinners, etc. The National Meeting Events Chair’s office may not receive forms for reserving rooms for Hospitality events, so the Secretary should make sure the Committee Chair is kept informed.
  • Provide general secretarial services to the Division as required.

Treasurer

The duties of the Treasurer of the I&EC Division include:

  • Maintenance of Divisional Accounts
    • Divisional Bank Account. The Division is required to maintain its checking accounts at the Stockmen’s Bank, Kingman, Arizona. All cash flow shall be processed thorough this account.
    • Investment Accounts. The Division maintains investments with AIM Investments and the ACS Investment Pool . Investments should be federally insured to as great an extent as possible and are to have staggered maturity dates to provide continuity of income. Investments will be made in consultation with the Finance Committee.
    • Transfer of Trustee Designation for the AIM Investment accounts. This is accomplished by the new I&EC Treasurer providing AIM Mutual Funds with a Medallion Certified (obtained at Bank or Credit Union) Letter changing the name of the account Trustee to the new Treasurer.
  • Maintain Division’s Washington DC Incorporation (Incorporation fee is due every two years).
  • Serve as Chairperson of the Finance Committee. This committee includes the Division Chair, Division Chair-Elect and Division Treasurer. The duties of this committee include:
    • Approval of major investments other than the savings account at the Madison National Bank.
    • Prepare an Annual Budget and submit it to the Division Executive Committee for their approval. This budget will include:
      • Budget request from each committee chairperson and reasonable estimates for noncommittee expenses.
      • Income estimates based on investment income, membership dues, national meeting allotments, book royalties, contributions, and miscellaneous sources of income.
  • Reports
    • Annual Reports
    • File tax returns for tax exempt organizations (IRS F orm 990 – EZ, 990 – EZ Schedule A , and 990 -EZ Schedule B ) with the IRS by May 15 of each year. However, if gross receipts exceeds $100,000 in any tax year then IRS Form 990 must be used.
    • File the Annual Financial Report to the American Chemical Society by March 15 of each year.
    • File the Annual Report [for the District] of Columbia. Forms with the required seal for the I&EC Division are available from the legal firm which represents the Division (cf. Job Description for Secretary.)
    • Financial Status Reports. Submit reports to the Division Executive Committee which detail expenditures by each committee or function, year-to-date expenditures by committee or function, and approved budget level. Income should be compared to projections and the investment status summarized. Areas where the approved budget may be exceeded should be brought to the attention of the Executive Committee.
    • Other. As required by the Executive Committee.

Councilor

The general duties of an I&EC Division Councilor include:

  • The Councilor must attend each National Meeting of the ACS and represent the I&EC Division at the ACS Council Meeting. The Councilor must inform himself/herself about the issues that will be discussed at each ACS Council Meeting and bring to the attention of the I&EC Division Executive Committee those items which require their attention and/or opinion.
  • While each Councilor represents the Division at the Council Meeting and is empowered to speak and vote on behalf of the Division, it is the Councilor’s responsibility to seek the advice of the Executive Committee on all issues of importance to the Division.
  • The Councilor is most effective when he/she is a member of a Council Committee that has responsibility for activities related to the Division.

Corporation Associates Liaison

Corporation Associates (CA), formed some 35 years ago with the aim of helping to ensure continuity of the ACS publications, is now a special committee of the ACS Board of Directors. About 200 companies in the chemical industry have representatives to CA.

CA’s current objectives are:

  • To promote understanding and appreciation of the contributions of chemists, chemical engineers, and the chemical industry.
  • To contribute guidance and financial assistance to selected ACS activities which involve industry.
  • To communicate industrial management’s views on questions involving the chemical industry and the chemistry profession.

Inasmuch as the I&EC Division supports these objectives and feels a kinship to CA, the Executive Committee maintains, through one of its members, a liaison with CA.

The duties of the I&EC Division liaison to CA include:

  • Maintain liaison with the ACS staff person assigned to CA.
  • Offer assistance to CA through their Chair and ACS staff in planning and formulating ventures of mutual interest. Especially seek to offer I&EC Division programs at National ACS Meetings. Also, seek to have the I&EC Division co-sponsor symposia relating to areas of interest to CA.
  • Seek involvement of other I&EC Division members in CA activities and inform CA whom in the Division to contact.
  • Maintain awareness of all joint CA-I&EC Division activities.
  • Regularly report liaison activities to the I&EC Division Executive Committee.

Membership

The job of the Chair of the I&EC Division Membership Committee is to attract new members to the Division by doing the following tasks:

  • Receive applications from new members. Current membership sources are: I&EC Division fliers distributed at National ACS Meetings
  • Applications to join the ACS
  • Ads placed in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN)
  • Submit applications received to ACS Membership Services in Columbus, Ohio. The current contact for such submissions is:
  • American Chemical Society
  • Member & Subscriber Services
  • PO Box 82229
  • Columbus, OH 43202-9906
  • Phone: 800-333-9511 (US only); 614-447-3776 (outside the US)
  • Fax: 614-447-3891
  • E- mail: service@acs.org
  • Request that they check to see that the applicant is a member of the ACS and not already an I&EC Division member.
  • As deemed necessary, schedule meetings of the Membership Committee at ACS National Meetings.
  • Write a membership column for the I&EC Division Newsletter. Deadlines for these columns are as set by the Newsletter Editor.
  • Prepare and give reports of Membership Committee activities at the Division Executive Committee meeting at each National ACS Meeting.
  • Handle membership problems.
  • Develop programs to increase I&EC Division membership. Current programs include: Provide complimentary initial Division membership to various groups. This has been a very successful program with retention after three years of over 80% of the people provided such complimentary memberships. Targeted groups include: attendees at I&EC Division social functions held at National ACS Meetings; purchasers, from the ACS Books Department, of books deriving from I&EC Division Symposium at National Meetings (contact the ACS Books Department for a list of names of purchasers); attendees of I&EC Division Symposia held outside National ACS Meetings; and various selected groups of ACS members such as engineers, professors, and industrial chemists.
  • Sponsor various events, for example, social meetings, tutorials, etc., at National ACS Meetings which oftentimes are attended by ACS members who are prospective I&EC Division members.
  • Use a network of local section and/or company contacts to distribute Division fliers and solicit new members.
  • Applications from people who read Division Newsletter.
  • Fliers for National ACS Meetings.
  • Ads in C&EN. These are very expensive and, when used frequently, become very costly per new member solicited.

National Meeting Events Chair

The duties of the National Events Chair include the following:

  • Make arrangements with ACS Headquarters Staff for scheduling rooms for and times of hospitality events and receptions. Typically, Division events are scheduled four months before the ACS National Meeting.
  • Determine the menu and ticket prices for any Division luncheons at National ACS Meetings two months before the meeting.
  • Be in charge of the door at Division luncheons, receptions, and hospitality events to (a) welcome and recruit potential new members and (b) keep an approximate head count of attendees.
  • Work with the hotel (or other appropriate site) personnel where Division events are held to determine bar charges, sign for charges, and collect copies of receipts.
  • Act as ticket salesman for latecomers to the Division Awards Luncheon. Obtain and distribute guest tickets and make sure all Executive Committee members who want tickets have them. Estimate the need for a few extra tickets; work with the Division Chair and the Symposia Organizers to determine the number of potential latecomers who will need tickets.
  • Make budget requests and committee reports to the Division Executive Committee and the Division Treasurer.
  • Work with the Chairs of the Publicity and Membership Thank You cards for sponsors and membership materials are available. Also assist at the Division Information Table during National ACS Meetings.
  • Work with the major sponsors, e.g. Corporation Associates, to finalize arrangements for jointly-sponsored hospitality events.
  • If requested, arrange special events, e.g., barbecues, for the Division or jointly with other Divisions.

National Meeting Program Chair

To have a successful tenure of office, the National Meetings Program Chair should complete the following tasks:

  • Attend all meetings of the I&EC Division Executive Committee.
  • Attend the annual ACS Program Planning and Coordination Conference (P2C2), or send a knowledgeable substitute such as the Program Secretary.
  • Appoint a committee to assist in planning and coordination of National Meeting programming, and preside over a Program Committee meeting at each National Meeting (unless the Executive Committee votes otherwise) as prescribed by the Division Bylaws. Each Subdivision should be represented on the Program Committee by a Subdivision Program Chair.
  • Identify and select topics for Symposia at National ACS Meetings. To accomplish this task, it is necessary to:
    • Solicit the advice and assistance of the Program Committee, as well as suggestions from the broader Division membership.
    • Ensure that symposium topics emphasize emerging chemical technologies in the industrial and engineering sciences, including fundamental and applications aspects.
  • Assist Symposium Organizers in accomplishing their responsibilities.
  • Coordinate closely with the Program Secretary, Treasurer, Publications Chair, Newsletter Editor and Webmaster to ensure timely communication of programming-related information needed by these officers to carry out their duties.
  • Decide the deadlines for author and organizer access to OASys for each National Meeting and communicate these deadlines to ACS Staff, Program Secretary, Program Committee members, and Symposium Organizers.
  • Ensure that all organizational tasks associated with National Meeting programs are completed on time, including submission of Preliminary and Final Programs. Although the Program Secretary will complete many of these tasks, it is the Program Chair’s responsibility to ensure the programming is successful and, consequently, to provide advice and assistance as needed to the Program Secretary and Symposium Organizers.
  • With input from the Program Secretary, set the Preliminary Program information (days and times of sessions) and resolve any issues that may arise with respect to Symposium Organizer or Author preferences.
  • Communicate with Program Chairs of other Divisions and Secretariats to identify and carry out opportunities for cosponsored programming, and to resolve any conflicts or concerns related to National Meeting symposia. P2C2 creates many opportunities for developing such contacts.
  • Report on activities and status of National Meetings Programs at the Executive Committee meeting held at each National ACS Meeting.
  • Initiate contact with any recipients of ACS National Awards who elect to have their award symposium hosted by I&EC Division. This responsibility is sometimes delegated to an appropriate Subdivision Program Chair.
  • Close coordination between Program Chair and Secretary is necessary for success. Ideally, Program Secretary candidates should be identified and groomed to assume the duties of the Program Chair at the expiration of the Program Chair’s term.
  • Frequent contacts with symposium oganizers is the key to successful program development.

Program Secretary

The Program Secretary plays a vital role in organizing and scheduling I&EC Division Symposia held at National ACS Meetings.

The responsibilities of the Program Secretary are:

  • Take minutes of the Program Committee Meetings and distribute typed version to members of the Division Executive Committee and Program Committee.
  • If so appointed by the Executive Committee, the Program Secretary may serve as Deputy Chair of the Program Committee.
  • Maintain records of the contact information for all Program Committee members and Symposium Organizers for current and future meeting symposia. Contact these individuals on a regular basis (approximately 3 month intervals, including Program Committee meetings) to confirm that National Meeting symposium planning records are accurate and up-to-date.
  • Ensure that all programming information (symposium titles, organizer names and contact information) is entered accurately and promptly into OASys once the Program Chair has approved a symposium.
  • Assist Symposium Organizers in accomplishing their responsibilities, especially with respect to the use of OASys as a planning tool. Ensure that Symposium Organizers have appointed, and entered contact information into OASys for, their Session Chairs. Ensure that the order and duration of talks in each session is consistent with the goal of providing high-quality programming to ACS members.
  • Submit, after approval of the Program Chair, the Preliminary and Final Programs via OASys in accordance with ACS deadlines. Submit the request for electronic (CD-ROM) separates to ACS, and once received, provide the separates to the Webmaster for uploading onto the I&EC server. Alternatively, if hard copy separates are authorized in the Division budget, submit the request for hard copy separates to ACS, including direct mail to members and copies for on-site distribution.
  • Submit to ACS any special requests for audiovisual equipment, signage, guest registrations, or Food & Beverage orders that are requested by Symposium Organizers or the Program Committee. Ensure that funding is available to support the request, either from Division finances (if approved) or external sources. Provide an estimate of symposium-related National Meeting expenses to the Treasurer in advance of the meeting, and assist the Treasurer in investigating any unexpected bills afterwards.
  • Communicate to Session Chairs their responsibilities for collecting attendance data, as defined by ACS.
  • Coordinate submissions of National Meeting program plans and calls for papers to the Newsletter Editor and Webmaster for publicity purposes.

Symposium Organizer

Topics selected for I&EC National Meeting Symposia should emphasize research & development activities and/or reduction-to-practice of processes and technologies that are of interest and significance to the applied chemical sciences and/or the chemical industry.

The duties of the I&EC Symposium Organizer include:

  • Identify a topic for the Symposium and obtain permission to proceed from the Program Chair. The Program Chair may request a brief proposal describing the symposium scope, potential speakers, and any funding that will be required.
  • Attend meetings of the I&EC Division Program Committee.
  • Appoint, if desired, a co-chair or committee to assist in planning and execution of the symposium.
  • Monitor Calls for Papers issued by ACS and other Technical Divisions for any potential overlaps or conflicts in subject matter that could compromise the success of the I&EC-sponsored Symposium. Support and advise the Program Chair in working to resolve conflicts with other Divisions, including developing cosponsorship agreements were appropriate.
  • If financial support for the Symposium will be requested from I&EC Division, the Symposium Organizer is expected to:
    • Prepare a detailed funding request and submit it to the cognizant Division or Subdivision Treasurer for approval of funds
    • Make diligent efforts to pursue external sources of funding such as ACS-PRF grants or corporate sponsorship
    • Submit receipts and expense reports to the I&EC Treasurer within 30 days after the Symposium
  • Contact the Program Secretary at least 6 weeks before the meeting to place any food & beverage orders, or orders for special A/V equipment, for the technical sessions.
  • Contact the Program Chair for any special scheduling requests.
  • Complete all organizing tasks in OASys in a timely manner, including selecting Session Chairs and notifying them of their responsibilities.
  • Providing symposium information that can be used for publicity, including Calls for Papers that can be published in online and print media.

Newsletter Editor

The Newsletter Editor’s job is to:

  • Decide on editorial content of the biannual Newsletter (i.e., what the mission of the Newsletter is). The mission, currently, is to provide information about I&EC Division programming and activities in aboug 10-16 pages in an electronic format that can be downloaded from or viewed on the I&EC web site.
  • Inform the Division Secretary of deadline dates for submission of news items. The Secretary will include such dates in the Division’s Calendar. Coordinate with the Secretary for the submission of position statements from candidates for the annual Division election.
  • Solicit additional information as required. Edit unsolicited information from various sources (e.g., ACS Headquarters, AIChE, ACS Book Department, etc.)
  • Prepare in final form a copy of the Newsletter to be sent to the Webmaster for uploading to the I&EC web site. The Summer Newsletter with election statments must be in members’ hands by August 1st, according to Division by-laws. The Spring Newsletter should be sent out 4-6 weeks before the Spring National Meeting.
  • Ensure that a draft of both annual Newsletters is sent to the Division Chair for his/her review and comments two weeks before the final Newsletter is released to the general membership.

Public Affairs

The objective of the Public Affairs Committee is to provide a focal point for the Division’s thinking and actions concerning public affairs. These thoughts and actions relate to matters under consideration in federal and state legislatures and agencies which are affected by or will affect the practice of industrial and engineering chemistry.

As a matter of general policy, the Division Executive Committee decides upon matters related thereto, with the Public Affairs Committee acting as facilitator or funnel. Also, as a matter of general policy, the Division will make most of the various committees and other groups of the parent American Chemical Society.

The Chair of the Public Affairs Committee:

  • Is expected to be familiar with the leaders of the Division with the Divisionís programs and resources, and with the Division and its members.
  • Follows the deliberations of the ACS committees and task forces dealing with public policy issues and seeks to identify those subjects under deliberation to which the Division might contribute and the time frames for these contributions.
  • Follows the issues in the legislature and agencies which might affect or be affected by members of the I&EC Division and brings appropriate opportunities for contribution to the Executive Committee for action.
  • Carries out special projects associated with specific issues as requested by the Executive Committee.
  • Reports on the activities of the Public Affairs Committee to the Executive Committee.

Publications

The Publications Committee Chair’s position was created to coordinate the extensive publication program of the I&EC Division Executive Committee, and ACS staff offices. “Publications” is defined as any collection of written communicating documents of the Division with the exception of the Newsletter. Examples of such publications are the Advances in Chemistry and Symposium Series published by ACS Books Department and special symposia sponsored by the Division and published separately either by the ACS Books Department or other publishers.

The duties of the Publications Committee Chair include:

  • Expedite publication of I&EC Division National Meeting and Special Symposia or proceedings from meetings by working with the Division National Meetings Program Chair, Symposia Chairs, authors, editors, and publishers as necessary.
  • Contractual agreements outside of ACS sources require approval of the Division Chair and/or the Executive Committee.
  • Attend I&EC Division Executive Committee meetings as a full member of the Committee and seek policy guidance from the Committee, as necessary or desirable.
  • Develop royalty schedules, as necessary, and report on the financial results of sales of publication to the Division Executive Committee.

Publicity

In general, the Chair of the Publicity Committee works directly with the Chair of the Membership Committee and with various Executive Committee members to help publicize various Division events.

The position incorporates the following objectives and responsibilities:

  • Interaction with Membership Committee:
    • Develop format and print membership flier to be used at National ACS Meetings, mailings to local ACS Sections, and other activities to help recruit new members for the Division.
    • Print new membership information cards as needed.
    • Run advertisements for membership drive in various magazines. (The least expensive magazine is C&EN; the cost of an ad in this magazine is about one-third the cost of one in other technical journals.) Ads have been run using returnable postcards, but these have proven to be cost ineffective.
    • Serve as a member of the Membership Committee.
  • Interaction with Division Program Secretary:
    • Produce promotional materials (slides, posters, brochures, etc.) to be used at National ACS Meetings Division Symposia to advertise Division-sponsored events.
    • Published Symposia Awards. The I&EC Division awards a framed book jacket to all Chairpersons of an I&EC Division-sponsored published Symposium. The Chair of the Publicity Committee drafts the letter of recognition for the Division Chair’s signature and arranges to have the book jacket framed and sent to the awardee. The book jackets are provided with the helpful assistance of the Acquisition Editor (or his/her secretary) of the ACS Books Department. The current procedure is that the Acquisition Editor will provide new book jackets as they are published.
  • Other Activities:
    • Provide, with the assistance and cooperation of the Division Program Secretary and National Events Chair, a Division table and a cashier(s) to staff it at all National ACS Meetings. A letter requesting a staff person for the table should be sent to Paula Groves at ACS Headquarters, (202) 872-8072.
    • The ACS Books Department, if contacted before the National Meeting, will supply materials for a book display at the Division table. Call Vanita Chrisman at ACS Headquarters (202) 872-4401, about one to two months before the meeting. In addition, an I&EC Division Banner is available for display at the Division table.The Division table should be furnished with an adequate supply of Abstracts of Division-sponsored Symposia; contact the Chair of the Separation Subdivision and the Division Secretary to obtain the Abstracts. A supply of information about membership in the Division should also be available at the Division table; contact the Chair of the Membership Committee for the necessary literature. Additional samples of I &EC-related journals (e.g., I&EC Journal) may be obtained by contacting Dawn Loftus at ACS Headquarters at (202) 872-8908.
    • The I&EC Division banner is stored by the ACS Meetings Operations. They bring it to each National ACS Meeting and it should be returned to then at the end of each National Meeting. Since this banner is expensive ($340) the Chair of the Publicity Committee should take great care of it.
    • The Chair of the Publicity Committee is also responsible for soliciting funds from various chemical companies for the Chemical Industry-sponsored reception normally held on Sunday nights at each National ACS Meeting. The Division Secretary has copies of correspondence used to solicit such funds, and these copies can be used as a model of the format to be used in contacting various companies. Updates of these letters and the appropriate mailing lists should be sent to the Division Secretary.
    • The Chair of the Publicity Committee will prepare sponsor acknowledgment cards for display at the Hospitality Events and Division table at National ACS Meetings and send Acknowledgment letters to sponsoring companies.

Historian

  • Update history with significant events as needed, with addenda to the website’s “First Hundred Years.”
  • Include updated listing at end for Division Chairs.
  • Obtain EC Minutes from Secretary and periodically forward to Chemical Heritage Foundation for archiving.
  • Serve as resource for newer EC members.

Webmaster

The duties of the Webmaster include:

  • Update the I&EC web pages to reflect the current needs of the Officers, Executive Committee, and membership of the Division. This shall require programming knowledge (such as knowledge of HTML code) or access to computer programs for designing web pages (such as Dreamweaver or Front Page). The content of the web pages shall reflect the requirements of the American Chemical Society’s policies on web postings.
  • The Webmaster is required to have his/her correct e-mail address posted on each of the Division’s web pages so that problems or concerns of the Officers, Executive Committee, and membership can be answered in a timely manner.
  • The web pages will be designed so as to be accessible to as wide an audience as possible as far as type of computer, operating system, web browser, or other factors that could be considered important in viewing web pages. However, it shall be recognized by the Officers, Executive Committee, and membership that technology being what it is, there will almost always be some problems with web browsing that are not the responsibility of the Webmaster.
  • The Webmaster shall not use the I&EC Division’s web space to host personal web pages nor to store personal files except as may be required in carrying out the duties of the Webmaster position.
  • The Webmaster may also be asked to moderate list serv mailing lists and to send e-mail messages to the membership using membership databases provided by the Secretary. The mass mailings can be done using computer programs such as WorldCast. The Webmaster shall not use the membership database for commercial or personal use.

Younger Chemists Committee Liaison

The Younger Chemists Committee (YCC) is responsible for encouraging the involvement of the younger members in the American Chemical Society, for identifying leadership within the younger members of ACS, for bringing the needs and wishes of younger chemists to the attention of ACS governance, and for developing programs aimed towards helping younger chemists and chemical engineers in the early stages of their careers. Within this career development responsibility, the YCC has traditionally focused on telling chemists about careers in industry since it is felt that this area has been neglected in most chemistsí education. The objectives of the YCC overlap with the I&EC Division’s goals in several areas. The I&EC Division is always interested in encouraging the membership and participation of young members within the Division. The Division needs to continue to identify good people to fill future leadership positions. Career development programs about careers in industry for chemists are an important interest of the I& EC Division Education Committee.

The responsibilities of the YCC Liaison include:

  • Keeping both the I&EC Division and the YCC informed about each other’s activities and plans.
  • Offering assistance, when appropriate, to the YCC.
  • Meeting young people and working with the YCC and I&EC Division Membership to increase the number of younger members.
  • Working with the Division Publicity Committee to provide routes to advertising the Division to younger Chemists.
  • Offering assistance to all I&EC Division Executive Committee members who feel that they want to include or reach younger chemists with their programs.
  • Establish and maintain a working relationship with the ACS/YCC staff liaison person.