DCHAS-L Discussion List Archive
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 14:32:01 -0500
Reply-To: Ralph Stuart <rstuart**At_Symbol_Here**uvm.edu>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: Ralph Stuart <rstuart**At_Symbol_Here**uvm.edu>
Subject: CHAS annual report 2003
This is a cut and paste from a Word document. A PDF version, with
tables in appropriate places will be available on the CHAS web site
shortly. Comments and questions appreciated to any member of the
executive committee.
- Ralph
Secretary's Report
ACS Technical Division Annual Report for 2003
Division of Chemical Health & Safety
Submitted by Russell Phifer
Website URL http://www.chemistry.org/divisions/chas
1. Officers - As designated by your Division's Bylaws
Required by Bylaws Position filled Through 2003
Is there someone available to step in if needed (i.e. assistant secretary)
Chair X X Chair elect
Chair-Elect X X No (would appoint)
Vice-Chair
Past-Chair X X Yes (other past Chairs)
Secretary X X No (would appoint)
Treasurer X X No (would appoint)
Secretary/Treasurer
Program Chair X X Yes (we have two)
Councilors
(specify number) 3 3 3 alternates
Member-at-Large
(specify number) 2 2 No (would appoint)
2. Were the 2003 Elections conducted in accordance with the
Division's Bylaws? Yes
3. Is the Division incorporated? Yes
If yes, what year was it incorporated in: 1999
What state was it incorporated in: Washington, DC
4. Bylaws and Operations Manual (maintained on compact disk)
Current Date Date of Last Review
Division Bylaws 2003 9/7/03
Operations Manual 2003 9/7/03
Membership Retention/ Recruitment Plan 2003 9/7/03
5. Number of Executive Committee members 20
Chair (2004) Neal Langerman chemsaf**At_Symbol_Here**ix.netcom.com
Secretary (2006) Barbara L. Foster bfoster**At_Symbol_Here**wvu.edu
Treasurer (2005) Erik A. Talley erikt**At_Symbol_Here**etalley.com
Chair-Elect (2005 Chair) Russell W. Phifer rphifer**At_Symbol_Here**glasmesh.com
Immediate Past Chair (2003 Chair) Robert H. Hill, Jr. rhill**At_Symbol_Here**cdc.gov
Councilor (2004) Eileen Segal Ebsegal**At_Symbol_Here**aol.com
Councilor (2005) George H. Wahl, Jr. george_wahl**At_Symbol_Here**ncsu.edu
Alternate Councilor (2005) Ruth Hathaway scifair**At_Symbol_Here**semovm.semo.edu
Alternate Councilor (2004) Sung Moon moon**At_Symbol_Here**adelphi.edu
Member-at-Large (2006) Ken Fivizzani kfivizzani**At_Symbol_Here**nalco.com
Member-at-Large (2005) CHAS Editor Harry J. Elston helston**At_Symbol_Here**bigfoot.com
COMMITTEES
Audit Bob Hill
Awards Douglas Walters waltersdb**At_Symbol_Here**earthlink.net
Long Range Planning Laurence Doemeny lxd3**At_Symbol_Here**cdc.gov
Membership Ralph Stuart rstuart**At_Symbol_Here**esf.uvm.edu
Nominations Frankie Wood-Black fwblack**At_Symbol_Here**ppco.com
Program:
Kathryn Benedict (Program Chair/Fall meetings) kathryn.benedict**At_Symbol_Here**pfizer.com
Jim Kapin (Program Chair/Spring meetings) jim**At_Symbol_Here**chemical-safety.com
Publications Eileen Segal
Public Relations VACANT
Regulatory & Public Affairs Barbara L. Foster
Social John Palmer jpalmer**At_Symbol_Here**ucsd.edu
Training and Workshops Sung Moon
Web Page Administrator Ralph Stuart
6. Executive Committee/Division Meetings
Spring National Meeting Fall National Meeting Other
Executive Committee Meetings Yes Yes Conference calls as necessary
Division representative attended DLC Yes Yes
Division Annual Meeting Yes Yes
Number of Councilors and/or Alternate Councilors attending Council
3 3
7. What is your mechanism of exchanging annual reports and Form 990
information among your officers? Email with attachments.
8. Who attended the 2003 Division Leadership Conference (DLC)? Neal
Langerman, Chair-Elect.
9. Members are kept current regarding Council and Executive Committee
activities via:
___ Division website _ Division Newsletter _ open Division meeting
_ open Division Executive Committee meeting _ others -
Listserv, bulk email
10. Copy and paste your 2003 Executive Committee Roster in this
section. (_ check here if also available to the members on your
website)
11. Subdivisions (not applicable)
12. Who attended the 2002 Program Planning and Coordinating Conference (P2C2)?
Kathryn Benedict attended the P2C2 in 2003.
13. Programming - National
Organized Programming Cosponsored symposium with other Divisions
Held workshops Held tutorials Cosponsored meeting with
other U.S. And non-U.S. societies
Spring National Meeting 6 technical sessions 6 technical sessions
Yes - 2 No No
Fall National Meeting 8 technical sessions 3 sessions Yes -
3 No No
14. List meeting(s) and co-organizer(s) of co-sponsored meetings with
other U.S. societies and non-U.S. societies. None.
15. List affiliations that your Division has with other technical
organizations. (Note the start date). American Institute of Chemical
Engineers (1998), American Industrial Hygiene Association (1985),
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (1994), American
National Standards Institute (1992).
16. Does your Division actively participate in a Secretariat? _ Yes
_ No
If yes, check the appropriate box(es).
_ Biotechnology _ Catalysis _ Materials _ Macromolecular
17. Did your Division participate at regional meetings. YES
If yes, list the regional meeting and the form of
participation below (i.e. symposia, workshop, tutorial).
Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting, organized and presented a
one day symposium, co-sponsored a one day symposium, and presented
two full-day workshops. Programming and workshops are anticipated at
a minimum of 5 regional meetings in 2004.
18. Does your Division have a Regional Meeting Program Chair? . _ Yes
If yes, who is it? Ralph Stuart
19. Did your Division participate in programming at Local Section Meetings?_
_ Yes _ No
If yes, how many meetings: Six
20. Publications and Newsletters
Number Hard Copy On Website Other
Newsletter One issue Yes Yes
Separates
Preprints
Directory
Books Published in 2003
Journals (Chemical Health & Safety Journal) Six issues Yes
Select articles only
21. How do you perceive your division membership over the past 5
years (in 50 words or less)?
Our membership has declined slightly, resulting in an initiative for
new members which is currently being implemented. The focus is on 1)
participation at ACS Regional Meetings, and 2) a mentoring program
which will encourage participation with under-represented minorities
and younger chemists. We have attracted many new members through
our journal (a subscription is included with membership). We have
met several times with the ACS Regional Meetings Office and
established a "framework" for professional programming and workshops
at regional meetings and currently anticipate participation in a
minimum of five regional meetings in 2004.
22. Outreach (Activities not associated with programming)
Did your Division Participate in any: Yes No
Educational outreach activities X
Public outreach activities X
Outreach activities directed toward government or public officials X
National Chemistry Week X
Other (please list) X
Established a Mentoring Program under the auspices of the ACS
Committee on minority affairs - focusing on ACS Student Affiliates
and historically-black colleges and universities.
Developed an On-Line Intercollegiate Chemical Safety Course
Initiated an elementary school tutoring program
Presented a Magic of Chemistry course to Middle School students in
West Virginia
Presented safety training courses for teaching assistants at Univ.
Wisconsin -Madison and the University of West Virginia
23. Copy and paste the list of awards given by your Division during
2003 and their recipient(s). (_ check here if also available to your
members on your website)
Howard Fawcett Chemical Health and Safety Award - Harry Elston
Tillmanns-Skolnick Award - Peter Ashbrook
24. What was your Division's particularly outstanding or innovative
activity(ies) (up to three only) this year? Please note whether it
was an activity launched in 2003 or one that had been initiated in
prior years and how you measure its effectiveness.
Activity Measurement of Effectiveness New/Established
1. Developed a Mentoring Program designed to increase awareness in
Chemical Health and Safety at colleges and universities This is a new
initiative; our final plan was developed subsequent to attendance by
two executive committee members at the ACS Mentoring Workshop in
Washington, DC in 2003 New
2. Establish an ongoing programming effort at the ACS Regional Meetings
Attendance at workshops and symposium was consistent with attendance
at similar programming at ACS National Meetings New
3. Initiated an On-Line version of our Journal - Chemical Health & Safety
Our membership survey indicates a substantial interest in on-line
availability of articles Expanded from 2002 when only select
articles were available
25. What activities, during this year, were earmarked for a specific
group of members such as: younger chemists, minorities, women,
chemical technicians, undergraduates, etc.
Activity Measurement of Effectiveness
Developed Mentoring program aimed at ACS student affiliates This
is a new program; effectiveness will be measured in 2004
Participated in the Careers for Chemists program at West Virginia University
Many graduate and undergraduate students attended.
Planned co-sponsorship of symposia with Younger Chemists Committee
A number of new members are Younger Chemists
26. List your Division programs and activities that support the ACS
Strategic Thrusts:
Be the world's leading provider and deliverer of chemical information
Developed an On-Line Safety Course; Expanded programming to
ACS Regional level
Provide programs and activities to facilitate the career development
of chemical professionals Presented fourteen technical sessions
and five technical workshops at ACS National Meetings in Chicago and
New York
Provide programs to improve science literacy of students and ensure
quality education in the chemical sciences Formed a Task Force
on Safety in the Curriculum that included collaboration and
membership from CHAS, CHED, CHAL, and CCS; developed elementary
school tutoring program and middle school "Magic of Chemistry"
program.
Increase participation of students and young chemists in the
activities of the Society Participated in the Chemist in the
Classroom program; supported a Chemistry Learning Center which tutors
undergraduate chemistry students; increased co-sponsorship of
programming with Younger Chemists Committee
Provide programs and activities to encourage the participation and
leadership in all aspects of the chemical sciences by women,
underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities
Co-sponsored session with Women Chemists Committee
Expand services to members and prospective members working in
industry Published Chemical Health & Safety articles on
website; participated in safety training courses for graduate
students at Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison and Univ. of West Virginia
Expand activities at the interdisciplinary boundaries of chemistry
Safety is perhaps the most interdisciplinary of all the
chemistry related "industries"; our entire focus is on bringing
safety to all facets of industrial and academic chemistry. This was
particularly well reflected in the On-Line Safety Conference
presented by the Division.
Encourage funding of research in science, technology, and engineering
Members actively participated in the ACS Legislative Action
Network, contacting legislators on science policy and funding issues
Encourage activities and programs applying scientific principles to
environmental issues All members of the ACS Task Force on
Laboratory Environment, Health & Safety are active members of
DivCHAS; Organized a Green Chemistry symposium at MARM in 2003;
initiated a list-serv among members
Provide programs and activities to improve the public's recognition
and appreciation of the contributions of chemistry The Division
has a significant focus on Green Chemistry in all our technical
programs; we also participate heavily in National Chemistry Week -
our members were instrumental in developing safety procedures for use
during NCW
27. Do you believe that your Division is healthy? Explain.
Yes. The best sign is our continued efforts to expand our horizons
beyond traditional limits; we have recognized (and gotten serious
about) attracting minorities, younger chemists, and women to our
Division. Our Mentoring Program is ambitiously pursuing
relationships with ACS student affiliates and science students at
historically black colleges and universities who do not traditionally
follow health & safety career paths. Our volunteer levels remain
high, and the level of communication among members far exceeds
anything we've experienced in the past. Also, a rebound in our
financial reserves is anticipated as the economy continues its
recovery.
28. Do you have any other information that you feel that the reviewer
needs to know to appropriately assess the health of your division? If
so, please list it here.
Financial deficits of the Division are due primarily to the large
costs associated with publishing our journal, Chemical Health &
Safety. The Board has sought to address this in a number of ways
including reviewing and minimizing expenditures wherever possible and
increasing division dues. We are prepared to take whatever steps are
necessary for the financial health of the Division, including
changing to an on-line only publication of our journal. We believe,
however, that in the long run we can attract new members with our
current and planned initiatives, and are convinced these measures
will help alleviate fiscal problems in the future.
29. What problems did your Division encounter, and how might ACS help
to resolve them?
While our financial planning (including a substantial dues increase)
has resulted in our ability to maintain most of our current programs,
we would like to be able to more adequately fund our awards program,
attract top-quality speakers through some travel reimbursement, and
initiate new public awareness programs, such as ones that may attract
more women and minority members. We anticipate that the Local
Section/Division subsidies implemented beginning in 2004 will help
solve these problems, but believe ACS should continue to explore new
ways to make funding to Divisions more equitable (as compared to
local sections).
Our programming chairs have expressed frustration with the distant
and small rooms we are provided for programming at National Meetings.
It appears that the larger Divisions are provided with unlimited
space and can present unlimited numbers of papers each year - is that
what the national meetings are all about? What is the purpose of the
national meetings if not to offer all chemical disciplines an
opportunity to present and learn within one venue? There appears to
be no limit to the amount of programming that can be put on by the
larger divisions, and this is one reason why "technical" divisions
find it so hard to compete. Balanced programming evens this out a
bit, but we question whether or not there is a point at which
national meetings will no longer be useful for Technical divisions.
30. What new ideas, unmet needs, or questions would your Division
like to be addressed by the Divisional Activities Committee (DAC),
Division Leadership Conference (DLC), Program Planning and
Coordination Conference P2C2), the Committee on Science (ComSci),
and/or ACS staff?
From a programming perspective, CHAS would like to see the ACS find
ways to actively coordinate programming between divisions,
particularly between "professional" as opposed to "technical"
divisions. Some divisions, such as CHAS, CHAL, BMGT, HIST and TECH
are inherently multi-disciplinary, in that they draw members from a
variety of the "technical" divisions, such as ORG, INORG, etc.
Because of the multi-disciplinary nature of their programming, these
professional divisions are frequently competing with each other for
attendees. CHAS would like to see the formation of a mechanism,
perhaps a new secretariat, which would allow these divisions to
coordinate their activities in such a way that would improve the
overall quality of the program and increase attendance, without
increasing divisional competition. For instance, CHAS and several
other divisions have expressed a concern about the lack of chemical
safety education in the academic curriculum. To address this
shortcoming, CHAS has joined CHED, CHAL, and CCS in the formation of
a taskforce to devise a possible solution. We would like to see DAC
support this effort, which could come in the form of endorsement and
assistance in locating funding sources for this effort. Ideally,
this should become an ACS sponsored activity. In our view this is a
cross-cutting issue that deserves broad support; a long-term effort
will require significant determination and leadership.
We have considered the recent initiative regarding Division & Local
Section funding with great interest. One suggestion that might be
considered would be to NOT automatically assign members to a local
section; instead let them choose whether or not to join in the same
way they choose Divisional membership. This would provide ACS with a
more accurate assessment of the perceived value of these affiliations
to the members and allow a fairer allocation of both council
membership and funding.
We believe that our journal, Chemical Health & Safety, is the
foremost publication in this field with appeal to chemists of all
disciplines. As noted previously, its publication drains
approximately 80% of our revenues. We strongly feel that ACS should
be the publisher of this Division journal and we look to help from
DAC. Because of the journal's importance to the multi-disciplinary
field of chemistry, we look to ACS Publications for its support to
offer this service.
It has been noted that other Divisions are interested in electronic
voting as a way to increase participation and save mailing expenses.
ACS should consider a bylaw change that allows this.
--
Ralph Stuart, CIH
Membership Committee Chair
Webmaster
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society
List owner, DCHAS-L
rstuart**At_Symbol_Here**uvm.edu
fax: (802)656-5407
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