The 255^th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society was held in New Orleans, LA  March 18 – 22 and was attended by 16,585 registered individuals. The Council meeting was held on March 21.

Actions of the Council

Election Results

Candidates for President-Elect, 2019

• The Committee on Nominations and Elections presented to the Council the following nominees for selection as candidates for President-Elect, 2019: Harmon B. Abrahamson, Luis A. Echegoyen, Thomas R. Gilbert, and Mary Virginia Orna.  By electronic ballot, the Council selected Luis A. Echegoyen and Thomas R. Gilbert as candidates for 2019 President-Elect.  These two candidates, along with any candidates selected via petitions, will stand for election in the Fall National Election.

Other Council Actions

Amendments to the ACS Bylaws

• The Council approved Petition on the Composition of Society Committees [Bylaw III, Sec. 3, e, (3), (4), and (8)], which will change the requirement for Councilors on Society Committees from at least two thirds (2/3) to a majority, and remove the requirement that the Chair and Vice-Chair of a Society Committee must be Councilors.
• The Petition for Election of Committee Chairs [Bylaw III, Sec. 3, c, (1); d, 3, (3), (8); e, (3), (8); g, (3); i (3)], which would allow the voting members of all ACS committees to select their own Chairs, failed to gain the approval of Council.

2019 Member Dues

• The Council voted on the recommendation of the Committee on Budget and Finance to set the member dues for 2019 at the fully escalated rate of $175. This rate is established pursuant to an inflation-adjustment formula in the ACS Constitution and Bylaws.  While the dues increase was approved, for the first time, the proposal generated much debate and ultimately a recorded vote was requested.  Approximately 25% of the Council opposed increasing dues.

Distribution Formula for Division Funding

• The proposed formula for allocating dues funds to divisions, recommended by the Committee on Divisional Activities, was recommitted to the committee.

Budget and Finance

In 2017, ACS generated a Net from Operations of $28.6 million, which was $4.8 million higher than 2016.  Total revenues were $553.1 million, increasing 5.0% or $26.4 million over 2016.  Expenses ended the year at $524.5 million, which was $21.6 million or 4.3% higher than prior year.  This was attributable to strong performance from the Society’s Information Service units (CAS and ACS Publications) and a continued emphasis on expense management across the ACS. 

Additional information can be found at www.acs.org.  At bottom, click ‘About ACS’, then ‘ACS Financial Information’.  There you will find several years of the Society’s audited financial statements and IRS 990 filings.

Membership

The ACS ended 2017 with over 150,000 members. While this means that ACS remains the world’s largest scientific society, this number represents a continuing decline in overall membership for the sixth year in a row.  The Committee on Membership Affairs is committed to working with Council, the Board of Directors, the Committee on Budget and Finance, ACS staff, and other stakeholders to halt this trend and return ACS to a growing and engaged membership.

As a side note, your Councilor is now a member of the Membership Affairs Committee and is assigned to the Categories, Dues and Process Subcommittee.  This subcommittee is looking at various potential ways to increase and retain members.  A major question continues to be, do members feel that the membership benefits justify the dues?  Are you aware of the benefits available to you?  Please see https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/membership-and-networks/acs/benefits/personal.html

If you have any comments or questions regarding membership or benefits, please contact your Councilor, Darlene Slattery at dslattery1@cfl.rr.com or call her at 321-632-2535.

The 256^th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society was held in Boston, MA August 19 – 23 and was attended by 14,235 registered individuals. The Council meeting was held on August 22.

Election Results:  Elected Committees of Council

• By electronic ballot, the Council elected Ella L. Davis, Lissa A. Dulany, Lisa Houston, and Martin D. Rudd for three-year terms (2019-2021), and Will E. Lynch for a one-year term (2019) on the Council Policy Committee (CPC).
• By electronic ballot, the Council elected Allison Aldridge, Christopher J. Bannochie, Mary K. Engelman, Silvia Ronco, and Frankie K. Wood-Black for three-year terms (2019-2021) on the Committee on Nominations and Elections (N&E).
• By electronic ballot, the Council elected Rodney M. Bennett, Jacqueline A. Erickson, Judith M. Iriarte-Gross, Donivan R. Porterfield, and Carolyn Ribes for three-year terms (2019-2021) on the Committee on Committees (ConC).

Other Council Actions

Amendments to the ACS Bylaws

• A recommendation by the Committee on Membership Affairs that Council approve the Petition on International Chemical Sciences Chapters achieved the two-thirds majority required to amend Bylaw XI, Section 3 accordingly (additions underlined; deletions struck through): 

Affiliations of SOCIETY Local Sections or Divisions shall become effective upon authorization by their governing body, approval by their respective Council committees governing Local Sections and Divisions, and by confirmation by the Council Committee on Constitution and Bylaws acting for the Council, that the provisions of Section 1 of this Bylaw are met.

The changes will become effective upon confirmation by the Board of Directors.

• A recommendation by the Committee on Membership Affairs that Council approve the Petition on International Chemical Sciences Chapters achieved the two-thirds majority required to amend Bylaw IX, Section 4 accordingly (additions underlined; deletions struck through): 

An International Chemical Sciences Chapter shall receive no allotment of funds from the SOCIETY and shall not be entitled to elected representation on the Council. A Chapter may assess its members local Chapter dues to be expended for its own purposes in harmony with the objects of the SOCIETY.

The changes will become effective upon confirmation by the Board of Directors.

Membership Affairs

As of August 21, ACS had 149,584 members, which is a decline of only eight-tenths of one percent from the over 150,000 members in 2017.  This year-to-date figure represents an increase of over 1,200 members when compared to the last two years.  It was noted that five of last seven months have been respectively the best months for membership since at least 2014.  The current membership count positions ACS for a strong close to the year, and there is cautious optimism that total membership will rise for the first time since 2011.

Continuation of Committee

On the recommendation of the Committee on Committees, and the concurrence of the Council Policy Committee, Council approved the continuation of the Committee on Chemical Safety, subject to concurrence by the Board of Directors.

Special Discussion

President Dorhout introduced and led a special discussion on what role(s) ACS should play in preventing sexual harassment in the sciences.  He highlighted several recent articles, workshops and studies that have called attention to the issue, notably a symposium, “Science of Sexual Harassment” organized during the ACS National Meeting in New Orleans (Spring 2018) by the Women Chemists Committee and Chemical & Engineering News; and a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine consensus study report: “Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine” (2018). He directed Council’s attention to existing ACS codes and initiatives to address sexual harassment, and offered items for discussion and possible action:

• More signs/information at National Meetings regarding our policies and supporting information
  • Trained volunteers at national meetings for reporting sexual harassment
  • A webinar on preventing sexual harassment for local sections or divisions

A summary of the discussion and additional information will be sent to Councilors at a later time.

Action of the Board of Directors

In light of the recent financial performance of the technical-meeting component of the national meetings, the Board voted to approve an advance member registration fee of $490 for national meetings held in 2019 (i.e., the current advance member registration fee escalated to account for inflation only).