Report of Council Meeting held in the Spring of 2017
by BARBARA MORIARTY, Councilor
The 253rd National Meeting of the ACS was held in San Francisco, CA, from April 1 – 6, 2017. The theme of this meeting was “Advanced Materials, Technologies, Systems and Processes.” The Chicago section was represented at Council by our complete contingent of councilors:Charles Cannon (Local Section Activities), David Crumrine (Constitution and Bylaws), Ken Fivizzani (Community Activities), Russell Johnson (Chemistry and Public Affairs), Michael Kohler (Chemical Safety), Margy Levenberg ( Meetings and Expositions), Milt Levenberg (Senior Chemists), Inessa Miller, Barbara Moriarty (Ethics) and Susan Shih (Education). The national activities of each are given, as I know them.
Finances: The Committee on Budget and Finance reported that the Society ended 2016 with $526.8 million in total revenue, which was $15 million more than in 2015. The total expenses ended the year at 503.0 million, which was 1.6% higher than the previous year. The unrestricted net assets for the society Increased to $206.5 million and is still out of compliance with Board-established financial guidelines.
Governance: The Council elected Bonnie A. Charpentier and Willie E. May. to be candidates for President- Elect of the society. The election, along with any petition candidates, will be held in the fall of 2017. Our own Kenneth P. Fivizzani is a candidate for Director-at-Large.
Meetings and Expositions: As of April 4, 2017, the 253rd ACS national meeting had attracted 18,850 registrants, including 9797 regular attendees and 6914 student attendees. In addition, it was reported that there were 14,639 scientific contributions at this meeting. The number of attendees is a record for SF.
Membership Affairs: At the end of 2016, membership was 156,129, which is 0.5% less than on the same date in 2015; this includes 27,388 international members. The cost of membership was increased at the fully escalated rate to $171 for 2018.
Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs: The career fair at the meeting had 459 job seekers, 32 employers and 145 jobs posted. The survey process will change because participation is very low. Instead a modular survey will be used.
Petitions: The Council voted against the “petition for Removal of Officers and Councilors” which sought to allow the removal of Councilors and Alternate Councilors by a petition of five members of the unit represented. The Council voted to approve the “petition on the rights of affiliates.”
Special Discussion Item: A special discussion topic, “ACS Yesterday and Today: Paving the Way to Tomorrow” was conducted to gather input for the Joint Board-CPC Task Force on Governance Design. The task force offered three questions to guide the discussion: What should the Society and its governance do differently to achieve its objectives? If you could change one thing about ACS governance, what would it be? What should the task force leave “as is”?
If you have any questions and/or comments about the above actions, please contact me or one of your other councilors. You may contact me by email at [email protected].
