Report of Council Meeting held in the Spring of 2019
The 257th National Meeting of the ACS was held in Orlando, FL, March 31 – April 4, 2019. The theme of this meeting was “Chemistry for New Frontiers.” The Chicago Section was represented at Council by the following nine councilors: Charles Cannon (Local Section Activities), Ken Fivizzani (Community Activities), Russell Johnson (Chemistry and Public Affairs), Michael Kohler (Chemical Safety), Fran Kravitz (Ethics), Josh Kurutz (Alternate Councilor), Margy Levenberg (Meetings and Expositions), Milt Levenberg (Senior Chemists), and Inessa Miller.
Finances: In 2018, ACS generated a net from operations of $41.1 million, which was $13.3 million higher than 2017. Total revenues were $571.6 million, increasing 6.4% ($34.2 million) over 2017. Expenses ended the year at $530.5 million, which was $20.8 million (4.1%) higher than the prior year. These results were 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. The Council voted to set the member dues for 2020 at the 2019 rate of $175.
Governance: The Council selected H. N. Cheng and Carol A. Duane as candidates for 2020 President Elect. These two candidates, along with any petition candidates, will stand for election in the 2019 Fall National Election.
Meetings and Expositions: As of Tuesday, April 2, 2019, the 257th ACS National Meeting had attracted 15,605 registrants, including 7887 regular attendees and 6019 student attendees. In addition, it was reported that there were 12,830 scientific contributions at this meeting. There were 369 booths in the Exposition.
Membership Affairs: The ACS ended 2018 with 151,012 members, a net membership growth of 0.001%. This is the first membership growth ACS has recorded in the better part of a decade. Of the 25,000 new members who joined in 2018, about 20% were incentivized by market testing initiatives. Without these new members, ACS would have seen continued declines. Council voted to extend the provision of the international dues discount test based on World Bank country income levels for an additional three years (August 2019 – August 2022).
Councilor Divisor: The Council Policy Committee has set the divisors for allocation of Councilor seats among Local Sections and Divisions for 2020 to 2023. Official notification of the Councilor divisors and the number of Councilors permitted for each Local Section and Division were sent to the respective Local Sections and Divisions. (Post-meeting note: as a result of new divisors, the Chicago Section has lost one seat in Council. We will have nine Councilors going forward.)
Council Special Discussion: This meeting’s special discussion topic was ACS Relevance to Current and Future Members: Challenges and Opportunities. Councilors provided many recommendations and suggestions including increased support for local sections and industry members, helping student members transition into their professional careers, and implementing a monthly payment tool for ACS dues. All submitted ideas and input will be shared with the Committee on Membership Affairs and the ACS Membership Division for further research or implementation.
If you have any questions or comments about the above information, please contact me or one of your other councilors. You may contact me at [email protected].
Ken Fivizzani
