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Policy

Official Reports from the June Board Meeting

July 16, 2007 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 85, Issue 29

Winners of the 2008 Priestley Medal and the ACS Award for Volunteer Service, chosen by the ACS Board during its June meeting in Baltimore, were reported, respectively, in C&EN, June 11 (page 11) and June 18 (page 72). Following are the reports of committees that were presented at that meeting.

GRANTS & AWARDS

The chair reviewed the goals of the newly established G&A Subcommittee on Canvassing & Selection. The subcommittee reported on the work that it has accomplished during the past month.

Acting under delegated authority, the committee voted to accept the recommendations of the ACS Petroleum Research Fund (PRF) Advisory Board (May 2007 meeting) for funding grants totaling $11.6 million.

A program proposal for new directions for the ACS PRF was presented. The proposal consists of several programs in support of the agreed-upon vision/mission and direction of the fund to support career development, advanced scientific education, and research impact. The three major programs are New Investigator Grants, New Directions Grants, and Undergraduate Research Grants. Additional programs were identified, and study teams will be formed to consider how and whether to implement them.

Acting under delegated authority, the committee voted to endorse the implementation of the proposal for new directions for the PRF Grants Program as outlined in the proposal developed by the PRF Steering Committee and approved by the PRF Advisory Board on May 17, to continue the ACS PRF Supplements for Underrepresented Minority Research (SUMR) program, and to participate in the Astellas USA Foundation's awards program, which recognizes the achievements of individuals and institutions who have contributed significantly to the advancement of medical and related sciences.

The chair updated the committee on the status of "The Guidelines for Review of the National Awards," a draft document that outlines a process for the periodic review of the national honors.

The committee voted to make a recommendation to the chair of the board of directors for the appointment of three scientists to the ACS PRF Advisory Board.—Eric C. Bigham, chair

PROFESSIONAL & MEMBER RELATIONS

In an interim action and acting under delegated authority, the Committee on Professional & Member Relations (P&MR) approved a request for nominal cosponsorship of the 2008 N+N Meeting in Surface Chemistry, to be held following the spring ACS national meeting in New Orleans.

The Globalization Task Force updated P&MR on feedback received from the distribution of its report to committees. P&MR's breakfast meeting at the upcoming Boston national meeting will feature a discussion on globalization.

The committee was updated on the matter of reconciling our technical divisions' desires to leverage national meeting content using the Internet with our journal editors' concerns about prior publication issues. A conference call was held on April 21 with a group of journal editors and division leaders. All agreed that the top priority is to ensure that any member contemplating posting his or her presentation online needs to clearly understand the implications of such a decision. Staff is working with division representatives and ACS journal editors to achieve that goal.

The committee was briefed on the recent actions of the ACS Board of Directors International Strategy Group. The group's charge is to develop recommendations for a short- and long-term international strategy for the society.

P&MR received an update on the status of the Ambassador Program and heard a report from the program chair for the ACS Geochemistry Division, which is seeking support for a program to be delivered at the 2009 ACS national meeting in Salt Lake City to benefit Native Americans.

The committee also heard a report from Jeannette Brown, who summarized her recent actions and future plans regarding a project to chronicle the contributions of the earliest African American chemists.—Kent J. Voorhees, chair

PUBLIC AFFAIRS & PUBLIC RELATIONS

The chair presented the final 2007 ACS Advocacy Priorities chart and pointed out highlights from the ACS Governance and Presidential Succession Report on advocacy activities since the last meeting.

The committee voted to approve the nomination of the Drake Oil Well, Titusville, Pa., as a National Historic Chemical Landmark. This site was the first distillation unit for refining crude oil in the U.S. in 1850. The designation is intended to be presented in 2009 to coincide with the reopening of the Drake Museum.

The committee discussed the expansion of an ACS state government affairs program, which included a review of a 2008-10 Program Funding Request (PFR) and five states for the first pilot phase of the program. The committee voted to approve the PFR and also the five states for the pilot phase of the program. The pilot phase of the program will focus on K-12 science education.

The committee reviewed, discussed, and voted to approve two new policy statements on biomonitoring received from the Committee on Environmental Improvement and on retirement security received from the Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs.

ACS President Catherine T. Hunt presented a statement, "Energizing Chemistry for a Sustainable Future," which she intends to propose that C6 chemical societies sign onto at the July 2007 C6 meeting in Paris. The statement would commit each C6 signatory to take action in its individual country to promote a sustainable future. The statement is derived from existing ACS policy statements and no PA&PR approval was required.

The committee then received an update from ACS Communications staff on the ACS communications strategic plan. The plan is in the first year of a five-year process to integrate ACS messages into a more unified communications strategy to help support governance, members, and staff in communicating more effectively. The year-one deliverables are intended to include theme, slogans, graphics, and baseline metrics.

Staff presented highlights of notable public-policy advocacy activities to the committee. This included updates on upcoming public policy events; ACS advocacy activities to support passage of legislation to foster and promote U.S. innovation and global competitiveness, advancement, and improvement of science education; public access to scientific publications; efforts to limit laboratory coverage by the new Department of Homeland Security chemical site security rule; support of the reinstatement of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment; and the upcoming meeting of the ACS Presidential Task Force on Enhancing Innovation & Competitiveness.—Bonnie A. Charpentier, chair

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