Council Preview

The American Chemical Society Council will meet later this month during the ACS national meeting in Boston. The council, which is one of two key governing bodies for the society, will vote on six petitions, elect members for three committees, and review the society’s academic professional guidelines. The group includes the ACS president, president-elect, past-presidents, directors, executive director, secretary, and 448 other councilors representing local sections and divisions.

The first petition on which the council will vote seeks to amend ACS bylaws and procedures for ACS elections. The society already allows for the use of preferential voting—in which voters rank their choices of nominees or candidates, rather than select a single name for each position—in electing the president-elect and district directors. The petition seeks to extend the use of preferential balloting to director-at-large elections on an as-needed basis.

Another petition that will come up for a vote aims to amend ACS bylaws to streamline the process for dismissing a member from ACS for conduct that injures the society or its reputation or that is contrary to its charter.

If these petitions are approved by the council and subsequently the board of directors, they will remove substantial portions of text from the bylaws and instead make them part of procedural documents, which are easier to amend.

The council will also vote on five petitions to charter international chemical sciences chapters, which, if subsequently approved by the board of directors, would establish ACS chapters in Australia, Brazil, Nigeria, Peru, and the United Arab Emirates.

In other business, the council will review the society’s academic professional guidelines, which have been updated by the Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs. The changes are intended to reflect current practices and conditions. The council won’t vote on the proposed revisions until the spring 2016 national meeting.

The council will elect, as it does every fall, members to the Committee on Committees, the Committee on Nominations & Elections, and the Council Policy Committee.

The ACS Council meeting will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 19, in the Grand Ballroom at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. All ACS members are encouraged to attend the meeting, which will start at 8 AM.