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ACS Local Sections Officer Insights December 2022

rstessema
Honored Contributor II
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We are pleased to announce that ACS Community Connection, the online service for annual report and event submissions is now available for the 2022 Local Section Annual Reporting cycle. Please bookmark the Annual Reporting web page for easy access to the Community Connection login page, user guides and other important resources. All 2022 and 2023 local section officers may access Community Connection with their ACS ID and  password. The chair of your local section may  designate additional non-officer volunteers (e.g., Community Activities Coordinator, YCC Chair, Webmaster, etc.) to access and complete your group's annual report and event forms. To assign a non-officer access to Community Connection, please send the non-officer's name, local section affiliation and ACS ID to connection@acs.org. The deadline for submitting your completed annual report and ChemLuminary self-nominations is February 15, 2023. Your local section's 2023 allotment will be released to your treasurer following your local section annual report submission.
 
 
We are pleased to announce that registration for the 2023 ACS Leadership Institute is now open. All Local Sections are encouraged to send a delegate(s) to attend this important leadership development and networking event. Please review the attached for important details, program information, and the link to register.
 
 
Do you have an idea for a new activity in your section? Are you looking to stimulate member involvement?
Want to pilot a new program or celebrate a milestone? Grants up to $3500 are available to fund your programming ideas. Deadline: January 15. Learn More & Apply Today
 
Reminder: ACS Officer Reporting
 
Please utilize the Community Connection platform to submit your 2023 Local Section, Division, and International Science Chapters certified election results for Councilors and Officers. The deadline to submit your certified results was December 1, 2022Thank you for your volunteer efforts on behalf of the American Chemical Society, and please contact secretary@acs.org with any questions.
 
 
It's that time of year again when most local section elect new officers. Please take a moment to review your local section bylaws to ensure that you conduct elections in accordance with established procedures. An election-only list must be requested from ACS to ensure that only eligible ACS members are participating in your election. Request your election-only list at least 10 days prior to ballot distribution. Questions?
Contact olsa@acs.org.
 
Make Sure Your Candidates Are Eligible to Serve!
 
Per ACS Governing Documents, only MEMBERS can hold an elective position of the SOCIETY or serve as a Councilor or Alternate Councilor. Community Associates cannot serve in any position of the SOCIETY and Local Section.
 
Local Section bylaws may allow STUDENT MEMBERS, Society and/or Local Section Affiliates to hold an elective position or serve as a committee chair in the Section.
 
Failure to abide by the ACS Governing Documents and bylaws can jeopardize the validity of all decisions made by the unqualified person serving in the position.
 
Check the bylaws! If you need to amend your bylaws, email bylaws@acs.org.
 
 
LSAC is proud to partner with ACS President-Elect, Judy Giordan to provide ACS local section leaders with access to a wide range of speakers for their in-person, virtual, hybrid, and asynchronous events. As Judy noted in her C&EN Comment, the aim of the virtual Speaker Service is to support all local sections with cost-effective and easy access to a diverse group of global speakers who want to share their expertise and passion for chemistry on a wide variety of topics. Are you interested in signing up to be a speaker? Register today!
 
 
Register today for the ACS Treasurers’ Webinar for Divisions, Local Sections, and Regions. This webinar will focus on tools, tips, and resources for treasurers. Learn about the treasurer’s role and responsibilities, legal resources, tax reporting & compliance and more.
 
 
Attention all Local Sections officers! This is a reminder that a copy of your annual tax return must be sent to the ACS Tax Office at Tax@acs.orgThis is a requirement per the ACS Governing Documents and your bylaws. Thank you in advance for your cooperation!
 
 
How will chemistry help eliminate hunger?  Join ACS on December 5-8, 2022, for the Zero Hunger Summit, a free virtual event as part of the ACS Campaign for a Sustainable Future. Attendees will hear presentations from Cathy Woteki from Iowa State University, Bob Maughon from SABIC, Hongda Chen from USDA and many more. The program will tackle challenges and opportunities within Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases: Climate Impacts on Agriculture: Optimizing Crop Production: and Sustainable Food Packaging and Reducing Waste. Learn the many ways chemistry is playing an essential role in the fight against hunger. Register now.
 
 
The Committee of Community Activities (CCA) recognizes the immeasurable outreach efforts made by members, through the annual ACS Outreach Volunteers of the Year program. If you have an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary outreach volunteer service to your community, we encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity. CCA will select one section or chapter awardee to be named the Global Outreach Volunteer of the Year. Each section or chapter may recognize one individual annually. Chair submissions are accepted here until 5:00 p.m. ET on December 18, 2022
 
 
Consider making advocacy part of your local section’s sustainability efforts! To encourage ACS members to get involved in sustainability policy issues, the ACS Committees on Environmental Improvement (CEI) and Chemistry & Public Affairs (CCPA) have created a jointly-administered ACS ChemLuminary Award.
 
The new CCPA-CEI ChemLuminary Award for Outstanding Promotion of the Society’s Sustainability Position S... recognizes local sections for outstanding activities to advocate for, promote, or develop awareness of the Society’s policy statements related to environmental and sustainability issues. Has your local section done government affairs advocacy in 2022 that fits the bill? Self-nominate for the new award!
 
Visit our webpage for more information
 
 
The Committee on Public Relations & Communications can make suggestions to your group to help spruce up their digital footprint. Our team of communications aficionados can craft a customized PR plan to increase visibility and connection with your members. We can offer advice on web design, social media, newsletters, programming, networking, and more. If you’re interested in a consultation, contact CPRCMakeovers@gmail.com.
 
Submissions are due each year by May 1 and November 1.
 
 
ACS Local Sections and International Sciences Chapters are invited to participate in the 2023 Chemistry Olympiad competition. This program is a multi-tiered competition that promotes excellence in high school chemistry. Your section is strongly encouraged to organize USNCO local activities in March 2023 to select high school students to qualify for the national exam. Four students will represent the United States at the 55th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) in Switzerland.
 
To participate, appoint USNCO Coordinator and register by January 9, 2023. More information at: www.acs.org/olympiad or contact usnco@acs.org.
 
 
Learn how your local section, technical division, or fellow international chapter can be more engaged with ACS communities worldwide in this C&EN article published by Sergio Nanita, Chair of the Committee on International Activities. 
 
 
The ACS Council Policy Committee is hosting its 2023 New Councilor Orientation Program for all newly elected Councilors and Alternate Councilors on Saturday, March 25 from 3:00-6:00 p.m. ET in Indianapolis. A special networking reception with Committee Chairs will follow at 6:00 p.m. This program provides an excellent opportunity for you to meet with other ACS leaders and learn how to get involved with ACS committees. Special remarks will be given by the ACS President. If you are a newly elected Councilor or an Alternate Councilor, please RSVP let us know if you are planning to attend. 
 
 
ACS is excited to announce that all members of the ACS community will now have access to ACS Link networking platform. ACS Link provides you with a new way to connect virtually with individuals in the global ACS community who are around the corner, or around the world! This benefit is now included in your current benefits package. Have a question? The ACS community might just have the answer.
 
 
The June 1, 2022 edition of the ACS Governing Documents is available at http://www.acs.org/govdocs.
 
The petition deadline to amend the Constitution and Bylaws is December 7, 2022.
 
The model bylaws template was recently changed and can be found at http://www.acs.org/govdocs. All Local Sections, Divisions, and International Chemical Sciences Chapters, please check when your unit’s bylaws were last updated. Please contact the Committee on Constitution and Bylaws (C&B) at bylaws@acs.org if you have questions or would like assistance with updating your bylaws.
 
 
For those planning event activities for your respective units, please be mindful of any potential risks and liabilities that may arise. This is especially important if the event involves minor children, taking video and/or photographs, use of commercial music, physical/outdoor activities, working with vulnerable populations, or use of volunteers outside of the unit.
 
It is good practice to have participants sign a liability waiver/release before partaking in the event/activity.
 
Should you have any questions or need further guidance, please contact ACSLegal@acs.org.
 
 
Please use this form to submit a request for a Certificate of Insurance and send the completed form to businessinsurance@acs.org to ensure prompt handling of these requests. Certificate requests should be submitted at least 30 days before an event.   
 
Requests and/or questions may be sent to ACSLegal@acs.org.
 
 
The DEIR Educational Resource Guide contains a non-exhaustive list of resources meant to provide further enrichment and education on common DEIR topics and terms, such as allyship, microaggressions, unconscious bias, and more. It is meant as a starting point for those interested in learning more about DEIR issues. To learn more about the Office of DEIR check out our website or contact us at diversity@acs.org.
 
 
Project SEED is a paid summer fellowship program for high school students. For 8 to 10 weeks during the summer, students work in real laboratories with scientists serving as their mentors. Students learn about careers in chemistry and receive mentoring in college preparation and professional development. Interested in mentoring a student in your lab? Check out our website to find a Site near you, submit a proposal, and get information on application deadlines. You can also register for our Coordinator/ Mentor Information Session on Thursday, January 12th, 2023. Have questions or want more information? Email us at projectseed@acs.org.
 
 
Have you ever witnessed an uncomfortable or potentially offensive interaction at work or an ACS 
event? Learn the skills to respond in the moment. Transforming Microaggressions into Microinclusions is available for ACS Local Section and Division Officers. This course will help you to define and identify microaggressions, and learn tools to address them in real time. Microaggressions can happen to anyone, and better addressing them (particularly in your role as a leader) can help make ACS even more welcoming to all. Pre-register today! 
 
To learn more about the Office of DEIR check out our website or contact us at diversity@acs.org.
 
 
Chemists know how influential their work is to society, but not everyone is aware of these secrets. So tell someone! The ACS National Historic Chemical Landmarks program helps do just this. And now those who speak Arabic or Mandarin can learn about the development of penicillin in the respective languages. There are also six landmarks translated into Spanish.
 
 
ABCChem 2022 seeks to promote scientific exchange in the Atlantic Basin and surrounding regions through an impactful multi-day conference. The special conference will be held in-person on December 13-16 in Marrakech, Morocco. Be a part of Linking the World through Chemistry!
 
 
 
With an American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) membership, you'll get access to our vast community of teachers who will share their time-tested teaching strategies to help you overcome everyday classroom challenges. Combine that with our massive library of quality classroom resources including lesson plans, demos, and videos and you'll have the tools you need to share your passion of chemistry with your students. Join the AACT community today!
 
 
Scholars studying green and sustainable chemistry are invited to apply to the ACS Green Chemistry Institute’s 2023 Student Awards, honoring excellence in research and supporting conference travel.
 
Applications for these awards are due December 31, 2022. Eligibility differs for each award, but you’ll find options for high school, undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral scholars and young professionals from the U.S. and abroad.
 
For details and application instructions visit our website. Good luck!
 
 
The Heh-Won Chang, PhD Fellowship in Green Chemistry provides financial support to full-time 
graduate students conducting research in green chemistry. Students must present their research at the G&CE Conference. Funds may be used for any purpose, including conference travel, professional development and living expenses, while the recipient is in graduate school. All full-time graduate students across the globe who are currently conducting research in green chemistry and have at least one full year of study remaining in their graduate program are eligible.
 
The application deadline is 5 p.m. EDT (GMT-4) on Saturday, December 31, 2022. Visit our website to learn more and apply!
 
 
The Nina McClelland Memorial Award is open to postdoctoral chemists who are engaged in green chemistry research in the U.S. or internationally. Two $2,000 awards will be provided each year and awardees must present their research during the GC&E Conference, which will be held in Long Beach, California, June 13-15, 2023. Visit our website to learn more and apply!