POLY - Council and Committee Reports

2014 Committee Reports:
2014 Fall ACS National Meeting in San Francisco, CA, August 10-14, 2014

POLY – Councilor’s Report Dallas, August 9-14, 2014

F. Blum, M.A. Meador, W. Daly, J. Pochan

At the Fall ACS National Meeting in San Francisco, CA (August 9-14, 2014), all four POLY Councilors attended the ACS Council meeting. The following account summarizes some selected activities in the Council and in committees and task forces in which POLY Councilors are involved.

General Topics: The San Francisco national meeting attracted 15,761 registrants, including 9,140 regular attendees and 3,671 students.

The Committee on Nominations and Elections (N&E) announced the following nominees as candidates for President-Elect, 2015: Peter K. Dorhout, William A. Lester, Jr. and Donna J. Nelson. Electronic balloting will be opened in October.

The Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs reported that employment is down to 2.9% for ACS chemists. The market for new graduates is weak; unemployment has risen to 14.9% in this category. A revised set of professional employment guidelines, adopted by council, will be published shortly.

Council selected members for the following Committees: Nominations and Elections, Council Policy, and Committees.
Council Policy Committee (CPC) (Frank Blum): A Council Policy Committee subcommittee is currently reviewing the mechanisms for removal of a Member or Councilor. They also reviewed the Councilor reimbursement program.

Division Activities Committee (DAC) (Mary Ann Meador and Bill Daly): The new system for submitting abstracts, Meeting Abstracts Programming System (MAPS) is being implemented for the Denver 2015 meeting. The system is designed to simplify collecting and organizing abstracts for national and regional meetings.

The Innovative Project Grants to divisions distributed $117,700 to divisions this year. POLY received $10 K for initiatives associated with identifying attendees at our symposia and developing younger chemists’ presentation skills.

DAC is compiling best practices of divisions from annual reports and IPG reports in an effort to promote exchange of information among the divisions.

Meetings and Expositions (M&E) (John Pochan): M&E spent considerable time debating the recording policy for attendees at the ACS events. The current policy prohibits all photography and recording of technical sessions and posters without the permission of ACS. Despite an expanded educational effort on this policy, M&E has noticed a significant increase in the number of attendees violating this policy. M&E voted to strengthen the policy by including enforcement language in the recording policy. The complete policy statement with the enforcement language follows.

Business Office Report

The Division is excited to introduce our new staff member, Delinda Phillips. She joined the Business Office in September 2014. Delinda brings with her a cheerful outlook which will help POLY reach out to its membership with a positive attitude. She will provide support through our publicity networking venues including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. She is looking forward to assisting new members as they seek information about POLY and will be there to answer questions about activities. Please join us in welcoming Delinda to our outstanding polymer community.

POLYED Report for San Francisco ACS Meeting, August, 2014
Submitted by: Charles E. Carraher, Jr. and John P. Droske (POLYED Co-Chairs)

The agenda for the PolyEd meeting on Tuesday, August 12, is available on the PolyEd web site at “http://www.polyed.org”. The meeting begins at 7:30 am in the “Union Square 20 Room” in the Hilton Union Square. Please visit our web site for additional details about all PolyEd programs.

The 2014 Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in Polymer Chemistry will be presented to Dr. Felix S. Kim in San Francisco. Dr. Kim completed the Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 2012 at the University of Washington with Prof. Samson Jenekhe. His Ph.D. research on the charge transport properties of polymer semiconductors and polymer-based thin film transistors has resulted in more than 30 articles in leading journals. He is now a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the Chung-Ang University in Seoul, Korea. The award will be presented during a symposium in honor of Dr. Kim in the Division of Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering. Since AkzoNobel unexpectedly canceled its support for this award in October, 2013, the award is being jointly sponsored by PolyEd, POLY, and PMSE in 2014. We are seeking a new sponsor for continuation of this important award program in 2015.

The 2014 Eastman Chemical Student Award in Applied Polymer Science will be awarded to the author of the best research paper presented at the ACS meeting in San Francisco. The awardee will be chosen from finalists who will be presenting papers. All are encouraged to attend the symposium.

Due to a concerted effort by PolyEd and others, the ACS Committee on Professional Training (CPT) is finalizing deliberations on a requirement that polymer topics must be included in curricula for ACS-approved undergraduate curricula. We received a communication from the chair of CPT in Summer, 2014, that was encouraging that such an announcement may be forthcoming after the San Francisco meeting. PolyEd has been petitioning CPT for many years and PolyEd has redoubled these efforts recently. We thank the Executive Committees of POLY and PMSE for contacting CPT. Having a polymer requirement in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum will be a benchmark for polymer education and has been long-sought by PolyEd. We thank all who have contacted CPT and we urge you to continue to do so until CPT acts positively on this.
Related to the CPT effort above, the print version of an ACS Symposium Series book (volume 1151) entitled “Introduction of Macromolecular Science/Polymeric Materials into the Foundational Course in Organic Chemistry” was published in 2014. This book resulted from an all-day symposium on the integration of polymer topics in sophomore organic chemistry courses that was held at the Philadelphia ACS meeting in 2012. This was a collaboration with CELL, CHED, PMSE, POLY, ORGN, Rubber, and SOCED. The book also was published in electronic form in November, 2013. Information about PolyEd programs is featured in Chapter One of the book, especially PolyEd programs that are directed towards assisting faculty interested in incorporating polymer topics in college and university chemistry courses. PolyEd thanks Bob Howell for his excellent job organizing the symposium and editing this symposium series book. We also thank those who contributed chapters for the book. Similar to the above symposium on integrating polymer topics in organic chemistry courses, the Physical Chemistry of Macromolecules symposium, organized by Paul Russo, Daniel Savin, and Frank Blum, was offered at the Indianapolis ACS meeting. The Symposium was co-sponsored by the Division of Chemical Education (ChemEd) and is part of a special PolyEd CPT Task Force effort. Warren Ford and Claire Tessier are organizing a symposium with ChemEd on Polymer Concepts in Inorganic Chemistry Courses for the Boston Fall 2015 meeting.
Another symposium, Integrating Chemistry and Polymer Science Research Into The Classroom, has been announced by Sarah Morgan for the Denver ACS meeting. The symposium is sponsored jointly by POLY and ChemEd. Sarah also organized a very successful symposium, Undergraduate Research in Polymer Science, at the Dallas ACS meeting. She also is coordinating a curriculum development effort that is having a second planning session in San Francisco entitled Polymer Science Curricula in the 21st Century.

An update to the ACS Exam in Polymer Chemistry is in progress. Rick Laine is heading up this PolyEd effort and Rick has recently provided the first set of possible questions to a review committee. PolyEd is working with Rick and Tom Holme, director of the ACS Exams Institute, on this exam. Two exams are envisioned, one for upper level undergraduates and another for graduate students in polymer science. Anyone interested in assisting with this update of the ACS exam in Polymer Chemistry is urged to contact Rick or the PolyEd Center. Rick also is very interested in receiving additional questions from POLY and PMSE members for possible inclusion on the exams. He is particularly interested in questions at a basic level on liquid crystalline materials, conducting and semiconducting polymers, hybrid materials including silicones, rigid rod polymers, spectra, thin films, and 3-D structures, such as dendrimers.

PolyEd provided seed support for K-12 workshops being offered in conjunction with the United States Air Force Academy. This has resulted in seven workshops and community presentations being offered to nearly 10,000 people by Scott Iacono, Ron Furstenau, and others at the USAF.

PolyEd also continues to recognize outstanding research posters by undergraduate students at each of the national ACS meetings. An oral symposium featuring undergraduate research in polymer science was held at the Dallas meeting and Erik Berda has reported the recent award winners. At the Indianapolis meeting: Chelsea Iles, University of Cincinnati and Claremont College shared the top award with Simone Lazar from Central Michigan University. In Dallas, William Horn, Ashland University won the top award. Logan Brado, Luther College was the first runner-up and Kristen Mueller, University of St. Thomas (MN) was the second runner-up. Anyone willing to assist with evaluation of the posters should contact Erik Berda, Bob Howell, or Sarah Morgan.

Bob (R.S.) Moore has reported that the Senior Chemists Committee will cosponsor a symposium with the IPEC Polymer Ambassadors group at the Denver ACS national meeting.

The PolyEd Undergraduate Award for Achievement in Organic Chemistry continues to recognize undergraduate students for their outstanding performance in sophomore Organic Chemistry courses. In 2014, more than 100 students at colleges and universities were recognized with the PolyEd award. Personalized certificates are sent to all awardees and congratulatory letters are sent to both the recipient and the faculty nominator. The award is administered by the PolyEd Center at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

PolyEd is successful because of the contributions of many. We thank all who lead PolyEd’s
programs and especially POLY and PMSE for their support. Any member of POLY and PMSE who would like to become involved in POLYED should contact John Droske at the POLYED Center, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, jdroske@uwsp.edu or Charles Carraher, Jr., Florida-Atlantic University, carraher@fau.edu .

Annual Treasurer's Report
Mark Dadmun, POLY Treasurer

The table outlines the summary and status of the 2014 budget with respect to the current income and expenditures through September 2014 and is compared to the end-of-year figures for 2013 and planned 2014 budget.

We continue to balance the budget and ensure that the expenditures are within the allocated figures agreed upon at the last 2013 Ex-Com meeting. Any questions may be directed to Mark Dadmun, POLY Division Treasurer, dad@utk.edu.

Marketing and Outreach

Derrek Patton

Social Media Growth—POLY on twitter, FB, and LinkedIn. Twitter has shown the most growth. July 2014—twitter 317, FB 382, LinkedIn 1056. PMSE posting more links to science content articles. We need to get more members on board. Use #POLYSanFran. @POLY_ACS. The goal is to add value to POLY membership. What information is on there—logistics information about meetings. Maybe more about grants, topics, solicitations, etc. (input from USM grad student).

Member Outreach

Mike Meador

Current members—4,452 members (up by 50 since January 2014). 3,418 members, 799 students, 235 affiliates. Student chapters—9 universities.

Propose eliminating special activity grants in 2015 and replace with awards for each chapter based on their members. Initiate best student chapter award for $1000. Vote on in the ExComm.

Student chapter expansion—target schools and promote regional meetings.
Student mixer—Monday 5:30-7:30 @ Cantina (580 Sutter St).
Membership retention—survey will be discussed at membership committee meeting.
Daily emails “what’s happening” sent out at the national meetings.

Half of the divisions are showing increases in membership. Why is POLY losing? PMSE has lost about the same as POLY. Compare Colloids membership numbers with POLY. Does location hinder our membership numbers—since we are in a hotel and not in the convention center? Badge scanning will help identify who is coming to our sessions. Current trends could be less international attendance since there are more groups formed over in Europe now. Less global, more regional attendance. Try to encourage industrial membership. With increased internet access, our value could be less to offer.

Membership Report

K. Cavicchi and M. Meador

The Membership Committee continues to work on ways to make your membership in POLY as meaningful as possible. During the past two ACS National Meetings, we have provided daily e-mails to keep members who attend national meeting, as well as those who can’t, informed about POLY programing and special events. The POLY Business Office has instituted an every-other-month e-mail to inform members of upcoming awards opportunities, POLY sponsored workshops and other special events.

In addition, we are restructuring the way POLY/PMSE Student Chapters are funded. This new structure will encourage Chapters to recruit student members, participate in innovative activities, and conduct outreach. Student Chapters who achieve these goals will be eligible for the new 2015 Best POLY/PMSE Student Chapter Award.

The Membership Committee would like to gather information on how we can better serve the total membership. What does POLY do well, what areas need improvement, and are there new services we should consider? Please take a moment to go on-line to participate in the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/POLYMemberSurvey. Your valuable input will assist us improve the way POLY serves you, the polymer chemistry community, and your professional development.

Industrial Advisory Board (IAB)
Industrial Advisory Board Co-Chairs
Travis Baughman, DSM
Diana Gerbi, 3M

Standing Room Only in San Francisco!

The Fall 2014 ACS National Meeting in San Francisco, CA, proved to be another excellent meeting for the POLY Industrial Advisory Board. Three major IAB events were hosted at this meeting and included the biennial Industrial Polymer Scientist (IPS) award, the inaugural Industrial Innovations in Polymer Chemistry (IIPC) Symposium and the recurring IAB Social event. As the title states, all three events were very well attended. A thank you to all who volunteered their time and energy to put together winning topics and speakers which allowed us to fill the rooms!

Monday was a full day of IAB programming starting with the 2014 Industrial Polymer Scientist award symposium in honor of Dr. Bob Allen from IBM (described on page 3 of this newsletter) and the first Industrial Innovations in Polymer Chemistry (IIPC) Symposium co-organized by Drs. Michael Hunt (Polymaterials) and Karl Haider (Bayer). Dr. Corinne Lipscomb (3M) assisted Dr. Hunt in chairing the highly attended afternoon session that included inspiring lectures from various players in the synthetic polymer industry, ranging from smaller firms developing their first materials to established polymer industry players to true end users who apply high performance polymers. The talks were well received and the audience eagerly questioned the speakers on various aspects of industrial research and innovation. The IAB looks forward to continuing the IIPC Symposium in 2015 in Denver (spring) and Boston (fall).

Following the full day of programming, the IAB once again hosted industrial members, POLY members and special guests at the IAB social on Monday evening at the Burritt Room Tavern & Bar. The area set aside for us was full from start to finish and represented our largest turnout to date. This event is well appreciated by our industrial members as a way to network within the IAB and POLY industrial membership, but also is appreciated as it allows industrial members to connect with POLY leadership and other members in an informal, semi-private setting.

POLY-L Electronic Discussion List

POLY-L Electronic Discussion List - Currently has 1030 members and averages a couple messages a week on scientific, POLY, employment, and other issues relevant to POLY members. We have not experienced any problems of significance in the past year. Sign up for the list (POLY members only) at polyacs.org