Chemical Education Today
Association Reports: ACS Division of Chemical Education
Committee Reports, August 2008 Executive Committee Report Donald Wink, Secretary
reported on a new configuration for business support of the Journal, including an on-site business manager and a Board member who would provide oversight as treasurer. Other items that were discussed concerned the ACS as a whole. These included the new joint task force of the ACS President and the Board of Directors to examine education initiatives within the ACS. As described by ACS president, Bruce Bursten, the effort will be to answer the question “What can a Society with 160,000 members uniquely do that can have a transformative effect on education in the United States?” In addition, Chuck Casey, former ACS president, made a presentation on behalf of the ACS Committee on Chemistry and Public Affairs (CCPA). He asked for additional input on policy statements formulated for the ACS. He asked for the Division and individuals to review the statements and offer suggestions for improvement. The statements are updated yearly and they evolve, so input at any point is valuable. Members wishing to learn more can consult the CCPA site, www.acs.org/policy (in particular, the link to “Public Policies) (accessed Sep 2008). He also asked members to consider sending specific examples to accompany the statements, analogous to NSF “nuggets”, which are very helpful when ACS engages in advocacy efforts.
The Division Executive Committee met at the Philadelphia National Meeting. Several important items were discussed. The Committee voted to move the Newsletter to an online-only option. We will continue with a print Newsletter for 2009 and then in 2010 we will have only online publication. A provision for members who wish to have print copies of the Newsletter will also be considered. For 2010 at least there would continue to be a postcard indicating that the Newsletter was available online. The Committee voted to give final approval to the bid for Penn State University to host the 2012 Biennial Conference on Chemical Education. The Committee also received reports on the recent move of the ACS Exams Institute to Iowa State University, where Tom Holme remains as director [see p 1612], and plans for the move of the Journal of Chemical Education to the University of Iowa when Norb Pienta becomes editor in fall 2009. In addition, Diane Bunce, chair of the Journal’s Board of Publication,
The above text is from the citation that was read at the ChemLuminary Awards ceremony at the recent National ACS meeting in Philadelphia. DivCHED received a 2007 ACS ChemLuminary Award for its outstanding work in developing and implementing the ACS Regional Awards for Excellence in High School Chemistry Teaching. This is the third ChemLuminary Award that DivCHED has received since 2000. Glenn and Jane Crosby were the two individuals who worked with other members of the Division to establish this new award and to set up the endowment fund on which the awards depend. They spearheaded a drive to raise $300,000 in contributions, a goal that is close to being realized. Donations have been received from members of the DivCHED as well as from members from other ACS technical divisions. In 2007, the first full year for the award program, awards of $1,000 each were made to seven high school chemistry teachers; thus far in 2008, awards have been made to seven teachers (two are yet to be presented). [See p 1611 for a list of awardees and more information about the endowment fund.]
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photo by Jerry L. Sarquis
The ACS Division of Chemical Education Regional Awards represent a major form of recognition for high school chemistry teachers. These awards also involve innovative cooperation between a technical Division of ACS with the ACS Regions.
photo by Morton Z. Hoffman
CHED Receives 2007 ACS ChemLuminary Award Tom Greenbowe, Chair
Mark Freilich accepts the ChemLuminary Award. Barbara E. Moriarty (ACS Divisional Activities Committee) is on the left; Thomas H. Lane (ACS President-Elect) is on the right.
The award program represents a four-year planning, development, and implementation effort by the Division and its members, in particular Glenn and Jane Crosby. Morton Hoffman, chair of the Regional Meetings Committee, worked with leaders of ACS regions to get this new award presented to teachers during 2007. Contributions to the DivCHED Regional Award for Excellence in High School Teaching are still being accepted. If you are interested please contact Mark Freilich, the Div CHED chair-elect, at
[email protected].
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 85 No. 12 December 2008 • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • © Division of Chemical Education
Chemical Education Today
photo by Morton Z. Hoffman
Division Boards The Executive Committee appointed the following individuals to three-year terms (2009–2011) on Division Boards. Board of Publication, Journal of Chemical Education Chris Bauer, University of New Hampshire Ellen Yezierski, Grand Valley State University Board of Trustees, Examinations Institute Richard Jones, Sinclair Community College Susan Schelble, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Skyline of Philadelphia, location of the Fall 2008 ACS National Meeting. The Schuylkill River is in the foreground.
Business Meeting Report Donald Wink, Secretary
tion, Cengage Publishing, the ACS Exams Institute, and the Journal of Chemical Education was gratefully acknowledged.
At the Philadelphia National Meeting, the Division Business Meeting continued with a meeting at the end of the morning sessions on Monday. The meeting this time included the announcement that there would be a review of how the Division manages appointments to particular committees, since some committees are appointed while others have members determined other ways. The continued success of having a Division social event on Sunday evening immediately before the poster sessions was also reviewed. Sponsorship by the Hach Founda-
Report from ACS Council Meeting, August 20, 2008 Donald Wink, Secretary/Councilor
Endowment Fund ACS Division of Chemical Education Regional Award for Excellence in High School Teaching Anna Wilson, Treasurer As of September 2008, there is $254,000 in DivCHED’s interest-earning endowment fund that supports these awards. We are very close to the $300,000 goal! Donations have been received from corporations, foundations, and private individuals, members of ACS as well as non-members. However, with the current general decrease in interest rates, the interest earned has not kept up with the funds required for the awards. Since the Division felt it was important to start giving the awards as soon as possible, it has used its own funds to make up any difference between the interest earned by the endowment fund and the amount required for the yearly awards. If you wish to contribute to the Endowment Fund, contact Mark Freilich at
[email protected]; information is also at http://www.divched.org/. Awards Presented Awards have been made to seven individuals in 2008; two more awards will be presented at Fall ACS Regional Meetings. In 2007, awards were presented to seven individuals. The names of all winners and their ACS regions are indicated in the list at the right. Each winner receives a plaque and a check for $1,000 from the Division of Chemical Education, presented by the chair of the Regional Meeting Committee.
This is a summary of some of the actions and other events at the ACS Council Meeting during the 2008 Fall National Meeting in Philadelphia. It includes information provided by the ACS to its councilors. A presentation by ACS president Bruce Bursten mentioned the formation of a Board-Presidential Task Force on Education
Congratulations to the Winners 2008 Winners Claire Miller
Middle Atlantic
Jeff Brather
Central
Jeff Statler
Rocky Mountain
[not yet awarded]
Midwest
[not yet awarded]
Southeast
Roxanna Allen
Southwest
Anthony Favero
Northwest
Steve Lantos
Northeast
Judith Baumwirt
Western
2007 Winners Sara McCoy
Middle Atlantic
Rachel Badanowski
Central
Thomas Bindel
Rocky Mountain
Jackie Stewart
Midwest
Thomas (Tom) S. Boyd
Southeast
Valerie A. Ferguson
Southwest
Sarah Harris
Northwest
Photographs of the 2007 awardees appear on page 1033 of the August 2008 issue of JCE.
© Division of Chemical Education • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • Vol. 85 No. 12 December 2008 • Journal of Chemical Education
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Chemical Education Today
Association Reports: ACS Division of Chemical Education
CHED Outstanding Service to the Division Award Anna Wilson, Chair, Recognition Committee Jerry A. Bell is the 2008 winner of the Outstanding Service to the Division Award. He was presented with a certificate of appreciation and a glass apple on August 17 during the Division reception at the ACS national meeting in Philadelphia. Jerry has served DivCHED as Division Chair, Secretary, member and chair of various committees; he has worked on BCCE committees and two International Chemistry Conferences; he has been on the Board of the Exams Institute and the Board of Publication and in various other capacities. Each year the Division of Chemical Education, Inc. selects a division member for the annual DivCHED “Outstanding Service to the Division Award”. The award is presented at the fall National ACS meeting during the Sunday evening CHED Reception. The guidelines for this award are that the awardees be members of CHED and have contributed outstanding service to CHED. Individuals who currently hold office or chair a committee in CHED are not eligible for this award until their term of office has expired.
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Jerry Bell is shown accepting the CHED Outstanding S e r v i c e Aw a r d from Division Chair Tom Greenbowe as Dwaine Eubanks (right) looks on.
Nominations for 2009 Award I am accepting nominations for the 2009 award. Please send your nomination with supporting information to me at
[email protected]. Examinations Institute Tom Holme, Director The Exams Institute continued a busy summer of exam writing and work on the criterion referencing of ACS Exams at the Philadelphia meeting. The Diagnostic of Undergraduate Chemistry Knowledge (DUCK) exam committee wrapped up work on the first ever end-of-curriculum exam from the Institute, (this new exam was released in fall 2008). The physical chemistry committee began work in earnest on the new suite of PChem exams, as did the second-term general chemistry exam committee. A focus group was held with organic chemists to look at the emerging map of the undergraduate chemistry curricular content based on anchoring concepts or “big ideas”. This content map has now been considered by groups at both the general chemistry and organic chemistry level, and further focus groups in other sub-disciplines will be held at future ACS meetings. If you are interested in serving on a focus group for mapping the content of your subdiscipline onto the anchoring concepts template, contact Tom Holme,
[email protected]. The new 800 telephone number for the Examinations Institute is 800/854-1672. DivCHED International Travel Award Lucy Eubanks, Chair, CHED IAC Travel Award DivCHED funds a travel award each year in support of a division member who presents and fully participates in an international chemical education conference held outside the U.S. A subcommittee of the International Activities Committee is in the final process of reviewing applications for 2009; the awardee will be announced in early November. 2008 Information and insights gained at the conference will be communicated to the entire membership through publications and by postings on the Division’s Web site at http://www.divched.org.
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 85 No. 12 December 2008 • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • © Division of Chemical Education
photo by Anna Wilson
will attempt to answer the question: “What can a Society with 160,000 members uniquely do that can have a transformative effect on education in the United States?” Members are encouraged to send ideas in this vein to ACS leadership, including Bursten and the President-Elect, Tom Lane. Bursten then led a special discussion by the Council that examined the ongoing question of the role of chemists and the ACS in addressing the global scientific challenge of achieving sustainability with specific focus on the topics of energy, water, and food. Many comments made clear that chemists have much to be proud of in terms of the contributions our science is making towards these challenges. In addition, it was pointed out that the ACS curricula, especially the high school Chemistry in the Community and the college general education Chemistry in Context are texts that address these topics as the context for learning chemistry. As outlined by ACS Executive Director Judy Benham, the ACS’s work on Global Challenges is ongoing. Members can learn more from Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions podcasts and related information, available online at www.acs.org/globalchallenges (accessed Sep 2008). The Council also voted to change the fee structure for Society Affiliates to make these the same price as for regular memberships; this will not affect Division members, who can if they choose still chose to be an Affiliate member of the Division if they do not wish to have full ACS membership. The Council also voted to accept a revised division funding (allocation) formula that attempts to simplify the allocation calculations and, more importantly, to reward collaborative programming between divisions. The change will take effect in 2009 for 2008 activities. The following announcements were also made: As of August 20, 2008, the ACS fall national meeting had attracted 13,800 registrants. It was also announced that the Meetings and Expositions Committee approved an increase of ten dollars for the 2009 national meetings advanced registration fee.
Chemical Education Today
Report from Philadelphia Bradley Miller, Director of the ACS Office of International Activities, met with DivCHED’s International Activities Committee during our meeting in Philadelphia. Many ideas were discussed concerning opportunities for mutual cooperation to help extend our common global interests. The ACS Office is in a position to help with developing DivCHED’s international membership, planning international meetings, identifying international speakers, creating and extending international networks, and helping our international members and speakers prepare for and navigate the U.S. visa application process. Our committee has been invited to organize a table top display for the ACS IAC’s reception for international registrants at the Spring 2009 ACS National Meeting. Such a display will promote our division’s activities and raise our profile among the 200–300 registrants who typically attend these receptions. The developing cooperation between ACS IAC and our committee will help raise our international profile and identify where and how we can have a greater impact working together than working alone in an international context. Journal of Chemical Education John W. Moore, Editor Message from the Board of Publication The Board of Publication, in its management role for the Journal of Chemical Education, is exploring the benefits of associating the Journal with the extensive resources of ACS Publications, which might benefit us in areas of processing manuscripts, producing the Journal, serving existing subscribers, identifying new modes of distribution, and marketing the Journal. At the request of the Board of Publication at its meeting in New Orleans, the Editor, the Editor-elect, the Chair, and the Secretary of the Board met with representatives of ACS Publications to discuss possible joint publication of the Journal. (The Editor and the Secretary are also members of the Division of Chemical Education Executive Committee.) A further discussion was held during the Board of Publication meeting at the Philadelphia ACS meeting. Having evaluated a brief proposal and presentation from ACS Publications at its Philadelphia meeting, the Board has decided to invite ACS Publications to provide for its consideration a detailed proposal for co-publication of the Journal that will involve changes in manuscript submission and processing and sharing of copyright. Should the Board decide to enter into an agreement for co-publication, it would not change the Division’s ownership of the Journal. Editorial control would also remain with the Division. The Board
of Publication will continue to inform the membership and the Executive Committee of CHED of further developments in these negotiations. Book & Media Reviews Cheryl Baldwin Frech of the University of Central Oklahoma is the newly appointed editor of Book & Media Reviews. She succeeds Jeffrey Kovac of the University of Tennessee, who has edited the column since 2000. Frech has been both a reviewer Cher yl Frech, newly of books and a frequent contribu- appointed editor of Book tor to the annual Summer Reading & Media Reviews. feature. At Central Oklahoma Frech is a professor in the Chemistry Department and has served as department chair since 2004. Her research interest include chemical education, the history and philosophy of chemistry, and women in science. Those interested in reviewing books (but who are not among those in the current reviewer database) should contact: Professor Cheryl Baldwin Frech Department of Chemistry 100 North University Drive Edmond, OK 73034
[email protected] Supporting JCE Online Material
http://www.jce.divched.org/Journal/Issues/2008/Dec/abs1610.html Abstract and keywords Full text (PDF) with links to cited URLs
Results, ACS Division of Chemical Education 2008 Election of Officers Chair-Elect (Chair in 2010)
• Susan Nurrenbern, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN;
[email protected] Treasurer (2009–2011)
• Anna Wilson, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN;
[email protected] Councilor (2009–2011)
• Laura E. Pence, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT;
[email protected] Alternate Councilor (2009–2011)
• Ellen J. Yezierski, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI;
[email protected] Information about membership in the Division of Chemical Education may be obtained from the Secretary, whose address is listed on the Information Page on p 1616.
© Division of Chemical Education • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • Vol. 85 No. 12 December 2008 • Journal of Chemical Education
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photo by Daniel Smith, Univ. of Central Oklahoma
If you missed this year’s October 31 deadline, why not plan ahead and apply for 2010? An applicant must be a full-time college, university, or high school faculty member and be a member of DivCHED. Preference is given to junior and/or underrepresented faculty members who have not had the opportunity to attend an international meeting in chemical education. Full details of the application and selection processes can be found on p 1049 of the August 2008 issue of this Journal.
