DIVISION OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY IT'S YOUR DIVISION
Division of Chemical Education fills a unique place in the American Chemical Society for, without it and those who are or should be members of it, there could be no members in the other divisions either. The Division becomes strong and justifies its existence in so far as it meets and treats the common problems of the large group of teachers of chemistry in the A. C. S. That it has been relatively successful is shown by its burgeoning growth in recent years (from a membership of 250 in 1945 to 700 in 1950). With this growth come somewhat different duties. The smaller group had little difficulty in communication. Most of the members knew each other and exchange of ideas proceeded readily. But it is somewhat more difficult to keep 700 members informed of Divisional programs and to obtain from them the ideas essential to a continuing service of the Division to its members and to the Society as a whole. In an attempt to find some solution, partial though it may be, your Chairman has undertaken the iob of columnist with the excellent coo~erationof the ~ d i t o of r the JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL &UCATION who has given the space. We thus hope to keep the members informed as to current projects within the Division and to present for their comments suggestions as to new avenues of growth and service. T H E
letters of reference for students who will graduate in June and the selection, on the basis of these letters, of those who will begin graduate work in each school. In recent years many students have been placed in a quandary when they received an early acceptance from one graduate school, whereas their first choice did not notify them for another month or two. Similarly the graduate schools find that some of the early acceptances are later returned when a more attractive offer reaches the student a t a later date. At one time there was a fairly regular procedure eetablished for sending out notices of acceptance to graduate school at a uniform time and the Division now has a Committee under the chairmanship of R. C. Anderson of the University of Texas investigating the possibilities of a code to cover the hiring of graduate students and their acceptance. The other members of the Committee are James F. Corwin (Antioch), John E. Willard (Wisconsin), A. W. Laubengayer (Cornell), and your Chairman (Oberlin). Suggestions mill be welcomed.
AND WHAT BECOMES OF THEM? One of thc hard parts of writing letters of reference which succeed in placing a student in a position is the subsequent difficultyin keeping track of the student and his progress. Dean Frank Smith of the Graduate DIVISIONAL HISTORY School a t Rochester has applied one of the best ideas Each member of the Division will want to watch for we have seen in some time by writing to each of the the appearance of the History of the Division of Chemi- men who served as references and letting them know cal Education which is to be printed in Chemical and when their candidate has achieved his degree. I t Engineering News sometime between February and seems to me that this might well be taken up by all June, 1951. Dr. Harrison Hale of the University of graduate schools and industrial personnel departments Arkansas has gathered, for this series, the background as a courtesy to the men who originally supplied them material which will enable each of us to see where the with the information which led them to hire the student. Division has been, and what it has done, and from Such a plan would certainly widen what should be a these to predict some possible courses for the future. two-way street of communication between the educator and the user of his product. GRADUATE STUDENTS
With the new year begins the double job of writing
J. A. CAMPBELL, Chairman
