ACS News
ACS won't seek accrediting reinstatement ACS has decided not to apply at this time for reinstatement to the U.S. Commissioner of Education's list of na tionally recognized accrediting agen cies. The decision actually was made by the society's board of directors at its meeting last December after a lengthy discussion. The board deferred disclo sure of the decision until this discus sion had been summarized into a full statement of ACS's position. This now has been done. The commissioner, in an unprece dented move, removed ACS from his list last September when he found the society's program for accrediting un dergraduate chemistry programs to be deficient in five of the U.S. Office of Education's 12 criteria for such recog nition (C&EN, Dec. 2,1974, page 20). The ACS position is contained in a 1700-word statement signed by ACS executive director Robert W. Cairns. It was received by the board Committee on Education and Students, the Com mittee on Professional Training, the chairman of the ACS Board of Direc tors, and the ACS general counsel. It points out that ACS is modifying its program to meet three of the five criteria in question. On the fourth —on-site visits—the society is willing to attempt to negotiate a procedure ac ceptable to USOE. The fifth criterion—that of need—apparently represents a major hangup between ACS and USOE. The primary purpose of the ACS program is to upgrade chemical education. But, says the ACS statement, "USOE ap parently does not consider the upgrad ing of the quality of chemical educa tion . . . to fall within its legal definition of need." ACS says it will reconsider the matter whenever legally defined need for its program appears estab lished. ACS accreditation still is recognized by the Council on Postsecondary Ac creditation (formerly the National Commission on Accrediting), a presti gious private group. And the program will continue to operate without inter ruption. The ACS statement claims that "it is probably fair to say that no single activity has had a greater strengthen ing effect on chemical education in the U.S. than has this [ACS accreditation] program." The program, which ACS prefers to call an approval program, was started in 1937 as one of a variety of activities of the ACS Committee on Professional Training aimed at improv ing chemical education. 20
C&EN April 14, 1975
The committee evaluates undergrad uate chemistry programs by invitation only. And it publishes a list of the ap proved colleges and universities whose programs meet ACS guidelines for fac ulty training, laboratory and library fa cilities, teaching load, and other fac tors that bear on quality of instruction. About one half of the 1050 institu tions giving degrees in chemistry are on the list today. ACS bears the entire $60,000 annual cost of the effort—an unusual feature, as nearly every other accreditation program is supported by fees from the institutions being accred ited. USOE is required by law to maintain a list of agencies it recognizes as quali fied to accredit institutions or pro grams. This accreditation is a prereq uisite for the eligibility of institutions, and/or their students, for financial as sistance under a wide variety of feder ally supported programs. According to USOE, an accreditation program is considered to serve a con crete need, and accordingly to merit recognition, if it establishes institu tions' eligibility for funds. This causes a further complication in the ACS po sition. Every institution whose chemis try department is accredited by the so ciety is itself already accredited by one of the regional agencies that accredits entire institutions. Hence, all the need criteria as defined by USOE are met without the ACS program. "Conse quently," according to the ACS state ment, "there is no legal need for the ACS program since the additional quality component that the ACS pro gram provides has no significance under the USOE definition of need." The three criteria that ACS feels it can comply with concern "impartial ity," "staff guidance/self study," and "organization/procedures." According to the ACS statement, some of USOE's recommendations on these matters are "trivial." The matter of on-site evaluations is a little more complex. USOE is unhap py with the ACS practice of, in many cases, awarding or renewing accredita tion without visiting the institutions involved. The ACS position, basically, is that the USOE policy of mandatory visitation is designed for the accredita tion of an entire university. Hence, it is "far too rigid and ponderous for the ac creditation of a single program." ACS maintains "that a much simpler and more flexible visitation criterion can (and should) be developed for single programs that would be perfectly ade
quate to meet all substantive objec tives of the USOE." Currently the ACS program always involves a visit in those re-evaluations where it is thought necessary or where it is requested by the institution. Eval uations involving initial applications for accreditation may or may not in volve a visit. ACS considers USOE's mandatory visitation policy to be unnecessarily ex pensive—an additional $50,000 per year. Also, it would be very difficult to find the needed professional manpow er. However, despite these misgivings, the ACS board last year voted the extra funds required on the proviso that other barriers to ACS recognition could be overcome. D
Poster sessions to be offered in Chicago Authors of papers at the ACS meeting in Chicago, Aug. 24-29, will have an opportunity to try out the innovative "poster sessions" method (C&EN, July 1, 1974, page 15). Each author will be allotted a display space where graphs, charts, photos, or other pertinent ma terial may be mounted and displayed. Each paper will be scheduled for a one-hour session, during which time the author is expected to be present to discuss the work with any persons who attend the poster session. Depending on the demand for space and time, the material may be permitted to be on display for a full day, or at least a halfday. All papers presented in the post er sessions will be listed in the regular meeting program, and will be strictly comparable to the conventionally pre sented papers. With the cooperation of the National Chemical Exposition, a large area is being set aside at the meeting for the poster sessions. The Division of Inorganic Chemistry plans to use the new experimental method. Three divisions—Biochemis try, Cellulose, and Chemical Education —also are interested in trying the new method. Other divisions have ex pressed favorable interest, too, and will participate if arrangements can be completed. Division officers and poten tial authors desiring further informa tion may write to James J. Doheny, National Chemical Exposition, ACS Chicago Section, 86 East Randolph St., Chicago, 111. 60601, or call (312) 372-1123. α
