Chemical and Engineering News Action Items
Thank you all for the outpouring of support for Chemical and Engineering News and the team that puts this invaluable magazine together.
Before getting to the action items, I want to share one graphic from a recent membership survey that really sums up how we all feel about C&EN.
This image is from the 2021 ACS membership survey. Every ACS service is depicted on this graph (from program accreditation to meetings to journals member newsletters to C&EN). The graph plots usage rates (what % of survey correspondents use that feature) against perceived importance. C&EN is the most used ACS output with the highest member value. This is what we stand to lose if the ACS continues on their current, misguided path.
Action Items
There are a lot of people asking what they can do. Can they sign on to our letter? Who can they contact. I would like to make one thing abundantly clear: The American Chemical Society is a non-profit organization with membership oversight of its activities. The society is a disparate collection of businesses (Publications and CAS, among others), membership governance (local chapters, Council, Board of Directors) and interest-based divisions/committees. My best understanding is that our voices will be most effective if we use the built-in hierarchy of the ACS to move our message to the decision-makers. Part of this push is to create a persistent drum of vocalization to make our displeasure known. Nothing is going to change until the executives at ACS are plainly aware that a huge swath of the membership is upset. Once those complaints are registered, it is up to those executives, under the oversight of the Board of Directors, to rectify this situation.
Contact the Board of Directors (site: https://www.acs.org/about/governance/board.html) There is a link at the bottom of this page to email the Board. You can also reach out to your District representative.
Push your local chapters to communicate their displeasure/unease with this change through their channels with ACS leadership. The elected officials of your local chapters will have a standard means of communication with ACS headquarters.
Push your affinity groups and committees to communicate their displeasure/unease with this change through their channels with ACS leadership. I, for one, will be contacting my representatives in the Division of Inorganic Chemistry to do so.
Contact ACS Membership (https://www.acs.org/membership.html). The people who organize membership services care deeply about membership satisfaction. They need to know that these changes to C&EN will completely alter your experience with the Society. (Note: I have heard from many that they are considering leaving ACS because of these changes. If that describes you, let Membership know. It does no good to just quit and not pay dues. Tell Membership why you are leaving/thinking about leaving.)
Many people have asked to sign on to the letter that we penned. We are heartened by this outpouring of support! I don’t know that I have the personal capacity to track everyone who would like to be added. Thankfully, Russ Phifer has started a petition on change.org. (https://chng.it/NYBNzwzNYt) While I think that action items 1-4 will be most effective, it is important for the ACS to have a broader accounting of membership displeasure. Please take the time to sign this petition.