Based on our updated SOP, here is our new updated mission and goals:
Purpose: The mission of the CERC is to open space for researchers and practitioners from all communities to consider how to support justice and equity through the use of chemistry knowledge and practices
Vision (who we aspire to be): Community of chemistry education researchers advancing knowledge generation and utilization to address grand challenges in chemistry education.
Mission (how we advance the mission): Address grand challenges in chemistry education by building the capacity of chemistry education researchers at all levels, fostering connections between research and practice, and broadening the domain through intentional dialogue with other scholarly communities.
Since our last report, CERC has organized and supported a number of initiatives that align with the DivCHED Strategic Plan:
National ACS Symposia: The CERC programming subcommittee successfully hosted a symposium at the Spring 2025 ACS National Meeting in San Diego with support from Bill Donovan (University of Akron) and Li Ye (CSU Northridge). For Fall 2025, Regis Komperda (San Diego State University) and Brandon Yik (University of Georgia) are co-organizing the “Research in Chemical Education” symposium. In collaboration with the ECCES Committee, Olivia Crandell and Michelle Herridge were additional co-organizers. Together, they integrated graduate and undergraduate CER submissions into a cohesive program, resulting in three half-day sessions and 31 accepted abstracts. These efforts directly support the strategic goals of increasing access to resources and providing new professional development opportunities.
Webinars and Community Building: CERC hosted several webinars during Fall 2024 spotlighting early-career chemistry education researchers. These events helped advance the goal of creating networking opportunities and new professional learning experiences for our community. Planning is currently underway for more webinars that include mentoring components, as well as a potential “Buddy Finder” initiative to connect researchers with similar interests across career stages.
Collaborative Efforts: CERC members are working with the ECCES Committee on a virtual ECCES conference to further promote interdisciplinary collaboration and support broader dissemination of chemical education research.
Budget and Funding Support: For the upcoming budget CERC received a $3000 budget allocation to help offset travel expenses for volunteers presiding at national meetings. This year the committee offered $125 stipends to six such volunteers, fully utilizing the past budget in support of DivCHED’s commitment to access and equity.
CERC has several plans in place to continue supporting the chemical education research community:
Symposia and Conference Presence: We will continue organizing symposia for ACS national meetings and are also preparing for participation at the 2026 BCCE. These events will continue to showcase cutting-edge CER while providing professional development and networking opportunities.
Mentorship and Community Support: We aim to pilot a mentoring program in the coming year that includes a Buddy Finder system to connect committee members and broader DivCHED constituents with shared research interests or complementary expertise. These efforts support the strategic goals of fostering organizational excellence and improving professional development opportunities.
Webinar Series Expansion: Building on the success of our past events, we will host additional webinars that combine research dissemination with mentoring and community-building components. We will also explore partnerships with other committees to increase the breadth and reach of these offerings.
$750
We used this to fund volunteers who were going to the ACS conferences to chair the sessions that the CERC committee was in charge of organizing.
We were able to successfully provide some small financial relief for members who were going to the conference to chair sessions that involved "creating and communicating DEIR-grounded best practices for committee operations"