The Regional Meetings Committee (RMC) is charged by the Division to:
1. Provide oversight of the ACS Division of Chemical Education Region Awards, which includes the development and maintenance of Award Guidelines, participation in the selection and presentation of the Region Award winners;
2. Ensure that a Chemical Education Program is part of each Regional Meeting; and
3. Promote the purpose and work of the ACS Division of Chemical Education.
- Change in Leadership - A special vote was conducted to elect interim leadership following the resignation of the previous Chair due to personal circumstances. On 10/13/24 Sara Johnson began serving as the Interim Chair and Pam Kerrigan began serving as the Interim Co-Chair/Chair-Elect. On 2/20/25, the motions to approve Sara Johnson as Chair and Pam Kerrigan as Co-Chair/Chair-Elect passed with 7 affirmative and 3 abstentions.
Region Awards - The following information was gathered from the ACS Regional Meetings website and websites for individual regions and regional meetings. Six of the ten ACS Regions reported meetings in 2024, providing opportunities to recognize and reward excellence in high school chemistry. Below, we list the Awards presented at the 2024 Regional Meetings.
- Update the Operations Manual for RMC
- Update Primary Responsibilities of RMC Chair
- Update Primary Responsibilities of RMC Members
- Continue to work with ACS staff to develop a better system for processing of regional and national awards including a central location to post awardee information.
- Rework, refine, and streamline the Guideline Packet for ACS Division of Chemical Education Regional Awards for Excellence in High School Teaching.
The most recent report from February 2024 indicated that funds had not yet been received. I have made previous inquiries regarding this matter, but unfortunately, I have not yet received any further updates for 2024.