Recruit Younger Chemists To Be Leaders in your Local Section
Local leaders are a vital part of the American Chemical Society’s efforts to fulfill its mission of advancing the broader chemistry enterprise. Chances are that your local section already has a skillful leader elected to the office of section chair. Your section may also be fortunate to have active councilors who represent your interests at each national meeting, as well as a secretary and a treasurer. It is pretty common to find that the immediate past chair and chair-elect remain actively involved in leading the local section.
Most ACS members would recognize that the aforementioned leadership positions are vital for running a strong local section, keeping its business organized, and programming events that are of interest to chemists in your area. However, as a younger chemist, have you ever stopped to think about whether your needs are being met by your local section leadership? In some local sections, younger chemists are heavily involved in section leadership, but in the overwhelming majority of cases they are not. Early career chemists think that they are too overwhelmed to run for local section offices, and sometimes they are not well "connected" enough to win an election even if they have decided to campaign.
A Local Section Younger Chemists Committees (LSYCC) may be one of the best ways for younger chemists to become involved in local section leadership. LSYCC’s are overseen by the Local and Regional Activities (LRA) subcommittee of the ACS Younger Chemists Committee (YCC) and are active in many areas of the country. Close to 80 local sections have reported LSYCC activity in the past. LSYCC chairs are members of the ACS under the age of 35 that are appointed by the chair of the local section based on their leadership potential. Other offices may be appointed by the LSYCC chair as needed, and often a team of four or five younger chemists share the load of running one LSYCC!
LSYCC chapters advocate for local section activities and programming of interest to younger chemists. For instance, an LSYCC might plan and coordinate a social event for undergraduates or a seminar of interest to young professionals interested in starting their own businesses. LSYCC chairs are often invited to local section committee meetings to provide input on decisions that may possibly affect younger chemists. LSYCC’s may choose to focus on programming at regional meetings, which could include hosting special symposia or social events geared towards early career chemists, graduate students, or undergraduates.
LSYCC chairs are also invited to participate in special leadership training provided by the ACS, including Leadership Development Workshops (LDW) and local section chair summits at national meetings. In fact, the LRA subcommittee of the YCC is planning to host a local section chair summit at the Fall 2009 ACS National Meeting in Washington, D.C. At these events, local YCC chairs can share stories and ideas of LSYCC activities that have been successful in their areas.
Michelle Meighan, a graduate student at Arizona State University, has recently started an LSYCC in the Central Arizona section. Michelle says, "I am excited about becoming active as a local YCC leader because I want to increase the involvement of graduate students and those who have recently earned their degrees in both the community and the Society. Many younger chemists are engaged solely in their own work. I am passionate about encouraging them to interact both with other younger chemists and with their local section. ACS on a national and local level offers many resources and benefits, and I hope to help disseminate information to enhance the professional development of younger chemists. I would like to encourage other younger chemists to be more active in the local community, such as holding an experimental demonstration at the science center during National Chemistry Week or volunteering at local middle schools to excite children about science. I believe that so much opportunity exists for younger chemists for both professional and personal development, and I hope to get others enthusiastic as well."
The LRA subcommittee of the YCC focuses solely on reaching out to local sections and finding leaders like Michelle to establish LSYCC’s and developing leadership at the local level. If you are a younger chemist interested in getting more involved in your local section leadership, feel free to contact us at ycc@acs.org. If there is not an established chapter in your area, you may contact your local section chair and volunteer to start an LSYCC. Note that a limited number of starter grants are available every year for new or re-established LSYCC chapters to hold a kickoff event. For more information, see our website at www.acsycc.org.
If you are a local section leader (chair or chair-elect), we encourage you to recruit younger chemists to maintain an active LSYCC. You may find that you will rely heavily on this group of leaders to help you to develop programming for and leaders within younger chemists in your section. For more information about recruiting younger chemists for positions of leadership contact the author at bhollan1@harding.edu.
Burt Hollandsworth is the YCC Local and Regional Activities Subcommittee Chair.