Member-at-Large Page
Membership
| | I. Introduction
Welcome to the POLY Membership page. If you are a member of the Polymer Chemistry Division, please keep reading. If you are not yet a member, keep reading but also please consider joining our division. You'll be glad that you did.
The ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry (POLY) is one the largest and the most active non-profit, international organizations devoted to the advancement of polymer science. Benefits and services provided by POLY include:
a. Publications (Polymer Preprints, POLY Newsletters, books)
b. Meetings and symposia
c. Continuing education (tutorials, workshops, and short courses)
d. Networking
e. Awards and recognition
Support of polymer education (graduate, undergraduate, and pre-college)
More detailed information is given in Section II (below).
As you know, POLY is a volunteer organization, and it depends on volunteers to keep it strong and active. If you are interested in helping out, please let me (or any POLY officers) know.
One of the functions of the Member-at-Large is to provide input to the POLY Executive Committee and Board on membership needs and concerns. I would appreciate hearing from you. (Contact information is given below.) An alternative is to use two web sites that have been established by Ken Carter, my predecessor.
a. POLY Discussion Center
You can post questions, comments, and suggestions pertaining to subjects of interest and to POLY.
b. POLY Suggestion Center
You can use this site to provide comments and suggestions to POLY.
More information on these sites is given in Section III (below).
POLY has a very active and effective Membership Committee, chaired by Erica Martin. Currently, the committee is engaged in a number of activities, including
a. Member recruitment and retention
b. Recognition of POLY members reaching major service milestones
c. Collaboration with polymer journals on publicity
d. An initiative to join forces with local ACS sections on polymer matters
e. A pilot program to work with graduate students in selected polymer schools
If you would like to help in the Membership Committee, give Erica a call (at 215-641-7034) or send her an email (emartin@rohmhaas.com). For your information, the current members of the Membership Committee are given in Section IV. Several recent Membership Committee reports are attached in Section V.
H. N. Cheng
Member-at-Large
ACS Polymer Chemistry Division
Contact information:
Address: Hercules Incoporated, 500 Hercules Road, Wilmington, DE 19808-1599
Phone: 302-995-3505, email: hcheng@herc.com
| II. ACS Polymer Chemistry Division - Benefits and Services
DESCRIPTION
The Division of Polymer Chemistry is one of the world's largest and most active non-profit, international organizations devoted to the advancement of Polymer Science. Membership benefits and other information about the Polymer Division include:
- Publications - (Polymer Preprints , POLY Newsletters, books)
- Meetings - (national and international meetings, symposia)
- Continuing education (tutorials, workshops, short courses)
- Support for polymer education (POLYED, Industrial Sponsors)
- Networking - (POLY list server, Discussion Center, Suggestion Center, social gatherings at POLY functions and meetings)
- Awards - (sponsorship and/or administration of awards)
Also see main "Member benefits and activities" page for more current information
PUBLICATIONS
POLYMER PREPRINTS
This is the most widely circulated polymer journal in the world that contains the papers given at the Polymer Division sessions at the National ACS Meetings. It is issued in advance of each meeting. The libraries get the hard copies (2 volumes per year of 600-800 pages per volume). All POLY members get the CD version. (For an extra fee, a member may also get the printed copies.)
POLY NEWSLETTER
This is published twice a year (June and October). It describes the many activities of the Division and announces polymer-related scientific meetings worldwide.
BOOKS
The Division typically publishes 3-5 books per year of interest to polymer scientists.
SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS
The Division sponsors 7 to 9 symposia on new research areas at every American Chemical Society National Meeting. In addition, the Division cooperates closely with other Divisions of the American Chemical Society, especially through the Macromolecular Secretariat, Materials Secretariat, and Biotechnology Secretariat, in arranging jointly sponsored, interdisciplinary symposia.
Biennial Polymer Symposium - a special symposium held on even years at different locations featuring plenary lectures on the most significant new developments, including the DIVISION OF POLYMER CHEMISTRY AWARD address.
International Polymer Symposia - symposia held jointly with non-U.S.A. polymer organizations to promote exchange of ideas and technology.
Topical Workshops - focused workshops dealing with the state-of-the-art in specialized areas of polymer science.
EDUCATION
Tutorials - Division provides free tutorials in selected symposia areas.
Visitation Committee - presents workshops and live demonstrations of experiments for educators.
Core Course Reports - Provide course material on Polymer Chemistry for inclusion within core college courses, such as organic, physical and analytical chemistry.
Undergraduate Summer Scholarships - designed to stimulate undergraduate interest in summer research in Polymer Science.
Summer Student Employment Program - provides students the opportunity for a work-training assignment in polymers in industry.
Summer Sabbatical Program - provides summer work-training experience in the polymer industry to university or college faculty members.
NETWORKING AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Social Interactions - Many opportunities in meetings, symposia, and workshop to meet and to get acquainted with people in your field
POLY list server - A large mail list (1900 people) serving as a resource. You can ask or respond to technical questions, place or answer ads for job openings, and find out what others are doing.
POLY Discussion Center - Similar to the list server, except that it is web-based.
POLY Suggestion Center - You can give suggestions and comments for POLY.
Participation - The Polymer Chemistry Division welcomes member participation in all its activities. If you are interested, please let your wishes be known.
Job Situations - A listing of job openings is provided in the POLY web page.
AWARDS
Division of Polymer Chemistry Awards
- Herman F. Mark Division of Polymer Chemistry Award
- Carl S. Marvel Creative Polymer Chemistry Award
- Paul J. Flory Polymer Education Award
- Distinguished Service, Special Service, and POLYED Service Awards
Industrial Sponsors Awards
- Public Perception of Polymers and Curriculum Development Awards
- Industrial Sponsors Award for outstanding industrial innovation
POLYED
- Unilever Award for Outstanding Graduate Research
- ICI Student Award in Applied Polymer Science
- Excellence in High School or Junior High School Teaching of Polymers
Other ACS awards in polymers, materials science, and other private awards
| III. POLY Discussion Center and Suggestion Center
a) POLY Discussion Center
On this site, you can
- post questions and comments
- provide answers and follow-ups
- have ongoing discussions on topics of interest
- get to know people professionally on-line
b) POLY Suggestion Center
On this site, you can
- provide suggestions for POLY
(e.g., how to do things better, quicker, or cheaper)
- express your concern
- share an idea that may benefit POLY members
- give your comments to the organizing body of the Division of Polymer Chemistry.
c) POLY Search Center
From this site, you can search the entire on-line POLY website.
| IV. POLY Membership Committee
The current members and contact information are given below.
January, 2003
Student Membership:
| V. POLY Membership Committee Report, January 18, 2003.
Erica Martin, Membership Committee Chair
The Membership Committee currently consists of 7 members. They are:
- Erica Martin (Rohm and Haas, Chair),
- H. N. Cheng (Hercules, Member-at-Large),
- Pal Arjunan (Exxon-Mobil),
- Nozar Sachinvala (USDA),
- Alan Hopkins (Aerospace Corp),
- Maneesh Bahadur (Dow Corning)
Student Membership representative Harry Barraza (U of Oklahoma)
Below is a summary of the current projects in each of the four different committee areas: member recruitment, retention, recognition, and communication.
Member Recruitment
a. ACS attendees at National Meetings
b. Participants in POLY symposia at National Meetings
c. People who indicated "polymers" as an interest area at National Meetings
d. Members who did not renew their membership in 2003
e. Journal ad exchange
f. Polymer Preprints cover design for Spring 2004 (NEW!)
g. Screen saver for webcast events (NEW!)
Member Retention
a. Letters to 1st, 2nd year members
b. New Member Reception (NEW!)
c. Graduate Student Committee (NEW!)
Member Recognition
a. POLY pins for 2003 anniversary members
b. Member recognition event in New Orleans honoring 5, 10, 20, 30 yr members
c. Newsletter - spotlight on members; member notes section (NEW!)
Communication
a. Member Suggestion Center
b. Local Section Initiative - speaker database
| VI. POLY Membership Committee Report, August 18, 2002.
Erica Martin, Membership Committee Chair
The Membership Committee currently consists of 10 members. They are: Erica Martin (Rohm and Haas, Chair), H. N. Cheng (Hercules, Member-at-Large), Dan Knauss (Colorado School of Mines), Pal Arjunan (Exxon-Mobil), Nozar Sachinvala (USDA), Tim Herod (Essilor), Alan Hopkins (Aerospace Corp), Anna Pla-Dalmau, Charissa Detwiler (YTC America), Maneesh Bahadur (Dow Corning).
Work is ongoing in four different areas: member recruitment, retention, recognition, and communication.
Member Recruitment
a. ACS attendees at national ACS meetings
We are in the midst of our second annual "Member-Get-A-Member" campaign both onsite here at the Boston meeting until Tues afternoon, and off-site via the internet until Sept 1. PLEASE do your part as a member of the POLY board and bring a new member to the table to sign up. All POLY members who "nominate" a new member qualify to win a choice of polymer texts including Odian's Principles of Polymerization. This event will be held at every Fall ACS meeting.
b. Attendees at the POLY poster session
The Membership Committee staffed a membership table at the Sunday poster session in Orlando in order to recruit new members. Posters advertising the member Suggestion Center and member Discussion Board were displayed at the two poster sessions in Orlando. We plan on having a presence at the Sunday poster session here in Boston as well.
c. Polymer journal initiative
We have continued our collaboration with a number of journals to offer to display their journals at our meetings in exchange for placement of our ads in their publications for free. The journals which are cooperating with us will be on display again at this meeting at a new separate table exclusively for this purpose.
d. Participants in POLY symposia at national ACS meetings
Email messages will be sent to participants in POLY symposia at this meeting asking them to be members of POLY. Normally we ask the oral session presiders to place the "Join POLY" overhead on the screen before the start of their session and in between talks. At this meeting, there will be a slide advertising our Member-Get-a-Member campaign in each session room.
e. POLY screen saver
The committee has compiled a PowerPoint slide presentation to serve as a ëscreen saver'/advertisement for the Division at all ePOLY televised events and at regional ACS meetings (POLY sponsored symposia). The objective is that this slide show can be run during any "dead" time in between talks.
Member Retention
The POLY membership database has been very helpful in our member retention efforts. We need to continue our routine of sending out email messages to first- and second-year members asking them to renew their membership. Now that our database coordinator has his hands full with a new job and new POLY assignment, we need an individual who can manage this database for our initiatives.
Member Recognition
This year in Orlando we began the annual Spring Recognition Event where we recognized members achieving 5, 10, 20, and 30 years of service. Each member being recognized received a letter from POLY and a special POLY lapel pin as the recognition gift. These members were recognized publicly during the POLY award reception in Orlando. The Membership Committee applied for and received an ACS mini-grant specifically for this pin recognition program. The awarded money is to be put towards our 2003 pin and letter mailings. As part of this grant, we also need to provide an evaluation of this initiative to the ACS after next Spring's event in New Orleans.
Communication
Three projects are ongoing in the area of increasing communication between members of POLY, POLY committees, and the public:
a. POLY Suggestion Center
A reminder that the Membership Suggestion Center is up on the web (thanks again to Ken Carter). The committee is maintaining this site and forwarding concerns/comments to the appropriate POLY board members. There is also a POLY Member Center on the web where POLY members can post scientific questions and hold discussions on topics of interest. This site is accessible to all POLY members as a benefit of membership and we encourage its use.
b. Contact with ACS Local Sections
We have begun getting responses from various local sections throughout the country as part of our initiative to establish contact with and serve as polymer contacts for these grass roots groups. The number-one request has been assistance in setting up polymer speakers at local section meetings - particularly in Spring 2003. We currently have an ACS speaker list from which to pull names from, but we are trying to expand this list in order to have a thorough geographic network of polymer topical speakers. We are asking EVERY POLY BOARD MEMBER to come up with 2 names of respectable individuals who would be qualified to speak on a polymer topic (it may include yourself) and pass it on to the committee.
c. Member Survey
In conjunction with the recognition pins and letters, each of the 5-, 10-, 20- and 30-year members also received a stamped/addressed postcard survey. HN Cheng will report on the data from the surveys that were returned and compiled.
Misc.
The committee is in the process of setting up graduate student groups at two probationary polymer schools. This effort is in the beginning stages and more will be reported at the next meeting. The objective is to establish a relationship between the Division and graduate students with the hopes of this relationship continuing past their graduation and into their careers.
| VII. POLY Membership Committee Report, April 6, 2002.
Membership Committee Report April 6, 2002
Chair: Erica Martin
The Membership Committee currently consists of 11 members. They are: Erica Martin (Rohm and Haas, Chair), H. N. Cheng (Hercules, Member-at-Large), Dan Knauss (Colorado School of Mines), Pal Arjunan (Exxon-Mobil), Nozar Sachinvala (USDA), Garrett Poe (Univ. of Southern Mississippi), Tim Herod (Essilor), Alan Hopkins (Aerospace Corp.), Anna Pla-Dalmau (Fermilab), and the recent additions of Charissa Detwiler (YTC America) and Maneesh Bahadur (Dow Corning). Work is ongoing in four different areas: member recruitment, retention, recognition, and communication.
Member Recruitment
a. ACS attendees at national ACS meetings
We organized the first "Member-Get-A-Member" campaign at the Chicago ACS meeting. A raffle was held for all new members as well as the POLY members who recruited them; the winner received a DVD player. A different "Member-Get-A-Member" event will be held at every Fall ACS meeting.
b. Attendees at the POLY poster session
The Membership and the Publicity Committees jointly staffed a membership table at the Sunday poster session in Chicago. The aim was to acquaint our members with the two committees and to recruit new members.
c. Polymer journal initiative
We made contact with a number of journals to offer to display their journals at meetings in exchange for placement of our ads in their journals for free. Several journals are cooperating with us and will be on display in Orlando at the POLY table (J. Polym Sci., J of Appl. Polym. Sci (both Wiley Journals), Radtech, ComPlexUs, Rapra Rev., Polymer Plastics Tech (Marcel Dekker) and Materials Today).
d. Participants in POLY symposia at national ACS meetings
Email messages were sent to the participants in Chicago symposia who were not yet members of POLY, inviting them to join. Prior to each meeting, email messages were sent to all POLY symposium organizers and presiders, reminding them to show the "Join POLY" slides at the beginning of their symposia.
Member Retention
The POLY membership database has been very helpful in our member retention efforts. The database indicates that the first two years are critical to retention. Roughly 1/3 of the members drop out within two years. As a result, we targeted our effort to first-year and second-year members just prior to membership renewal. Email messages were sent to first- and second-year POLY members in October 2001, reminding them to renew their POLY membership. A total of 1792 messages were sent.
Member Recognition
Last year we had recognized 30+-year members. This year we began the annual Spring Recognition Event where we are recognizing members achieving 5, 10, 20, and 30 years of service. Each member being recognized has gotten a letter from POLY and a special POLY lapel pin as the recognition gift. These members will be recognized publicly on Sunday April 7th during the POLY award reception at the Orlando ACS meeting.
Communication
One of the goals of the Membership Committee is to enhance communication between members and POLY committees. Three "projects" are being worked on in this area:
a. POLY Suggestion Center
An electronic Membership Suggestion Center has been set up on the web (thanks to Ken Carter). The purpose here is to elicit input on POLY services, operations, and membership, and to serve as a connection to the POLY Division leadership. Alan Hopkins will be maintaining this site and forwarding concerns/comments to the appropriate POLY board member(s). In addition, Ken has also set up a POLY Member Center on the web, where POLY members can post scientific questions and hold discussions on topics of interest. This site is accessible to all POLY members as a benefit of membership and we encourage its use.
b. Contact with ACS Local Sections
Membership and Publicity Committees are working together on this new, important initiative. The purposes are to promote polymer science at the local level, to publicize our activities, and to recruit appropriate people to join the division or to become active in POLY. We have divided the local sections among the committee members and are in the process of contacting them. The membership committee members will become the POLY "go to" person for each of these sections as we begin to form a collaborative relationship.
c. Member Survey
In conjunction with the recognition pins and letters, each of the 5-, 10-, 20- and 30-year members also gets a stamped/addressed postcard survey. We have been receiving great feedback and the final results will be tabulated and shared. This has proven to be an EXCELLENT means of receiving feedback from the membership and we will enclose the same postcard survey in every Spring mailing of recognition gifts.
| VIII. POLY Membership Committee Report, December 21, 2001
Membership Committee Report December 21, 2001
Co-Chairs: H. N. Cheng, Steve Pollack
The Membership Committee had an active year in 2001. The four main thrusts of the committee are member recruiting, retention, recognition, and communication. The committee coordinates its activities through monthly teleconferences, email messages, and committee meetings at national ACS meetings. A summary of the activities is provided herein. More details can be found in the minutes of the meetings and the teleconferences.
1. Committee Members
The committee is currently composed of 11 members. Three new members have joined the committee since August (Hopkins, Pla-Dalmau, Herod). The members and their affiliations are:
Pal Arjunan (Exxon-Mobil)
Ken Carter (IBM, Member-at-Large)
H. N. Cheng (Hercules, Co-Chair)
Tim Herod (Essilor USA)
Alan Hopkins (Aerospace Corp.)
Dan Knauss (Colorado School of Mines)
Erica Martin (Rohm and Haas)
Anna Pla-Dalmau (Fermilab)
Steve Pollack (Howard Univ., Co-Chair)
Garrett Poe (Univ. Southern Miss, Student Membership)
Nozar Sachinvala (USDA)
2. Member Recruitment
This is an important function of the committee. We carried out the following activities in 2001.
a. Target: ACS attendees in national ACS meetings
We organized a "Member-Get-Member" campaign in Chicago. A raffle was held for all new members as well as the POLY members who recruited them.
b. Target: Attendees at the POLY poster session
The Membership and the Publicity Committees jointly staffed a membership table at the Sunday poster session in San Diego and in Chicago. The aim was to acquaint our members with the two committees and to recruit new members.
c. Target: Subscribers and users of polymer journals
We made contact with a number of journals to offer to display their journals at meetings and (in return) place our ads in their journals for free. The response so far was mixed, but we did get a few favorable replies. Work is ongoing.
d. Target: Participants in POLY symposia at national ACS meetings
Email messages were sent to the participants in San Diego and Chicago symposia who were not yet members of POLY, inviting them to join POLY. Prior to each meeting, email messages were sent to all POLY symposium organizers and presiders, reminding them to show the "Join POLY" slides at the beginning of their symposia.
e. Target: Polymer faculty members and their students
Email messages were sent to 137 polymer faculty members in the ACS Directory, inviting them and their students to join POLY.
f. Target: Members of other professional organizations
An effort was made to contact several professional organizations. Some of them were amenable to swapping membership ads with us. The "Join POLY" ad has appeared in the newsletters of a couple of organizations.
3. Member Retention
The POLY membership database has been very helpful in our member retention efforts. The database indicates that the first two years are critical to retention. Roughly 1/3 of the members drops out within two years.
a. Target: First-year and second-year members just prior to membership renewal
Email messages were sent to first- and second-year POLY members in October 2001, reminding them to renew their POLY membership. A total of 1792 messages were sent.
b. Target: People who resigned from POLY in 2000.
In January email messages were sent to the 231 people who resigned from POLY membership in 2000. The indications were that some of them did re-join, some had changed jobs (and not interested in POLY), and some email messages were undelivered.
c. Target : "At-risk" members
One category of "at risk" members included those people who received free membership in POLY due to their attendance in POLY workshops or courses. Neta provided us with the names of these people and contact information. We sent each of them a letter of welcome. The purpose was to open a channel of communication so that later (hopefully) we get a better reception when we remind them to renew their memberships.
4. Member Recognition
a. Members achieving 30+ years of service
During the ACS meeting in San Diego, we recognized the 30+ year members during the POLY Monday afternoon award program. Separately these members were notified of a choice of recognition awards (coffee mug or lunch bag). The awards were mailed to them later (thanks to the POLY Business Office).
b. Members achieving 5, 10, 20, and 30 years of service.
We have decided to provide recognition to these members annually in the Spring ACS meetings. Plans are underway for a recognition event in Orlando. The members being recognized will also get a letter from POLY and a lapel pin as the recognition gift.
5. Communication
One of the goals of the Membership Committee is to enhance communication between members and POLY committees. With the addition of new members in our committee, we are now ready to tackle this activity. Two items have been worked on thus far.
a. POLY Suggestion Center
An electronic Membership Suggestion Center has been set up on the web (thanks to Ken Carter). The purpose here is to elicit input on POLY services, operations, and membership, and to serve as a conduit to POLY division leadership. Alan Hopkins has agreed to be the focal point of these messages. In addition, Ken has also set up a Discussion Forum on the web, which will enhance communication among members.
b. Contact with ACS Local Sections
Membership and Publicity Committees are working together on this new initiative. The purposes are to promote polymer science at the local level, to publicize our activities, and to recruit appropriate people to join the division or to become active in POLY. We have done some planning and some preparation this year. The real work will begin in 2002.
c. Electronic Communication
As noted earlier, the POLY membership database and electronic communication (especially email) are critical to the functions of this committee. We are fortunate that Steve is very skilled in computers. To facilitate similar activities in the future, Steve is in the process of putting the POLY membership database on the web and providing access to the members of this committee. We have also discussed possible ways whereby some of the procedures might be partly automated.
6. Miscellaneous Activities
Other activities that we contemplated included 12-month rolling membership (pre-empted by the national ACS), Best Paper Award (transfer to the Award Committee), polymer graduate student committee (deferred), and activities involving Member-in-Transition (deferred).
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