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The following Committees submitted a written report.

Circulation Manager's Report - F. R. Dammont

Available in 2008 in CD-ROM Format Only
Polymer Preprints; ISSN 0032-3934 Volume 49 (2008.)
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Councilor's Report - Bill Daly, H.N. Cheng, John Pochan, Greg Tew

All four POLY councilors attended the ACS National Meeting in Boston. The following account provides information of specific interest to the Polymer Division.

1. Highlight of Council Actions
Some selected items related to POLY are listed below.
a. The Boston meeting attracted 15,344 registrants. There were 784 exhibits with 1676 exhibitors.
b. ACS membership increased slightly (by 1100) as of July 2007.
c. The Council voted to continue the Committee on Nomenclature, Terminology and Symbols and also approved the change of the Committee on Chemists with Disabilities from a Board committee to a joint Council-Board committee.
d. ACS President Katie Hunt led a discussion on ACS policy development and advocacy efforts. More information is available on her website at www.acspresident.org.
e. ACS Board of Directors has approved a revised draft of the ACS Strategic Plan.
f. The new ACS website will be officially launched at the end of September and will feature a unifying global navigation and improved layout. The new URL is www.acs.org.

2. Meeting of the Division Activities Committee (DAC) - John Pochan
a. The DAC meeting focused on establishing the Multidisciplinary Program Planning Group (MPPG). The following is an excerpt from the charter of the group. The Multidisciplinary Program Planning Group (MPPG) is charged with selecting themes and planning Society-wide thematic and multidisciplinary programming for ACS National meetings. The MPPG will be a body representing all divisions, as well as pertinent governance units. Every division will have the opportunity to participate in selecting representatives, providing input and suggestions to the MPPG, and will decide for itself whether to participate in particular society-wide programming. It is intended that MPPG representatives will not be current division program chairs, but rather will be individuals with program chair experience, such as long-range program chairs. The intent is to create a representative group to promote and create the collaborative, multidisciplinary, society-wide programming.
b. The MPPG will provide 'thematic programming' topics for future national meetings and will work as a subcommittee of DAC for the present. The first decisions made by the group was for future thematic programming at Salt Lake City and Washington D.C.. These topics are Nanoscience and Globalization of Chemistry-E4: energy, environment, education, and economy, respectively.
c. John Pochan will serve a POLY representative on this group.
d. DAC also approved the Catalyst Secretariat request for temporary division status to ascertain if the secretariat can function as a division.

3. Meeting of the Committee on Committees (ConC) - H.N. Cheng
a. ConC monitors the activities of committees and provides recommendations on committee assignments. HN serves as ConC liaison to the Committee on Meetings and Expositions (M&E) and the Committee on Nomenclature, Terminology, and Symbols (NOM).
b. A Summit on ACS Committee Structure was held in Baltimore on July 6-8. A number of recommendations on committee structure, charges, and liaisons were made and will be discussed across the ACS governance groups.
c. Some committees have consultants and some have not. ConC has instructed each committee to provide specific assignments to each consultant.

4. Meeting of the Committee on Meetings and Expositions (M&E) - Bill Daly and H.N. Cheng
a. M&E approved a cost-of-living increase of $10 for the 2008 national meeting registration fee. This increase was later approved by the Council.
b. ACS and AIChE will cosponsor programming at the New Orleans meeting. ACS will have approximately 36 sessions and AIChE 49 sessions. The themes at New Orleans will be Environment and Energy.
c. There appeared to be a fair amount of unhappiness with Chicago as a conference site. M&E carried out a survey after the Chicago meeting, which confirmed the perception. Further, unusually high labor and transportation costs in Chicago lead to a net negative variance of $585,000 from the budget. As a result, the Fall 2011 meeting, initially to be held at Chicago, has been moved to Denver, Colorado on August 28 -September 1, 2011.
d. The Fall 2012 meeting was previously scheduled for New York City. Because the remodelling of Javits Center will not be completed at that time, we are forced to change location. Instead, we shall meet in Philadelphia on August 19-23, 2012.
e. Because of many last-minute cancellations of food and rooms prior to the national meetings, M&E is formulating a late charge policy. If cancellation of food or room is made beyond a certain date, specific penalty charges will be assessed. The details of the policy will be finalized in New Orleans.
f. A new regional meeting ChemLuminary Award will be given as recognition of outstanding performance in regional meetings. The criteria are being finalized.
g. A proposal for setting fixed times for showcase events associated with thematic program was considered. It was suggested that these events be programmed for Monday afternoon and the divisions may be asked not to program related symposium against them. The issue will be discussed further in New Orleans.

5. Meeting of the Committee on Nomenclature, Terminology and Symbols (NOM) - H.N.Cheng
a. This committee provides advice and consulting to ACS publications on nomenclature, serves as liaisons to other organizations related to nomenclature, and coordinates activities of divisions dealing with these issues.
b. Among the topics of committee discussion was the change in the definition of the kilogram, ampere, kelvin, and mole. Specifically, these units will be redefined so that they are linked to exact values of fundamental constants.
c. Another topic is a proposal to address nanotechnology terminology. The committee is exploring the use of Wiki technology to establish nano terminology.

INTERSOCIETY POLYMER EDUCATION COUNCIL (IPEC) - F. Jones

Semi-Annual Report to Sponsors, August, 2007

IPEC (www.uwsp.edu/chemistry/ipec/ipec.sp.htm) promotes and supports teaching about polymers and polymeric materials in K-12 curricula. Its main goal is to interest students in science and technology, not just to attract students to polymer and materials science. Substantial anecdotal evidence supports the belief that polymers are an excellent medium for catching the interest of students at all grade levels. Students have everyday experiences with polymeric materials, and it is relatively easy to stir their curiosity about what polymers are and why they work.

Most of IPEC's activity involves the Polymer Ambassadors. The Ambassadors (www.polymerambassadors.org) are about 20 talented and dedicated K-12 classroom teachers, located coast-to-coast. They conduct workshops at local, regional and national teachers' meetings, where the Ambassadors teach other teachers to use polymers in classroom instruction. These workshops are popular with teachers, who obtain practical and effective materials for use in their classes. Ambassadors also visit K-12 classrooms and participate in training of pre-service teachers in universities. Since the start of the program in 1992, over 70,000 teachers attended the workshops. Snapshots from some of the workshops can be found at the Polymer Ambassadors website.

Polymer Ambassador activity is probably at an all-time high. From July, 2006 through June, about 15,500 teachers and about 7750 students attended workshops and other PA presentations. Total contact hours were about 600. IPEC funding aided 98 % of these activities. Examples of workshop topics include "sports helmets," "how toys are made," "polymers in automotive," "polydensity tubes," "basic polymer science," "solids," and "integrating polymers into high school chemistry courses."

Polymer Ambassadors have received numerous major awards including five Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.

The Polymer Ambassadors extend their reach using electronic media. Practical lessons and activities for Kindergarten through High School students are now available to anyone on the World Wide Web. The Ambassadors website also has other examples of their teaching materials.

Akron Partnership. In 2002, IPEC and the Polymer Ambassadors formed a partnership with the Akron Global Polymer Academy (AGPA), whose mission is to use on-site and distance learning to support K-12 science instruction. Ambassadors have played an important role in establishing the program, participating in teacher training workshops and developing over 50 new lessons, some with video clips. Ambassadors Sandra Van Natta, Joyce Brumberger, Becky Knipp, and Suzanne Hall were instructors at AGPA teacher workshops in July-August, 2006. Ambassadors also participate in design and refinement of curricula for directors of in-service programs for science teachers. Joyce Brumberger will be an instructor in August, 2007.

"Polymer Science of Everyday Things" (PSOET) Workshops and Symposia at National ACS Meetings. IPEC is co-sponsoring a series of PSOET workshops. As reported previously, the first and second PSOET events were highly successful. "PSOET-3," will take place at the fall, 2007 ACS meeting in Boston. Organizers are Ken Wynne and IPEC Board members Ann Salamone and Anne Padias. The topic of the workshop and the subsequent two-day symposium will be polymers in medical Devices - hydrogels, knee pain relief, and band aids. Polymer Ambassadors Joyce Brumberger, Mary Harris, and Jon Valasek will pair with leading industrial scientists to present workshops for teachers at four sites using distance learning methods. Mary will also present at the ACS "High School Day" associated with the meeting. There will also be a PSOET symposium as part of the ACS meeting program. An announcement of the workshop and symposium is attached.

Sandra Van Natta has served as Polymer Ambassador Chairperson since March, 2005. She continues the progression of highly effective Chairpersons. Previous Chairpersons Joyce Brumberger and Lynn Higgins remain very active as Polymer Ambassadors, and the contributions of all three are greatly appreciated. Ambassador Mary Harris continues her excellent work maintaining the web site.

Recent publications: In 2006-07 Mary Harris published two articles in the Journal of Chemical Education and also a note publicizing the Ambassadors web site.

IPEC is a 501(c) not-for-profit corporation supported by the American Chemical Society Divisions of Polymer Chemistry, Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering, and Rubber, the Plastics Pioneers Association, and the Akron Global Polymer Academy. Its volunteer Board of Directors comprises two voting representatives from each member organization. Organizations are encouraged to appoint additional Board representatives to increase the workforce and assure attendance at meetings. IPEC is pleased to welcome three new board members; Mary M. Kirchhoff of the American Chemical Society, Carin A. Helfer of the Akron Global Polymer Academy, and Vivian Malpass of Tek-Mark International and the Plastics Pioneers Association. Vivian was one of the original founders of IPEC.

IPEC's core activities are constrained by a shortage of funds. The original idea was to pay travel expenses for Polymer Ambassadors for one training year and three active years. Now a growing pool of Emeritus Ambassadors has completed their three years but want to continue doing workshops and other IPEC activities. These master teachers are recognized to be among the finest in their profession. A priority goal for IPEC is to find sufficient travel funds to enable the Emeritus Ambassadors to continue their work.

Member funding is the flywheel that drives IPEC's ongoing core activities. About 85% of IPEC's budgets support of Polymer Ambassador travel expenses. With more dues-paying members, the corps of Ambassadors could be enlarged and activity could be expanded. In addition, more member organizations would add more members to the IPEC board, increasing its capacity for new initiatives and fund-raising. IPEC's board continues searching for additional funding sources.

IPEC member organizations can be proud of what IPEC accomplishes and can look forward to more high-impact activities.

The next meeting of the IPEC Board of Directors will be in Boston during the national meeting of the American Chemical Society on Tuesday, August 21 at 9:30 AM at the Bullfinch Room of the Westin Boston Waterfront. The meeting is open to all; representatives of member organizations are especially encouraged to attend.

IPEC Mission Statement

To significantly increase student interest and participation in science and technology subjects by incorporating the teaching of polymers and polymeric materials into K-12 curricula by utilizing the combined resources and infrastructures of the participating scientific societies.

POLYMER SCIENCE OF EVERYDAY THINGS WORKSHOP
a hands-on workshop for middle school and high school science teachers
Saturday, August 18, 2007
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm (Eastern Time Zone)
LONG DISTANCE LEARNING IN ACTION
MIT, 105 Massachusetts Ave, Building 9-057, LiNC Classroom 9-057
Satellite sites: University of Akron and University of Arizona
REGISTRATION: Free to middle school and high school science teachers. To register, email ABSalamone@aol.com with your name, school name, preferred contact address, email address, phone number. Registration is limited by the room size, so please register as soon as possible. Workshop registrants at MIT will have their ACS convention registration fee paid by the Workshop sponsors to attend the Saturday evening Welcoming Reception, American Chemical Society (ACS) high school day and other symposia, and ACS exhibits at the convention center in downtown Boston.
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION: The goal of the "The Polymer Science of Everyday Things" workshop is to explain how things that people encounter and use everyday depend on polymer science. This workshop will focus on three topics: relieving knee pain, adhesive bandages, and hydrogels for wound dressings.

IPEC Polymer Ambassadors - Mary Harris, Joyce Brumberger and Jon Valasek - and industrial experts - Arthur Coury (Genzyme), Wayne Dunshee (3M) and Eric Luo (Swiss American) - will share their ideas and research to provide hands-on activities for teachers in Boston, Akron and Tucson through long-distance learning technologies.
These activities will focus on the National Science Education Standards: Properties of Matter, Physical Science Content, Science and Technology, and Science in Personal and Social Perspectives.

POLYMER SCIENCE OF EVERYDAY THINGS SYMPOSIUM
Sunday and Monday, August 19-20, 2007
ACS National Meeting Symposium, Boston Convention Hotel
Workshop registrants in Boston are invited to attend a complementary two day-long symposium for scientists/academics on Polymers in Medical Applications. The sessions will include: liquid bandages, vascular catheters, blood storage, stents, contact lenses, condoms, sutures, spinal replacements, extended release medications and nicotine/hormone patches.
SPONSORS: ACS Polymer Division, Intersociety Polymer Education Council, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK Technology Strategy Board, SPE, National Science Foundation, Akron Global Polymer Academy at the University of Akron, Department of Chemistry, University of Arizona, MIT, Arkema Inc. Foundation

Polymer Programs at ACS Regional Meetings - W. Ford

The Division of Polymer Chemistry (POLY) will provide up to $500 to support a well-planned regional meeting symposium. In turn POLY would like the opportunity to advertise its programs and recruit members near to the location of the polymer chemistry sessions.

The criteria for POLY support are
1) There must be a full day symposium devoted to polymer chemistry.
2) The program should include one or more invited speakers.
3) To apply for support, the Program Chair or symposium organizer must send (a) a copy of the technical program to the POLY Committee on Polymer Programs at ACS Regional Meetings and (b) a budget showing how the funds will be used to defray registration fees and travel costs of invited speakers.

During 2007 only the Middle Atlantic and Southeast regional meetings out of eight scheduled regional meetings received seed support for polymer programs. The POLY committee chair provided names of 4 possible organizers in response to a request from the Program Chair of the Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting to help find a chair for a polymer symposium, but the Program Chair was unable to get someone to take the responsibility. Announcement of the POLY program has been sent to all General and Program Chairs of regional meetings for 2008.

Treasurer - R. Advincula

The table below outlines the summary and status of the 2007 budget with respect to the current income and expenditures through July 2007 and is compared to the end-of-year figures for 2006 and planned 2007 budget.

*Total Budget reflects the balance for the entire budget and not the sum of the highlighted categories in this report. Other categories can be obtained from the official POLY Division Financial Report to the ACS.

We continue to balance the budget and ensure that the expenditures are within the allocated figures agreed upon in the last 2007 Ex-Com meeting. Any questions may be directed to Rigoberto Advincula, POLY Division Treasurer, radvincula@uh.edu

POLY List and Web Pages - F Blum

POLY LIST
There are about 1165 members on the POLY list. The volume of mail is moderate and the number of complaints is low, almost negligible. I approve postings to the list. In the last year, we have not had any worms or true spam pass thought our filter (as far as I know).

World Wide Web (www)
Over the past year (Sept 05-Aug-06) we have had a total of 340,000 visitors with a monthly average of 28,000 and 897,000 page views with a monthly average of 74,000. This is about 7% over last year. Total hits 1,979,000 for the year.

The number of members who join the Division via the www and register for workshops seems pretty good.

I solicit your help. Please send me things electronically by e-mail for inclusion on the web pages.
http://www.polyacs.org
I also request help in soliciting advertising for the web page. Now that the pages are on a commercial site, we have no restrictions as far as they are concerned. It seems logical to make a coordinated effort do this for the web pages, newsletter, and Polymer Preprints.

Business Office Report - N. Byerly

The Business Office is assisting with six meetings during 2007 and four scheduled in 2008. A total overhead of $75K is anticipated for workshops in 2007.

The 2007 Spring issue of the Polymer Division Newsletter was mailed out to the membership in June. The Fall Newsletter is drafted and will be mailed out in October 2007. Ten companies continue to advertise in the POLY Newsletter contributing +$14K to defray the Newsletter costs. Joint solicitation of advertisements and billing with the Polymer Preprints was completed in 2006. Preprint advertising for 2007 was $12,950.

The election ballots were printed and dispersed through the Business Office in October 2006. Electronic balloting was approved by the membership with the 2006 elections. Before the electronic balloting process can begin it must be approved by the ACS Committee on Constitution and Bylaws and may be a possibility for 2008.

The Business Office staff works closely with several committees of the Polymer Chemistry Division. Financial records are maintained on the Industrial Sponsors activities including invoicing companies as appropriate. Various mailings are sent out to these Sponsors throughout the year. An up-to-date mailing list is maintained on all libraries that subscribe to the Polymer Preprints. We have assisted with several award and recognition efforts for the Division members. The Business Office continues to work with the membership with various mailings. All financial records and transactions are completed through the Business Office as requested.