Acs 2010-11 Student Chapter Report

ACS 2011-12 Student Chapter Report

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Checklist of Report Content

Sections, Activities, & Events Used in Chapter Evaluation

Section I – Chapter Background Information

(A)Chapter, Departmental, & Institutional Data
(B)ACS Student Chapter Members
(C)Overall Chapter Assessment

Section II – Chapter Service

(A)Local K-12 Students
(B)General Community
(C)Department/College Service
(D)National Chemistry Week/Mole Day/Earth Day

Section III – Professional/Chapter Development

(A)Planning/Attending Scientific Meetings
(B)Speakers/Tours/Field Trips
(C)Social Functions
(D)Local Section Interaction

Section IV – Chapter Business

(A)Chapter Recruitment & Retention
(B)Communication
(C)Funding
(D)Chapter Business Meetings

Section V(optional)– Green Chemistry

List of Requirements (Eligible & Ineligible Activities)
Green Chemistry Template

Section I – Chapter Background Information:University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Please provide information about your ACS student chapter in the tables and summary boxes below. This information is vital for enabling reviewers to understand basic characteristics of your chapter, department, and institution. Incorrect or missing information will limit the chapter report reviewers’ ability to fully access the scope and range of your activities. You will need to complete 3 sections below, outlining: (A)chapter, departmental, and institutional data; (B)ACS student chapter members;and (C) your overall chapter assessment.

47 / Number of ACS student members (those who submitted an application to ACS)
186 / Total number of chapter members (SM and non-SM)
26,197 / Total number of undergraduates in the college or university
74 & 176 / Number of undergraduates majoring in chemistry biochemistry
39 / Number of chemistry faculty

A. Chapter, Departmental, & Institutional Data

Please consult with your department chair or Registrar’s Office to obtain accurate numbers (for institutional and departmental data).

B. ACS Student Chapter Members

Please list at least sixof your ACSstudent members. Also include their ACS student member numbers and indicate if they held a chapter office. We encourage you to upload a roster as an attachment to your report submission, if possible. Your chapter must have at least sixnational student members to qualify for a chapter award or grants.

Name of student member / 2011-12 office held / Name of student member / 2011-12 office held
Dana Anderson / President / Brianna Chamberlin / Faculty Relations Officer
Daniel Semaan / Vice President / Elizabeth McDonagh / Outside-the-University-Relations Officer
David Quist / Secretary / Jingwei (Eleanore) An / Fundraising Officer
Tyler Elias / Treasurer / Courtney Talicska / Social Events Officer
Dakota Suchyta / Chemistry Demonstration Officer

Section I (cont.) – Chapter Background Information: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

C. Overall Chapter Assessment

Using the questions listed below please provide an overall assessment of your chapter’s activities for the 2011-2012 academic year. Assessments should cover the student and faculty perspective.

What were the major objectives of your chapter during 2011-12?
In which areas did you succeed?
How did your chapter members benefit from the activities in 2011-12?
What problems did your chapter encounter during 2011-12 and how did your chapter resolve these problems?

In 2010-2011 we re-activated our chapter. Given our inexperience and the several challenges we faced in obtaining knowledge and resources from previous generations of the chapter due to the period of inactivity, this was a sizable achievement. By the beginning of the 2011-2012 academic year, we had accomplished quite a bit and had most of the previous issues straightened out. This year we not only wanted to continue our chapter but to make it grow and revitalize it. Our main goals were to increase our visibility on campus, gain more active chapter members, and hold a variety of different events throughout the year that were beneficial to both our members and the general community. We succeeded in spreading the word about our group by participating in campus-wide events as well as hosting a number of tables in the atrium of the Chemistry Building. This year we had a larger and more organized executive board leading not only to more involved members but allowing us to plan and carry out many more events. Other efforts to gain active members included conducting surveys with members who attended general meetings so we could better pinpoint which activities our chapter members would enjoy best and benefit from. Our tutoring at Clague Middle School in Ann Arbor and volunteering at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum not only helped our chapter members grow as individuals, learning how to teach chemistry and providing them with rewarding experiences, but also helped them educate and spread the excitement of science with the larger community. Our lab tour, seminars, and peer advising for classes and research helped our members develop professionally and succeed in achieving their personal goals by exposing them to various research focuses and different pathways a career in chemistry could lead them to. Our officers gained valuable leadership experience learning to handle our individual responsibilities within the group while also practicing good teamwork. Problems we experienced were mostly related to lower attendance as the year went on and members not following through when they showed interest or made commitments regarding chapter activities. We addressed these problems using various methods. We surveyed our members about not only about what their interests were but also their availability. We created a calendar of the exams of science courses so that we could plan our meetings and events around them to allow for the largest number of members possible to join us for activities. We also varied the dates and times of our events in order to allow more members the opportunity to attend. In addition, we improved attendance at our officer meetings by adding a new attendance policy to our constitution that required our officers to make significant time commitments necessary to best complete their responsibilities. The policy proved to be very effective but we still need to work on improving attendance at other events. Next year we hope to accomplish this with more ice breakers at mass meetings and social activities early in the year in addition to offering more responsibility and leadership opportunities to members. One final problem we attempted to tackle this year was that of passing down information to future leaders of the chapter. We are currently assembling a guidebook including contributions from several of the officers that will contain all the information that we think is necessary to run our chapter. In creating this guidebook we hope to prevent future leaders of our chapter from facing the same challenges that we did when re-activating the chapter last year.

Section II - Chapter Service:University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Please list and describe all community service and/or public outreach programs. Chapter reviews are based on the complete list of activities in all four service categories, which include services provided to: (A)local K-12 students;(B)the general community;and(C) thedepartment/college. Category (D) includes all events, activities, and services provided duringNational Chemistry Week/Mole Day/Earth Day. You may include up to two piecesof supporting documentation for each service category with your report, and each should be labeled with the corresponding activity name.

If you administered a Community Interaction Grant (CIG) Grant program or an Innovative Activities Grant (IAG) program relevant to any of these categories, please include details in the summary boxes provided.

A. Local K-12 Students

Please list all activities your chapter did to encourage younger students to learn science. Did you lead hands-on activities for elementary or middle school students (Kids & Chemistry)? Did you interact with or mentor high school students? If so, were they involved with an ACS High School Chemistry Club? You may expand the table to accommodate more activities if needed.

Date / Number of Student Member Chapter Participants / Number of non-Student Member Chapter Participants / Number of Faculty Participants / Name of Event/Location / Number served by your activity / Was the activity planned by the chapter? / Did you interact with an ACS High School Chem. Club?*
Weekly / 3 / ~ 7 / 0 / Tutoring at Clague Middle School in Ann Arbor, MI – Fall Semester / 30 / Yes / No
Weekly / 3 / 3 / 0 / Tutoring at Clague Middle School in Ann Arbor, MI – Winter Semester / 45 / Yes / No

*If yes, please be sure to include the name of the high school chemistry club.

A tutoring program was set up at Clague Middle School in Ann Arbor, MI. We chose middle school students because we believe that middle school is a critical time in developing a person’s interest in science. In addition, middle school is a notoriously awkward period of time during a child’s personal development. We helped students progress academically and psychologically by helping students understand core concepts and talking to them about future pathways including high school and college, respectively.We travelled to the middle school every Tuesday that coincided between the two academic calendars of UM and the middle school. We limited the tutor to student ratio to 1:4 in order to not overload the tutor and so that each student received enough attention. All tutors helped with math, science, and English homework and some tutors were able to assist with Spanish homework as well.

Please provide a brief summary of your work with the elementary, middle, and high schools in your area.

Section II (cont.)–Chapter Service:University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

B. General Community

How did you serve the community? How did you promote the positive image of chemistry? You may expand the table to accommodate more activities if needed.

Date / Number of Student Member Chapter Participants / Number of non-Student Member Chapter Participants / Number of Faculty Participants / Name of Event/Location / Number served by your activity / Was the activity planned by the chapter?
10/31 / 8 / 6 / 0 / Halloween Chemistry Demos in the atrium of the Chemistry Building / 100+ / Yes
1/16 / 3 / 4 / 0 / Volunteering at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum / 100+ / No
2/8 / 1 / 3 / 0 / Volunteering at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum / 100+ / No
3/15 / 7 / 2 / 0 / St. Patrick’s Day Green Chemistry Table in the atrium of the Chemistry Building / 60-70 / Yes
4/14-4/15 / 2 / 5 / 0 / Relay for Life at the University of Michigan / estimated attendance: 2000 / No

Please provide a brief summary of your general community service activities.

We shared our love of chemistry with the community by volunteering at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, a children’s science museum that makes science and math interesting and fun. We volunteered on the busiest day of the year at the museum, Martin Luther King Day, aiding children of all ages with activities that incorporated music, science and technology. We also helped create kits that the museum uses for teaching fractions in their school programs. On the second occasion we volunteered on Members’ Night with activities that taught children about earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods. By helping out with these events, we hope to reach out to younger members of our community, encourage them to develop an interest in science, and one day pursue careers in fields related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
We showcased chemistry on campus by performing demonstrations in the atrium of the Chemistry Building. Our holiday-themed tables attracted a lot of attention from students and faculty of all disciplines passing through the building. Dissolving Styrofoam in acetone, sticking a needle through a balloon without it bursting, and the ever-popular elephant toothpaste were just a few of the demonstrations with which we wowed the crowd. In the process we were able to interact with people on campus, advertise our student chapter, fundraise and recruit new members.Also, a photo of our table ended up in the Michigan Daily (school newspaper) thanks to the exciting demos that we performed. [See the photo in the supporting information]
We promoted green chemistry at our St. Patrick’s Day table. Please see the Green Chemistry Section for more information.
We started anAmerican Cancer Society Relay for Life team with the University of Michigan chemistry fraternity, Alpha Chi Sigma, to help support the cause while promoting the fun of chemistry. We held on-site fundraisers while hosting a tent at the event. On-site fundraisers included selling ACS Student Members t-shirts, cookies and baked goods with molecule depictions, and cupcakes set up to form a periodic table (one cupcake per element). Memorable moments included teaching chemistry to young children with the “element cupcakes” and having fun with the many organic chemistry students present who tried to guess which molecules were on the cookies. [See the photo in the supporting information]

Section II (cont.) – Chapter Service:University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

C. Department/College Service

Did your chapter plan or participate in any departmental activities (e.g. tutoring programs, visiting with departmental speakers, career fairs, mock interview sessions, résumé reviews) or any campus-wide activities? You may expand the table to accommodate more activities if needed.

Date / Number of Student Member Chapter Participants / Number of non-Student Member Chapter Participants / Number of Faculty Participants / Name of Event/Location / Number served by your activity / Was the activity planned by the chapter?
9/9 / 1 / 4 / 1 / Festifall - campus-wide event to showcase student organizations / 300+ / No
12/2 / 4 / 4 / 1 / Chemistry and Biochemistry Peer Advising in the atrium of the Chemistry Building / 20+ / Yes
1/10 / 4 / 0 / 0 / Winterfest - campus-wide event to showcase student organizations / 100+ / No
4/2 / 5 / 0 / 1 / Chemistry and Biochemistry Peer Advising in the atrium of the Chemistry Building / 20+ / Yes

Please provide a brief summary of your department/college service activities.

Festifall is a large outdoor event held by the University of Michigan for all student organizations to participate in. Clubs show up early in the morning and set up tables in order to attract more members. We decorated our table with chemistry themed objects and a sign-up sheet as well as handed out flyers for several hours promoting American Chemical Society Student Members. This was a largely successful event for us as we recruited as many as 60 students. Winterfest was a similar event but it is heldindoors and therefore tends to be much smaller. At this event, we shared a table with the chemistry fraternity, Alpha Chi Sigma, and promoted chemistry together.
We also hosted Chemistry and Biochemistry peer advising events answering questions related to topics such as when to take certain classes, the advantages of different professors in the chemistry and other relevant departments, scientific scholarships and declaring majors and minors. Given the diverse academic backgrounds of our members we were able to provide a unique blend of perspectives. This provided a new resource to the Chemistry Department and students interested in chemistry.

Section II (cont.) – Chapter Service:University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

D. National Chemistry Week/Mole Day/Earth Day

Please list all NCW/Mole Day/Earth Day specific events here.What role did your chapter play in the promotion of National Chemistry Week, Mole Day, or Earth Day? How many persons were served during your activities? Include information on how you used the ACS Office of Community Activities, if applicable. You may expand the table to accommodate more activities if needed.

Please provide a brief summary of your National Chemistry Week/Mole Day/Earth Day activities.

To promote National Chemistry Week, we set up two tables in the atrium of the Chemistry Building. At one table we sold baked goods to fundraise and at the other table we performed chemistry demonstrations for everyone walking by to observe. Demos such as elephant’s toothpaste and a clock reaction in which the solution turned from blue to yellow (for our school colors) were completed. While amazing the crowd, we simultaneously educated them about the chemical reactions occurring in front of them. Many observers expressed their gratitude for contributing to the atmosphere of the Chemistry Building. [See photos of the demo and bake sale tables in the supporting information]

Section III – Professional/Chapter Development:University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Please list and describe all activities and events that have contributed to chapter and professional development. Chapter reviews will be based on the complete list of activities in all four development categories, which include: (A) planning/attending scientific meetings;(B)speakers/tours/fieldtrip;(C)social functions; and (D) local section interaction. You may include up to two piecesof supporting documentation for each development category with your report, and each should be labeled with the corresponding activity name.

A. Planning/Attending Scientific Meetings

Please list any scientific meetings (national, regional, or local) that your chapter attended, planned, or hosted. Please note the professional organizations with which the events were affiliated, if applicable. In the summary box, include the names of students in your chapter who presented at events attended by the chapter, and indicate if their presentation was research- or chapter-related. Only chapter-related scientific meeting attendance should be listed, not individual student conference attendance. You may expand the table to accommodate more activities if needed.