The 2016 Strategic Plan for the American Chemical Society has been released - you can find the information at  Strategy.ACS.ORG - it is a nice information graphic.

But in order to make change and elevate some of the issues that we have been discussing, it is essential that members make comments about the plan - what is missing, what is working, and what needs to be emphasized.  You can make comments to strategicplan**At_Symbol_Here**acs.org.

Members of the Board of Directors, and other members of governance are aware that safety, health, ethics, responsible practice, etc. are not explicitly stated as core values, or are mentioned explicitly in the individual goals.  There are many of us that are working on a variety of means to get these ideas articulated as part of the strategic plan.  For example:

1) Guidelines are being drafted.

2) There is a policy statement working group - hoping to get an ACS Policy Statement issued on Safety.

3) There are informal and formal groups working on a variety of safety issues - such as safety in education, and many of the activities of this Division.

4) Reviews of ACS Fellows and other Award criteria to take into account safety practices and records.

and the list can continue.  

The current Chair of the Board Committee that is charged with the development and renewal of the strategic plan is Kathleen Schultz, who is a member of the Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry and is a proponent of safety.  We are actively working with her and her committee to address this issue.  But, we do need input from the Membership of the ACS..  

If you believe that this is an issue - please make your comments to strategicplan**At_Symbol_Here**acs.org.  They do listen!  You can also make comments to me as one of your Division Counselors.

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