The Western Carolinas ACS Section has arranged for ACS Leadership Training entitled "Leading Change" to be presented in our section at the Michelin Conference Center, Greenville, SC on Saturday, February 26, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The registration fee includes lunch. In order to register, go to www.acs.org/leaderdevelopment, click "Leader Development Course Schedules and Location", and then scroll down to where this course is posted. Follow the directions and select the appropriate fee from the list below.

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Almost any initiative today in the workplace or within an ACS committee or project team involves change. It could be a change in priorities and direction, people, or goals and objectives. And, with change often comes resistance. How many times have you been on the receiving end of:

People pushing back because the committee is given a different set of goals to achieve?
Projects stalling because there has been a change in the direction?
Confusion due to personnel changes on a committee or project team?

It is not easy leading amidst change. It requires leaders to help local section and technical division volunteers, national committee members and regional meeting volunteers move through change by confronting reality, connecting with the vision of the future, designing a new approach, and engaging others to take the steps to move the project ahead.

This four-hour course provides leaders with a step-wise process to lead change and guide volunteers more effectively through the change process for greater results and efficiency.

Participants will gain a skill that can be used daily in both volunteer leadership roles as well as in your profession. Specifically, ACS leaders will learn:

Why organizations and individuals tend to resist change.
A 3-step process for leading change amongst volunteers in a team or work group.
How to maintain a clear vision of the strategic direction and instill a strong sense of direction and purpose in all volunteers.
How to keep everyone on-track and focused on top priorities.
The importance of and how best to communicate new insights into key issues, problems and opportunities the committee faces.

This workshop is designed for leaders in the Society who are currently in or moving into significant leadership roles in the Society. Particularly, those involved in projects that continually change—or are soon to face changes—in direction, member involvement, and objectives. We encourage those who are leading projects such as change initiatives, projects requiring working with other groups, or new initiatives that will likely experience changes in the course of completion to attend this program.

The workshop will be led by Connie Murphy, an experienced facilitator of ACS Leadership Training. Connie joined The Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan in 1980 after obtaining an Associate in Applied Science degree in Chemical Technology from Milwaukee Area Technical College. She worked in R&D for over 25 years, first as a technician, and later as supervisor and project portfolio manager. She moved to Information Systems as a supervisor and after spending a couple years in that role, retired from Dow in 2008. Since retirement, Connie and her husband have traveled extensively.

Connie has been a member of the ACS since 1992. Since joining ACS, she has served as a member of the Committee on Committees, the Committee on Membership Affairs, the Committee on Technician Affairs, and the ACS Chemical Technology Program Approval Service. She served as Chair in 1996 and as Councilor 1998-2006 of the Division of Chemical Technicians. She has been featured in articles in books, magazines and brochures about careers in chemistry and has been an invited speaker at colleges, educator forums and symposia on career and educational topics. Connie currently serves on the Advisory Committee for the Chemical Technology program at Delta College and is a member of the ACS Committee on Chemistry and Public Affairs. She facilitates both "Leading Change" and "Coaching and Feedback" in the ACS Leadership Development System.

The Western Carolinas Section of the American Chemical Society will hold its annual Outstanding Seniors Award dinner on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 in the Townes Science Center on the Furman University Campus. We request that you identify your institution's Outstanding Senior Chemistry Major and fill out the linked information form below. This form should be returned by Monday, March 21. The form may be returned by Email or by regular post to the address shown below. Each Outstanding Senior will receive a certificate and a gift from the Section.

The awardees are encouraged to present a poster highlighting important aspects of their undergraduate experience. Often this takes the form of a research poster, but it may highlight any aspects of the student's activities. Each student will be allotted a 4' x 6' board. Pushpins will be provided. In addition to the outstanding senior, up to four other students from your institution may also display posters. These might be students who have won some other award or who have distinguished themselves in some way or simply students that deserve attention by the Section membership. These students need not be seniors. All presenters (including the award winners) should complete the attached abstract form for the program booklet. Only the awardee needs to complete the biographical form.

All students who present a poster and/or receive the Outstanding Senior award will have their dinner paid for by the Section. You are strongly encouraged to bring other students as well to join in the celebration. These students will be able to eat at the reduced meeting rate indicated in the Periodic News, approximately ½ the normal rate.

The evening's activities will include an informal meal, followed by a one and a half-hour poster session, where attendees will have a chance to look over the posters and to talk with the students. Following this, there will be a very brief awards ceremony to honor the Outstanding Seniors as well as high school students who turned in an outstanding performance in the Chemistry Olympiad. The Chair of the Western Carolinas section will introduce each student, and will present him or her with a certificate and a recognition gift.

We thank you for your participation in this important event.

Sincerely,

Laura Wright
Acting Awards Chair, Western Carolinas Section of the ACS
Department of Chemistry
Furman University
Greenville, SC 29613
864-294-3375
Laura.Wright@Furman.edu

The national organization of ACS has asked our section to make revisions to our bylaws, which are available on the section website (http://www.wcacs.net/Business/Bylaws.html). The majority of the changes involve one of two major issues. First, ACS has recently created "Student Membership" to replace "Associate Membership" for students who participate in the society. Second, voting procedures have been revised to allow electronic voting, in addition to traditional paper ballots.

Links are provided here to our current and proposed bylaws.

Click here to view the section's current by-laws.

Click here to view the section's proposed by-laws.

The section leadership would like to obtain your input and suggestions on these proposed revisions to the bylaws. After a time for discussion the section will vote on whether or not to accept the changes. Please contact any member of the section Executive Committee (email addresses available on the section website, see the "officers" page).

Pittcon 2011 is the world's annual premier Conference and Exposition on laboratory science. Pittcon is the one place you can evaluate and compare products from nearly 1,000 exhibitors from around the world, network with thousands of the world's leading scientific minds and enhance your professional development by attending a Technical Session or Short Course.

Dr. David Butcher - Chair 2011, david.butcher@analytchem.org.
Blaine Childress - Chair-Elect 2012
Sid Parrish - Past Chair 2010
Alice Claggett - Secretary 2010
Dr. Julia Brumaghim – Treasurer 2010
Mrs. Lucy Pryde Eubanks - Councilor 2009-11.
Dr. George Heard – Councilor 2011-2013
Dr. John Kaup - Alternate Councilor 2011-13.
Dr. Laura Wright - Alternate Councilor 2001, Awards Chair.

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Several of you requested a copy of Dr. Wagener's presentation from our July 2010 meeting. Dr. Wagener has graciously agreed and provided his presentation in .pdf format. Please click the link below to save it to your computer.

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Our Webmaster, Dwayne Grassie, would welcome your "press releases" about activities that you believe would be of interest to our section. As he says so eloquently on our web site, "without active members reporting the activities of the section to me there would be no web site because there would be nothing to report." Dwayne can be reached at: MAG-IT@charter.net