I.  SEPTEMBER 2017 STATEMENT & INFO PUBLISHED IN C&E NEWS & ON-LINE

​Stable employment. Three years ago when you honored me by electing me to be your representative on the Board of Directors, I stated that employment was the major issue for a large number of our members. Regardless of where our members work . . . academia, government or industry, our goal must be that those who select chemistry as their profession have the opportunity to practice it. This is valid not just in our District, but for our entire country. I pledged to work towards finding solutions to the employment problems that our members face.

Supply and demand. Three years ago, Dr. Donna Nelson successfully ran for the ACS Presidency at the same time on the same platform. She created a Task Force to identify the problems and to recommend solutions. She appointed me to this Task Force and I worked with other concerned and knowledgeable members to make recommendations to address the issues. We found the problem existed for years: the supply and demand balance in our profession is tilted heavily toward the supply side. While the available jobs continue to decrease due to mergers, downsizing and outsourcing, we keep producing the same number of chemists. At the recent ACS National Meeting in San Francisco, 459 members signed up looking for employment while 33 employers offered only 145 jobs. Most of our fellow members looking for employment were our younger colleagues. This has been the situation for a very long time. The days of graduating chemists receiving multiple offers before graduation are long past. Today 16% of them still have no jobs six months after graduation.

Progress of chemistry. Progress in the chemistry enterprise depends on stable employment not the other way around. When younger chemists have difficulties finding jobs, it deters bright students from selecting chemistry as their profession. I worked on the Presidential Task Force making various recommendations such as preparing our graduates for the types of jobs available and possible licensing of chemists, just to name a few possible solutions. A full report of the Task Force will be published. The solutions are not easy but we must follow up; we cannot ignore the problem facing our fellow members. We must act now regardless of how difficult the solutions.

Members want their Society to serve them better. Our members are our most important asset and we must serve them well. As your District Director, I am only one member of the Board of Directors and obviously cannot solve the problems alone. During my term, I kept in constant contact with members to get their input on what we are doing well as a Society and what we can improve upon. I have connected with members of our District by attending and speaking at Local Section meetings and by participating in our Regional Meetings. We can make the ACS stronger by working collectively and collaboratively.

 What can I do? I have the experience and a thorough knowledge of ACS activities. I chaired a Local Section and I was both a Local Section and Division Councilor. I worked on a Presidential Task Force for the support of both Local Sections and Divisions. I have served on the Meetings and Exposition Committee. I currently serve on the Board Committee on Professional and Member Relations and previously on the Board Committee on Grants and Awards before the Board streamlined its committee structure and redistributed the duties of that committee. I am also thoroughly familiar with ACS finances since I have previously served, and once again serve, on the Budget and Finance Committee. And importantly, I have three years experience representing you on the Board of Directors.

This is my promise. I will continue to focus my time as your District Director on solving the problems that our members face and on implementing solutions. I will continue to work on direction, tone, commitment and vision that members embrace and view as the future of our Society. We must be member focused, we must be effective in delivering our message, we must be efficient in our operations, and we must continually innovate and improve. We must build our community of members and what our Society provides for its members. To accomplish these goals we must ensure employment stability of our members and overall stability of our Society. The ACS must be well positioned for the future. I ask you for your vote and for your confidence in me to continue this work for you as your District Director.

III. STATEMENT SUBMITTED FOR COUNCILORS DURING CANDIDATE SELECTION PROCESS

​It has been my honor to serve on the Board of Directors of the ACS representing District VI and I wish to continue to serve in that role as your advocate. I seek your support to continue my efforts to position the ACS to make strategic decisions that will allow us to pass onto our young colleagues a Society as strong and stable as our predecessors passed on to us. My vision that our members will significantly increase the local relevance of our Society and fortify the global position of our Society remains unchanged. We have made great progress and I will remain dedicated to that vision. I have visited many local sections and attended many regional meetings and have witnessed the dedication of our members. I have seen firsthand what divisions do to keep us at the forefront of generating knowledge of the highest quality, I have witnessed what members and leaders of CAS and Pubs do to ensure our global position in information dissemination, and I have seen the increasing global interest in ACS membership. I will continue to support and work to enhance these efforts.

 When I ran three years ago I promised to focus on jobs for our members. To that end I was appointed to the Presidential Task Force on U.S. Employment of Chemists and worked with my fellow members to develop actions that can help our colleagues secure employment in the field that they love. Whether they are mid-career colleagues looking for a new position or younger colleagues looking for their first position the ACS must be attentive to their needs. In CEN December 12/19, 2016 it was reported that the unemployment rate for chemists was 2.6% in 2016 down from 3.1% in 2015 which is great progress, unless you are unemployed. It was also reported that 12.3% of new chemistry graduates were unemployed based on late 2015 and early 2016 data. Clearly there is still more to be done and I will continue to devote my energy to this critical issue.

Our Society is in the process of reconsidering its national governance approach. I Co-Chair a joint Board of Directors/Council Policy Committee task force charged with examining what we do, how we do it, what we are doing well and not so well, and what modifications might be useful. In my comment in CEN October 31, 2016 I noted that we are an inclusive and deliberative decision making Society living in a world in which information is immediately available to inform decision makers. I remain cognizant of the fact that the ACS is the preeminent scientific society in the world because of the dedicated members who devote countless hours to our Society. Any changes must reinforce continued member involvement in national governance because we are first and foremost a member Society. I commit to you to help our Society become more agile in its national governance approach while keeping member involvement and input at the forefront of the discussions.

We must ensure and articulate the value of membership to our younger colleagues and our students. We must articulate the value of membership and participation to our supervisors and employers. We must articulate our opinion and the value of our opinion to our political leaders.  I will work to ensure that my time as a member of the Board of Directors does not focus on my personal projects, that disappear after I leave office, but rather on direction, tone, commitment and vision that members embrace and view as the future of our Society. We must be member focused, we must be effective in delivering our message, we must be efficient in our operations, and we must continually innovate and improve. We must build our community of members and what our Society provides for its members. To accomplish these goals we must ensure our financial stability. Our Society must be positioned for the future. I ask you to allow me to continue that process as your Director.

II. CANDIDATE STATEMENT FOR POSSIBLE INCLUSION IN LOCAL SECTION NEWSLETTERS

Progress of Chemistry Depends on Stable Employment

​I am honored to represent the members of District VI on the Board of Directors and wish to continue to do so. When I ran for election three years ago, I stated that employment was the major issue for a large number of our members. I pledged to work towards finding solutions to the employment problems that our members face. Since my election, I have served on a Presidential Task Force to identify the details of the problems and worked with other concerned and knowledgeable members to make recommendations to address the issues.

 Our members are our most important asset and the Board must serve them well. During my term, I have connected with members of District VI by attending and speaking at Local Section meetings and by participating in Regional Meetings in order to hear first-hand what we are doing well as a Society and what we can improve upon.

I have the experience and a thorough knowledge of ACS activities that allow me to be an effective representative of District VI members. I chaired a Local Section and I was both a Local Section and Division Councilor. I worked on a Presidential Task Force for the support of both Local Sections and Divisions and I currently serve on the Board Committee on Professional and Member Relations. I am also very familiar with ACS finances since I have previously served, and once again serve, on the Budget and Finance Committee.

This is my promise. I will continue to focus my time as District Director VI on solving the problems that our members face and on implementing solutions. I will continue to work on direction, tone, commitment and vision that members embrace and view as the future of our Society. We must be member focused, we must be effective in delivering our message, we must be efficient in our operations, and we must continually innovate and improve. We must build our community of members and what our Society provides for its members. To accomplish these goals we must ensure employment stability of our members and overall stability of our Society. The ACS must be well positioned for the future. I ask you for your vote and for your confidence in me to continue this work for you as your District Director.

Candidate

Statements

DISTRICT VI DIRECTOR

American Chemical Society

Paul W. Jagodzinski