13. THE STRATEGIC PLAN
13.1 STRATEGIC PLAN, 2000-2001
Dr. Becker reviewed the background of the revision of the Strategic
Plan. The revised Strategic Plan will be printed in the same
format as the 1998-9 Plan and will be distributed to the NAOs,
Bureau, ANAOs, National Chemical Societies, Company Associates,
other ICSU Unions, and other scientific organizations.
Dr. Hayes noted that one comment he hears regularly is that
the Strategic Plan covers too many goals and that the goals
are too broad. It was suggested that the Bureau be asked for
areas on which the Union should focus. This would give the Project
Committee guidance in choosing projects.
13.2 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN, 1998-99
Dr. Becker noted that the report in the Agenda Book had been
drafted based on the original input from the Division Presidents
and Standing Committee Chairmen plus accomplishments completed
since the original draft was written. This draft was then circulated
for comment. It was suggested that in response to the request
made at the Berlin Council meeting for a more uniform format
the Division Presidents and Standing Committee Chairmen be asked
to present their reports in the format used for this report.
It was proposed that the report be reformatted to resemble that
used for Chemistry International and distributed as widely
as the Strategic Plan.
14. NEW PROJECT APPROVAL SYSTEM
Dr. Jost reviewed the project statistics in the Agenda Book.
He noted that the large number of completed and abandoned projects
since the last IUPAC Handbook was printed was due to the work
of Dr. Meyers in updating the project information on the web
site. Her inquires had determined that a number of projects
had been completed over the years but the information had not
been given to the Secretariat.
The new project approval system is functioning. Projects are
being received by the Secretariat, distributed for review by
the Division Committees, sent for review by outside referees,
approved or disapproved by the Division Committees and then,
when appropriate, submitted to the Project Committee or the
Secretary General and Treasurer for funding decisions. The major
conceptual difficulty for all concerned was the distinction
between projects to be reviewed by the Project Committee and
those to be reviewed by the Secretary General and the Treasurer.
The distinction that has been developed is that the Project
Committee is responsible for projects that are interdivisional,
that come from Standing Committees, or that are require funds
beyond the resources of a Division. The Secretary General and
Treasurer are to review projects that are of a type and size
that would normally be funded by the Division Committee, but
for which the Division does not have sufficient funds. This
is a particular problem during the current biennium, when Division
funds are largely allocated to Commission activities.
Dr. Jost noted that a new section of the Management Accounts
Report was being developed to track expenditures for projects.
This report will show current expenditures, total expenditures
for the life of the project, total project budget, and commitments
for future years by years. The latter aspect is important because,
unlike the current system for funding Commissions, a project
can cover parts of more than one biennium.
A discussion of the Biodiversity project followed. This project
has been recommended to receive USD 15 000 by the Project Committee.
The group felt that it would be important to see what the outcomes
of the project were in reviewing its success.
14.1 PROPOSALS FOR ICSU GRANTS
Dr. Becker noted the two categories of ICSU project, Type I
is less than USD 50 000 while Type II is more than USD 50 000
up to USD 100 000. Projects submitted for Type I grants would
be chosen from among those already submitted for IUPAC funding
and that had significant expenditures planned for 2001. Dr.
Becker noted that IUPAC, in partnership with IUPHAR and IUTOX
had recently received a Type II grant for the Environmental
Estrogens project. He then briefly described a project submitted
by Dr. Davies of CPEP for a Type II grant. He recommended against
submitting this project for ICSU funding. The Committee agreed.
15. FELLOWS AND AFFILIATE MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMS
Dr. Jost reviewed the statistics for these two programs. There
are now 462 Fellows, 351 with e-mail, compared to 194 Fellows
in 1998-9. Replies have been received from 118 Fellows. The
large increase in the number of Fellows is due to the inclusion
this year of members of Subcommittees and Working Parties. There
are 36 individual AMP members, 4129 Paid (3,050 ACS) and 396
sponsored for a total of 4525. Seven of the travel award winners
from Berlin have accepted the offer of a subscription to CI.
15.1 LETTER OF APPOINTMENT AND FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS WITH
FELLOWS
Dr. Becker noted that the text of the current letter sent to
notify new Fellows of their status is out of date. In addition
to referring to the recent establishment of the program by the
Council at Geneva in 1997, it also does not emphasize the desire
of the Union for the continued involvement of Fellows in the
work of the Union. The revised draft in the Agenda Book has
been written with these points in mind. The Committee approved
the use of the new draft letter for future appointment of IUPAC
Fellows.
16. IUPAC WEB SITE AND OTHER PUBLICITY ABOUT
THE UNION
Dr. Jost reviewed the developments in the IUPAC Web site since
the Bureau meeting in Berlin. The most significant development
on the web site has been a program to provide automatic updates
of member information based on the members database. This will
allow more frequent updating of contact information without
manual intervention.
The project area continues to be updated with the addition of
links to publications resulting from projects. Dr. Meyers has
stimulated many project leaders to provide updates on projects
and in some cases discovered that projects had been completed
and publications made with no notification to the Secretariat.
A calendar of IUPAC sponsored conferences was distributed to
all recipients of CI. The calendar is also being sent to all
sponsored conferences in the first half of the year.
A pocket Periodic Table is being developed in conjunction with
the same designer who worked on the calendar. The Table will
show the date of discovery of the elements in graphic form.
17. STATUS REPORT ON IUPAC SECRETARIAT
Dr. Jost reviewed the activities of the Secretariat since the
last Executive Committee meeting. Some significant activities
are summarized in the list below.
