Fwd: Great Lakes Region ByLaws -A response from your local section is required

[Janie Salmon]

Dear Executive Committee,

I hope your fall semester is going well!

1. The ACS Great Lakes Regional Board has proposed changes to the Great Lakes Region Bylaws and is required to have a 60 day comment period from its membership before a vote.

2. The last version of the Bylaws was approved in 2018. Dannielle Wentzel (Bradley University) used ChatGPT 4 to generate a comparison of the changes between these 2 documents, so you can easily see the proposed changes, below.

3. The full text of the old bylaws and the new proposed ones are also attached.

You can send any feedback directly to me (djsa...@umn.edu) by October 30. I will compile any feedback and send it back to Robin.

If we have a committee meeting before then, you're welcome to share any feedback with me during the meeting too. We can vote as a local section whether to provide approval to the new bylaws. 

Best,

Janie

Summary of changes:

General Structure

• 2018 version: 12 bylaws + appendix on officer recall.

• 2025 version: 10 bylaws + appendix listing local sections.

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Name & Purpose

• 2018: Called simply the Great Lakes Region of the ACS; objectives limited to meetings, awards, and cooperation.

• 2025: Specifies the REGION as an incorporated body; purposes broadened to include charitable/educational/scientific under IRS 501(c)(3), fostering collaboration, highlighting chemistry, and referencing ACS Governing Documents.

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Governance

• 2018: Region Board of Directors = one rep per local section; officers include President-Elect, President, Past President, Secretary, Treasurer.

• 2025: Governing body renamed Regional Board; officers = Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Immediate Past Chair + 3 Members-at-Large. Councilors may default as reps.

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Committees

• 2018: Required Finance, Awards, and Meeting Selection committees.

• 2025: Broader standing committees: Awards, Communications & Publicity, Finance, Nominations & Elections, Programs/Regional Meeting Selection.

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Members

• 2018: Membership = local sections only. Members could join multiple regions.

• 2025: Membership rolls now include individual Members, Student Members, and Affiliates (with restrictions on roles). Local Sections still included (Appendix A).

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Inactive Status

• 2018: Local Sections not hosting meetings could be declared inactive by majority vote.

• 2025: Inactive status requires a 2/3 Regional Board vote; applies to local sections not hosting, contributing, or participating in meetings.

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Recall / Disciplinary Action

• 2018: Recall covered only elected officers and directors, with detailed petition and Executive Committee process (Appendix A).

• 2025: Expanded to include members and affiliates under ACS Volunteer Code of Conduct. Recall petition requires 5 members (not 1/3 of directors). Multiple removal options (Executive Committee vote, Regional Board vote, or hearing).

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Finances

• 2018: Operating & reserve funds used for running region or covering deficits; tied to Memorandum of Understanding with host local sections.

• 2025: Finances governed by Working Rules; explicit requirement for annual review of Treasurer’s books by disinterested members.

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Meetings

• 2018: Required at least one annual board meeting, allowed electronic participation, quorum rules not highly detailed.

• 2025: Adds structured meeting procedures, quorum definitions, authority of Chair, rules for special meetings, registration fee policies, and explicit adoption of Robert’s Rules of Order.

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Amendments

• 2018: Proposed amendments circulated to all local sections; required 2/3 approval of those responding within 60 days.

• 2025: Amendments can be initiated by Executive Committee or 10 board members; reviewed by ACS C&B Committee; 2/3 of votes cast needed; electronic voting permitted. Adds rules for Working Rules adoption and override.

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Dissolution

• 2018: Assets divided equally based on local membership among local sections (501(c)(3) compliant).

• 2025: Assets conveyed equally to local sections selected by governing body (must be 501(c)(3)).

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✅ Summary: The 2025 draft modernizes governance, expands membership to include individuals (not just local sections), formalizes financial oversight, strengthens recall/discipline, and provides more flexible amendment and meeting rules. The 2018 version was simpler, section-focused, and less detailed.

Hello Great Lakes Region, Local Section Secretaries,

 

We require approval by member local sections to change the Great Lakes Regional Board (GLRB) ByLaws.  The new bylaws are attached for your local section’s approval.  Please distribute to your members for comment.

 

Please respond to me Robin Tanke, GLRB Secretary, by October 31, 2025 with your local section approval or not (with comments) of the attached bylaws.

According to the 2018 Great Lakes Region Board ByLaws, there is a 60 day comment and vote period that starts when the ByLaws are sent to the LS secretaries.

A 2/3 majority of the votes that are cast (1 per local section) electronically by notifying the GLRB Secretary is needed for adoption.

 

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

 

Robin

 

 

Robin S. Tanke, Ph.D.

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point

Stevens Point, WI 54481

715-346-4325

rta...@uwsp.edu

I study and work on traditional, unceded land inhabited by the original indigenous people of this area, including the Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and the many other nations and groups that predate colonial borders.