Working with ACS Technical Divisions to Raise Awareness and Support your Community

Communities of practice in chemistry education - the communities of chemists who interact with each other to improve undergraduate learning and research opportunities - require sustained resources to support communication, collaboration, and member engagement. Funding agencies do not fund the recurring costs to sustain these communities of practice so they can continue to act as agents of change. Working with ACS Technical Divisions to Raise Awareness and Support your Community was presented at the 2026 Biennial Conference on Chemistry Education. This talk explores how the chemistry communities of practice interact with Technical Divisions in the American Chemical Society. This presentation describes the relationship between four of these communities: Active Learning Community of the Analytical Sciences Digital Library - ASDL- with the Division of Analytical Chemistry (ANYL), Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists - IONiC - with the Division of Inorganic Chemistry (INOR), OrganicERs with the Division of Organic Chemistry (ORGN) and Macromolecular Alliance for Community Resources and Outreach - MACRO - with the Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) and the Division of Polymer Chemistry (POLY). Volunteers who were members of a community and an ACS technical division built relationships over time. These have gradually led to technical divisions supporting their communities. This talk was the first step in surveying communities and ACS Technical Divisions. This work will appear in a forthcoming ACS Symposium Series book on chemistry communities of practice.