calacs

Please note the new Educational Grant Application Form for the 2010-2011 Academic Year. You can click on grant application to download the form. 

grant application

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Eight Schools Awarded Educational Grants for 2009/2010

In 1995, the California Section established the Educational Grants Committee whose purpose is to provide monetary awards to enhance the teaching of chemistry in schools within the geographic area of the California Section. Due to a serious lack of funds and support for the science curriculum, many chemistry teachers are unable to buy basic equipment and instrumentation for their laboratories. According to the grant guidelines, teachers may request funds for laboratory equipment, instrumentation, books, or computers, as well as expenses related to attendance at ACS or other chemistry related professional meetings. In the thirteen years of this program, 1995 to 2009, well over one hundred schools have received over $130,000 in grants. We have received letters of thanks from the recipients, and pictures and copies of students’ reports, indicating that the program has been a fantastic success!

The Executive Committee of the California Section continued its support of this successful program by allocating $5,000 for the current academic year of 2009/2010. Grant applications were solicited from high school, college and university chemistry departments late last Spring, and the members of the Educational Grants Committee (Bryan Balazs, Lee Latimer, Cynthia Leeder, and Daniel Matuszak) decided on a final slate of awardees in September of 2009. The Awards were as follows:

The Educational Grants Committee is looking for alternative means to supply funds or donated materials to help the schools that did not receive all of the items that they requested. Needed materials include basic laboratory equipment such as glassware, balances, computers, or materials such as reference books. Anyone who is interested in helping to support these requests through donations or by soliciting support from your employer, please call Bryan Balazs (contact information on the Committee page), or the Cal ACS Section for more information.

We are excited about this program and gratified by the enthusiastic response we have had in this eleventh year. The California Section is committed to supporting the chemistry teachers in our high schools, colleges and universities. We believe this is one way to let them know that the American Chemical Society is vitally concerned about their needs and the needs of their students.

California Section Educational Grants – List Of Eligible Counties and Rules For Grant Recipients

RULES FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS

1. The funds granted must be used as “Special grants to middle school, high school, college and university chemistry programs within the geographical boundaries of the California Section of the American Chemical Society.”

2 .The Grant Applicant must be a teacher or professor in an accredited school in the State of California. The Grant Recipient shall be directly responsible for all grant funds and shall produce receipts for all major expenditures, if asked. In addition, the Grant Recipient shall submit a brief Annual Report of the Program with expenditures of all funds allocated by the California Section. This report is due at the end of the grant period.

3. The Grant Recipient may change actual expenditures from those submitted in the grant application by up to 10% of the total grant allotment. Requests for changes from 10% to 35% must be approved by the chair of the Educational Grants Committee, either by verbal or written authorization. Changes of greater than 35% must be approved by the full Educational Grants Committee. All unused funds must be returned to the Educational Grants Committee at the end of the grant period.

4. No grant money will be used to pay the Grant Recipient or any other teacher a salary or stipend. An expense directly charged may be reimbursed, such as a registration fee for a meeting, or a chemistry journal subscription. Students under the Grant Recipient’s direct supervision may be paid a reasonable and proper sum to cover expenses, such as compensation for services that require time and effort beyond normal student activities.

5. Some travel expenses are permissible under the conditions of this grant, and the decision to fund specific travel expenses is reserved for the discretion of the Educational Grants Committee. Travel expenses such as lodging or food expenses will not be covered for teachers; food expenses for students may be reimbursed at a reasonable level. The following expenses may be covered: transportation, registration for ACS national or regional meetings, or registration for other chemistry-related professional meetings. No more than one round-trip airfare shall be reimbursed to the Grant Recipient, or any other teacher or student, during the one-year term of the grant. Travel by automobile may be reimbursed at the rate of $0.30 per mile, for chemistry related purposes for any number of students. No foreign travel will be funded or reimbursed under the conditions of this grant.

6. Any equipment, books or other item purchased with an Educational Grant becomes the property of the school for which it was purchased as a gift from the California Section. This list includes, but is not limited to, the following items: calculators, computers, journals, books, computer software or hardware, or other “nonconsumables.” Neither the Grant Recipient or any other students or faculty will personally own or remove from service materials purchased by Educational Grant monies.

TO APPLY FOR A SCHOOL GRANT FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR OF 2010/2011 contact the California Section, ACS office