The current ACS-CPT guidelines state in section 5.3: “students should be exposed to the principles of macromolecules across foundational areas”. CPT currently is reviewing these guidelines and has asked for input from the chemical community.
Please join us in contacting CPT to request that the above statement in the CPT guidelines be changed from “Students should be exposed to macromolecules” to “Students must be exposed to macromolecules”.
We ask you to write now and ask CPT to require in the CPT guidelines that macromolecular topics must be integrated into the five foundational courses in undergraduate chemistry curricula.
In 2012, POLYED polled the members of the ACS
Division of Polymer Chemistry and there was overwhelming support on the returned surveys for both integrating polymer topics in the five foundational courses and for an upper level elective in polymer chemistry. It is essential that we communicate with CPT about this now !
Email addresses and talking points that can be included in a letter to CPT are given below. It may only take a few minutes, but it will have a significant impact on the education of future chemists! Thank you for your efforts on behalf of polymer education.
Addresses for correspondence: Letters or email messages should be sent to Dr. McCoy and copies emailed to the others listed. Thank you!
Dr. Anne B. McCoy, Chair
ACS Committee on Professional Training
Department of Chemistry
2108 Newman Wolfrom Lab
Ohio State University
100 W. 18 th
Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210 mccoy@chemistry.ohio-state.edu
and send copies to these others: cc. Mary Kirchhoff m_kirchhoff@acs.org
; Marinda Li
Wu, ACS President m.wu@acs.org
; Tom Barton, ACS President-elect barton@ameslab.gov
; Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, ACS Past President b_shakhashiri@acs.org
bassam@chem.wisc.edu
; William F. Carroll, Jr., Chair of ACS
Board of Directors bill_carroll@oxy.com
; Cathy Nelson c_nelson@acs.org
.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
The following are possible talking points that may be included in a letter or message to CPT for the inclusion of macromolecules in undergraduate chemistry curricula:

Polymers are interdisciplinary and include both natural and synthetic materials, and organic and inorganic materials.


POLY and PMSE are two of the largest ten divisions in ACS. There are more than thirty divisions in ACS.

We believe that an undergraduate chemistry curriculum without an introduction to principles of macromolecular science will significantly hinder our students as they prepare for advanced study and to work and compete in a global marketplace.
Knowledge about polymers can give our students a competitive edge in the future, whether they work in traditional areas or in biotechnology.

Much of chemistry involves polymers, from synthetic polymers that provide body armor for our troops and will allow the next generation of computer chips, to biopolymers, like enzymes and DNA.

With the same repeating unit in many cases, polymers provide a more straightforward introduction to macromolecules than complex biopolymers like DNA, enzymes, proteins, and starches.

Chemists knowledgeable about polymers are essential for continuing our leadership in developing nanotechnologies and for the U.S. to be competitive in a global marketplace.

Kids find chemistry relevant because they often have had some introduction to polymers. For example, “slime” has to be one of the most popular K-12 activities.
There is a disconnect when these kids get to college - they are eager to learn about polymers but few schools teach basic polymer concepts.

The polymer industry is increasing the use of renewable resources as feedstocks and looking to increase the use of environmentally-friendly “green” materials. This will require development by chemists trained in the preparation and use of polymers.

The U.S. lost its first space shuttle, at least in part because the cold weather in Florida that day caused an O-ring to be below its Tg. Few chemists learn about the Tg, a fundamental thermal transition in amorphous materials. Fundamental polymer science must be included in a modern chemistry curriculum.

While it may be difficult for CPT to require that a polymer course be including in the
“foundational” courses, POLYED encourages CPT to require that key polymer topics be included in an ACS certified chemistry program. In particular, the following MUST be integrated and be a part of an undergraduate chemistry curriculum:
there are both small AND large molecules. The latter are called macromolecules and they comprise the majority of the materials around us. If we remove the water from ourselves, even people are made up primarily of polymers.

Many natural polymers, such as DNA, have a discrete MW, while most synthetic polymers have molecular weight distributions.
While small covalently-bonded molecules typically have a specific molecular weight, polymers are characterized by an average molecule weight distribution.
Examples include Mn, Mw, and Mz.
Many solids are amorphous and exhibit a glass transition temperature, Tg. Some polymers are semi-crystalline and exhibit a Tm as well as a Tg.
These talking points were prepared by J. Droske.