Guidelines for ACS Cosponsorship Of Meetings

1. Introduction

The American Chemical Society (ACS) encourages the pursuit of joint activities in areas of mutual interest with other national and international scientific and technical societies and organizations. The Society's obligations under its charter and to its members require that the Society does not lend its name or symbols to activities that do not advance the goals of the Society, to commercial enterprises, or to political causes. This document is intended to protect the Society while facilitating cooperation by providing some guidelines for reviewing requests for cosponsorship as required by ACS Regulation VII, 8.

These guidelines are offered for consideration by Society units entering into agreements for cosponsored events as requested by other entities and for agreements where the Society invites a cosponsorship. They are intended as guidelines and not as absolute rules. These guidelines will be applied by the Board of Directors and its Committee on Professional and Member Relations in the consideration of requests for approval of cosponsorships by the Society, its technical divisions, and its local sections.

2. Definitions

Society Units- the ACS consists of three separate entities:

The Society including all of the staff divisions, departments and committees.
The Technical Divisions.
The Local Sections.

Cosponsorship - Two types of cosponsorship are outlined in ACS Bylaw Vl, Sec. 3 (see Appendix).

Cooperative cosponsorship where the Society or one or more of its technical divisions or local sections in collaboration with other organizations jointly arranges the event, contributes to its programming and may have financial responsibilities should the meeting fail to generate net revenue.
Nominal cosponsorship where the Society or one or more of its technical divisions or local sections allows other organizations to use its name and symbols as a cosponsor but has no involvement in the programming or arranging of the event and no financial responsibilties.
Events where the Society, its technical divisions, or its local sections make a financial contribution without involvement in the arranging or planning of the event are also considered nominal cosponsorship.

3. Requests for Cosponsorship

All requests for cosponsorships should be sent to the Office of the Secretary and General Counsel of the Society. Requests should be accompanied by a letter and/or checklist noting adherence to the guidelines for ACS cosponsorship of meetings.

4. Requirements for Cosponsorship

Cosponsored events should meet the following criteria:

A. Cosponsorship of an event must advance the goals of the Society.

B. All requests for cosponsorship should contain:

The dates, location, purpose and official title of the event.
The names and addresses of the cosponsors and the key contact in each organization.
A statement regarding the financial status--for-profit or not-for-profit--of the other cosponsoring organizations.
C. The principal objective of any joint event should be the dissemination of technical information and topics appropriate to Society units. Ancillary profit-making operations such as expositions and meeting reprints, etc., should be permitted only in support of the principal objective.
D. The Society, a technical division, or a local section should not cosponsor an event where the cosponsor is a commercial profit-making organization and financial gain is the primary purpose of the cosponsorship.
E. Cosponsorship of an event in direct conflict with dates of Society technical programming (i.e. national, regional, local, and/or divisional meetings) should first be agreed to by the affected ACS group.

5. When the Society is the cosponsor

A. When the national Society is the cosponsor, whether cooperative or nominal, the Standing Committee on Professional and Member Relations is delegated and is authorized to approve the request. Cooperative Cosponsorship request(s) that exceed the financial commitment as specified in Regulation VI, 3 require the additional approval of the Board of Directors upon the recommendation of P&MR unless the funds are available for this purpose within an approved budget.

B. When an outside organization requests the ACS to cosponsor an event, whether nominal or cooperative, and when:

the request for cosponsorship of a corresponding meeting has been previously approved at least twice by the Committee on Professional and Member Relations (P&MR),
executed satisfactorily, and
funds, if required, are available for the purpose, as indicated elsewhere in the guidelines,

then the Office of the Secretary and General Counsel of ACS is delegated and is authorized to approve the request. Such repeated requests, whether nominal or cooperative, must be communicated to the Chair of P&MR, and to relevant technical divisions, in order to give them an opportunity for input and/or to withdraw consent.

C. Cooperative cosponsored events by the Society will take place only when the event covers broad scientific topics and not when the event is focused on a single topic. Nominal cosponsorship by the Society will take place only when the Society's reputation and interests are protected. Requests for Society cosponsorships, cooperative or nominal, must be communicated to the chairs of relevant technical divisions for their concurrence that the ACS should indeed participate in the program.

D. Any recommendation to P&MR in favor of cosponsorship must be accompanied by a written statement from the Office of the Secretary and General Counsel that:

The Secretary has examined the proposed program and it meets the requirements for cosponsorship.
The Secretary also has reviewed the list of requirements for consideration of ACS cosponsorship of meetings, and the request meets these guidelines.
The Society and the appropriate technical division(s) have been contacted and confirm the the recommendation to consider cosponorship and is(are) prepared to take an active part in arranging the event if the request is for cooperative cosponsorship.

6. When a Technical Division is the Cosponsor

A. When a technical division is the cosponsor, whether cooperative or nominal, the decision to cosponsor requires the approval of the ACS Executive Director. Any announcement or publication of such an event must bear the specific name of the particular technical division.

B. The Office of the Secretary and General Counsel will consult with the appropriate Membership Division staff unit(s) prior to submitting the request to the Executive Director for approval. Written evidence that the program meets the requirements for cosponsorship and that the technical division is prepared to take an active part in program planning must be provided by the appropriate Membership Division staff unit(s) if the request is for a cooperative cosponsored event.

7. When a Local Section is the Cosponsor

A. When a local section or local sections jointly organizing a regional meeting is (are) the cosponsor, certain types of events do not require the approval of the ACS Executive Director: that is, joint meetings with other not-for-profit organizations for which neither a registration fee is charged nor a financial commitment greater than 10% of the section's annual allotment is required.

B. When a local section or local sections jointly organizing a regional meeting is (are)the cosponsor of an event not specifically excluded in 7A above, whether cooperative or nominal, the decision to cosponsor requires the approval of the ACS Executive Director. Any announcement or publication of such an event must bear the specific name of the particular local section and/or regional meeting.

C. The Office of the Secretary and General Counsel will consult with the appropriate Membership Division staff unit (s) prior to submitting the request to the Executive Director for approval. Written evidence that the proposed event meets the requirements for cosponsorship and that the local section and/or regional meeting is prepared to take an active part in program planning must be provided by the appropriate Membership division staff unit(s) if the request is for a cooperative cosponsored event.

8. Agreement for a Cooperative Cosponsored Event

Agreements for a cooperative cosponsored event for the Society, a technical division, or a local section, including cosponsored symposia at national and regional ACS meetings, should contain:

A. A proposed budget for the event broken out by major revenue and expense categories. The proposed budget shall be accompanied by contact information identifying the event’s treasureror financial official. The organization responsible for maintaining the event’s financial records shall provide a final accounting no later than nine months after the event. The final accounting shall include a summary report with a comparision of the budget versus actual for revenues and expenses.

B. A statement clearly defining the financial responsibility of the Society, technical division, or local section clarifying the distribution of any net revenue or loss from the meeting. Note that cosponsorship of any specific symposium at an ACS national meeting does not entitle the other cosponsor to any share of the net proceeds from the meeting and exposition nor to complimentary space at the exposition held in conjunction with the meeting.

C. A stipulation that each cosponsoring organization will publish a call for papers and the program in its official member publication and include an announcement of the event in its calendar of meetings, if timely. In addition, a stipulation that each Society’s cosponsorship will be appropriately recognized at the conference and in its marketing materials.

D. A statement clearly defining publication rights for the papers presented at the event.

E. A statement clarifying the distribution of royalties from such publications. The ACS Books Department should be granted publication rights at least equal to that of any cosponsoring organization publishing arm.

F. A stipulation that members of each cosponsoring organization should be permitted to register for the event at the same rate.

G. A stipulation that one complimentary copy of any book of abstracts or proceedings published (hard copy or electronic formats, e.g. CD ROM) for the meeting will be furnished, if requested, to each cosponsoring organization.

H. A statement that, if requested, mailing labels for each cosponsoring organization will be provided. ACS mailing labels will be provided at the same rate charged ACS divisions or local sections. If the address labels for a technical division or local section are requested, the division's or local section's written approval must be obtained before the labels are released.

I. A statement specifying who is eligible to contribute papers. The rule regarding presentation of papers will conform, insofar as possible, with ACS Bylaw VI, Sec 6 (see Appendix), and will be subject therein to approval by the Executive Director.

J. A statement clarifying what membership and other material each cosponsor is permitted to display in the registration area, outside meeting rooms and in other meeting function areas. In the case of a cosponsored symposium scheduled as part of an ACS national meeting, the display of other societies' materials should be limited to membership information on display outside the assigned meeting room.

K. Cooperative cosponsored events may be entitled to in-house advertising rates in ACS publications.

9. Agreement for a Nominal Cosponsored Event

Agreements for a nominal cosponsored event for the Society, a technical division, a local section or regional meeting should include:

A. A statement that absolves the nominal cosponsors of any financial liability for the event. ACS General Counsel recommends the following language:

It is specifically agreed that ACS' responsibility for the event is limited only to cosponsoring the event and ACS shall have no other responsibility or obligation. It is further agreed that ACS shall have no legal or financial liability with respect to the event. The primary sponsors of the event agree to indemnify and hold harmless ACS and its Directors, officers and employees from any liability, loss, cost or expense arising from or related in any way to the event.

B. A stipulation that members of each sponsoring organization should be permitted to register for the event at the same rate.

C. A stipulation that each cosponsoring organization will publish, at no charge, a call for papers in its official member publication and will include an announcement of the event in its calendar of meetings, if timely.

D. A stipulation that one complimentary copy of any book of abstracts or proceedings published (hard copy or electronic formats) for the meeting will be furnished to each cosponsoring organization. In addition, a statement that the Society’s cosponsorship will be appropriately recognized at the conference and in its marketing materials.

E. A statement that, if requested, mailing labels for each cosponsoring organization will be provided. The ACS will charge the same rate charged for commercial organizations. If the address labels for a technical division or local section are requested, the division's or local section's written approval must be obtained before the labels are released.

10. When the national as a Whole (and not its individual units) Seeks Cosponsorship from Outside Organizations

Society seeks to have its events cosponsored by a scientific group other than an ACS entity, the Board Standing Committee on Professional and Member Relations is delegated and is authorized to approve the request. Any request to P&MR to obtain outside cosponsorship for an ACS event must be accompanied by a written statement from the Office of the Secretary and General Counsel.

When the Society seeks support for Nominal Cosponsorship, the Society will include in a letter of agreement stipulations and statements analogous and corresponding to those it requires of groups requesting cosponsorship by the Society.

Revised:

8/2/98
5/31/04
3/10/05
8/17/06
9/7/06