GEOC Division Strategic Planning
The Division has embarked on a Strategic Planning (SP) exercise to set areas of priority for the next 5 years.
Through this process, the Division aims to reinforce the vision, mission and core values, address current and future needs of the discipline and membership, and align priorities with the ACS Strategic Plan.
The ACS Core Values include global impact; member focus; professionalism, safety, ethics; diversity & inclusion.
Select GEOC challenges, within the context of the ACS SP goals are to:
Disseminate geochemical solutions for local, national and global issues.
Increase member participation in division/society activities; grow the membership. Outreach and education for all learners.
Communicate with the public and policy makers.
GEOC convened a SP committee of 10 to identify goals, objectives and priorities for the next 5 years, establish actions and consolidate resources necessary to achieve goals and design and implement mechanisms to evaluate attainment of goals. The intended outcomes are:
A SP document, GEOC 2021 and Beyond, modeled on the ACS SP and focused on mission, values and goals
An implementation strategy, including proposed resources, actions and mechanisms to achieve goals and an implementation timeline
An evaluation strategy, including mechanisms to assess the impact of interventions
Strategic Planning Process
A survey was conducted in early 2020 and collected valuable inputs from the members to direct the process. These survey results are available in the Fall 2020 Newsletter (page 8). Members identified important aspects such as important activities for GEOC, common motivations for joining GEOC, and GEOC performance for Division-related activities.
In March 2021, a committee of 10 Division members conducted a virtual Strategic Planning Retreat with facilitators from ACS. During the three day virtual retreat, the Division refined its vision (Advancing knowledge of Earth’s chemistry to benefit humanity) and mission (Engage researchers, educators, and students in the advancement and promotion of geochemistry to address societal challenges). We also identified and prioritized 3 major goals and 9 tasks for the next 5 years to achieve this mission.
Strategic Goals
Vision
Advancing knowledge of Earth’s chemistry to benefit humanity
Mission
Engage researchers, educators, and students in the advancement and promotion of geochemistry to address societal challenges
Goal 1: Increase Geochemistry Division membership by a net of 3% each year for the next 5 years
Create a dedicated membership subcommittee.
Create a retention program to include communications and ties with members.
Develop a recruiting program to increase new members.
Goal 2: Provide a professional development program
Organize professional development and technical training workshops at Spring meetings.
Form a subcommittee to promote and apply for funding for professional development programs.
Establish mentor programs to match junior researchers with senior professionals.
Goal 3: Promote high quality geochemical research
Establish both an internal and external relations committee (promotion of research).
Expand programming to non-traditional areas.
Organize special issues and co-sponsored sessions with external societies.
Volunteering
To execute the strategic plans and broaden the impacts of our division, we need your support! We are in search for volunteers for several new division committees, including membership, professional development, mentoring, internal-external relations, and meeting programming. Students and postdocs are welcome! Learn more and volunteer.