Dear Member,
Another busy month has come and almost gone by for the RACI National team. I am pleased to let you know that we are nearing completion of our new website and launch of our My RACI online community. The website is constructed to provide as much information as possible about the RACI, our members, and what we do. The website is looking great, and I hope will be a useful resource for you and those outside.
The website is feature packed and I am particularly pleased to see the new Member Resources section that will provide you with answers to the most asked questions. The website will also link directly to the My RACI online community which contains a wealth of further information and the ability to connect with each other. Once live, My RACI will be Australia’s largest online community for chemistry professionals and enthusiasts.
We aim to launch the website and the new My RACI online community soon. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the site is as accurate and error free as possible, please bear in mind that it will take some time for any issues to be picked up and addressed, however if you do see something wrong, please do let us know. We aim to run a number of information sessions for our members on the new system, in addition to the considerable number of resources available via the developer of the system.
On other matters I am pleased to see the establishment of the new School Science Educator Advisory Group. This group is comprised of a stellar group of current school science educators from across Australia and we are fortunate to have several Prime Minister’s prize for science winners on deck.
The group will support the Education & Outreach Unit to design and deliver new initiatives that will help increase the visibility of chemistry amongst school children, and support school science educators with their professional journey. I briefly attended the inaugural meeting of the group and have seen ideas for initiatives that have been discussed, and I look forward to seeing them realised. It is important that we invest in initiatives that are relevant to the current teaching and learning needs within our schools, and the RACI must continue to stay at the forefront of supporting school science education.
With regards to our existing school initiatives, these will continue, with the Branches responsible for the delivery of the Titration Competition, Titration Teacher Challenge, Crystal Growing Competition, and Youth Lecture Series. RACI National will provide support and details of this, is currently being worked out.
RACI National will be responsible for running the national Chemistry & Art Competition, and the International Chemistry Quiz (ICQ). The ICQ is now open for registrations and further details will be out shortly about the Chemistry & Art competition this year.
The Events & Awards Unit has been busy assisting with a range of events. It is great to see more larger events planned for the year ahead which will no doubt be well received. The Unit itself is also getting ready for the use of the new My RACI online community that will allow our community leaders access to event set up and information unlike they have had before. This is time consuming work, as information is being shifted from one system to another. Information sessions will be run for community leaders on the new system, please keep an eye out for announcements on when they will occur.
On the membership front it is great to see growth. Since cleaning up our database and with the increased effort in promoting activities, the RACI is seeing a growth in members, not only is the RACI gaining new members, it is also retaining more members, as a result the RACI has seen a net increase in members. We are also excited about the opportunities for partnership with universities, schools, and industry. To support this, we have been having discussions with various parties and have concluded successful discussions which have led to new partnerships. By increasing our partnerships with universities, schools, and industry we will see more opportunities for individual members. More to come so watch this space.
Cheers,
Shenal
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