I have been doing a lot of research on the efficacy of Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs). This is part of a personal mission to try to convince the leadership of my institution to stop using SETs for tenure or salary decisions for faculty members. The short version is that SETs are biased against women and minorities. I have been trying to affect change at my institution by beginning conversations and discussions around this topic. I have learned a lot and wanted to share it with the community.

Part of teaching and research in chemistry is learning about and implementing chemical safety. Safety often becomes reactionary, where some large accident occurs (e.g.

Are you ready for... 2019? ...the International Year of the Periodic Table? ...becoming more involved on VIPEr? ...a year full of IONiC Community Challenges? The New Year is a great time to dive in and give back to the community!

Calling all Friends of VIPEr: have you ever wondered how you can give back to the amazing online inorganic community that has brought you learning objects (just in time for class tomorrow), workshops, and ACS symposia on undergradua

Kyle Grice set us up recently with his post. He described how course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are gaining momentum in the chemistry community to replace traditional “cook-book” laboratory experiences. A CURE must follow five characteristics: use of scientific practices, discovery, broadly relevant to the larger scientific community, collaboration, and iteration.

Why do so many chemists fear electrochemistry? Is it because there is no formal home for it in the chemistry curriculum? At any rate, electrochemistry is here to stay, and it’s worth the effort to understand it well. Electron transfer reactions are at the heart of modern energy applications, and electrochemistry is a useful tool for studying mechanistic inorganic chemistry. If our analytical colleagues aren't going to assume the mantle, then it's up to us, the inorganic chemists, to add it to our ever-growing list of topics.

Greetings loyal BITeS readers. I am currently in lovely Claremont, California with most of the Leadership Council for our annual project meeting. I'm here to give you a little behind the scenes look at what happens when we get together. After a long day of travel for most of us on the 1st, we started bright and early on the 2nd. The first day of the meeting focused on our current research project. Our fellows site is going to continue to develop and our first round of fellows will be meeting this summer in Dearborn, MI.

We are excited to announce our next IONiC/VIPEr summer workshop! This workshop will be held at Smith College in Northampton, MA, from June 4-7, 2019.

Finals week has just started and all I can say is "Wow." It was a busy semester for me just as I am sure it was for you our loyal BITeS readers. I've added a few more things to my list of things I wish I had learned about being a professor before I got started as one. Someday that will make for an interesting BITeS, but today is certainly not that day. I've also learned that "because I am stupid" is more often than not a good answer to any question that starts with "Why did you...?" (Followed by "and I'm sorry" when appropriate.)