The ACS Examinations Institute is unique among academic disciplines. It produces nationally normed exams for most chemistry courses, ranging from high school through the entire undergraduate chemistry curriculum in the United States. Many graduate programs use ACS Exams to measure the content knowledge of students starting graduate school.

All ACS Exams are created by committees of educators who teach the course for which an exam is intended. No governance body of the American Chemical Society dictates content coverage of any exam. In this sense, while the exams produced by the Institute can rightfully be called standardized exams, they are the result of volunteer, grass-roots efforts from teachers “in the trenches”. Few, if any standardized tests in the US are derived from such a format.

The Examinations Institute has two tiers of leadership: one that works with the development of our exams and other intellectual property, and another that more directly manages the business components of the Institute.

Kristen Murphy, a chemistry professor from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, is the Director of the Exams Institute. She assumed this position in July 2015, after spending 10 years as the Associate Director. Jeffrey Raker, a chemistry professor from the University of South Florida, is the Associate Director, also assuming that position in July 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Julie Adams is the Business Operations Manager who oversees the Business Office in Berthoud, CO, which is responsible for the delivery of test materials for the Examinations Institute.

The Berthoud office has two additional staff members, Cherie Mayes, office assistant, who works with fulfillment and bookkeeping activities and Steve Koester, shipping clerk, who serves as the shipping coordinator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The operations of the Examinations Institute are overseen by the Board of Trustees – a committee of the Division of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society.

How to Become Involved

The value of assessment materials to the chemical education community is a direct result of volunteer efforts of hundreds of high school and college chemistry educators from throughout the United States. The programs of the Examinations Institute provide an excellent way to become involved in national programs of the Division of Chemical Education, and we always welcome volunteers. The best way to begin is to offer your service on a test committee in your area of specialization. Send an email message to: acsexams@examsinstitute.org with your name, complete address (including phone, FAX, and email), and a short paragraph describing your professional background and teaching situation.