THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE

FACULTY SENATE

Senate Document Number 8111S

Date of Senate Approval 04/28/11

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

APC Document 65: Remove MATH 365 as a required course in B.S. Concentration in Chemistry

Effective Date: Fall 2011

1. Delete: On page 91, under Bachelor of Science Degree – Concentration in Chemistry:

19-20 hours distributed as follows: CHEM 315, 335, 413, 416, 417, 418, 428, 429; one 2-3 hour upper-level CHEM course; MATH 365. MATH 291 is also recommended for those planning on graduate study in chemistry.

Add: On page 91, in place of deleted entry:

16-17 hours distributed as follows: CHEM 315, 335, 413, 416, 417, 418, 428, 429; one 2-3 hour upper-level CHEM course (CHEM 390, 411 or 499 cannot be used to fulfill this requirement). MATH 291 and MATH 365 are recommended for those planning on graduate study in chemistry.

Impact: 

There is no impact on the staffing and resources of the department of chemistry. There will be a small reduction in number of students taking MATH 365, Linear Algebra I. However, that class is required for Mathematics majors and regularly has high enrollment (36 students in Fall 2010, 31 in Spring 2010), so this change will have minimal impact.

Rationale: 

Recent changes in the certification of chemistry degrees by the American Chemical Society have eliminated requiring mathematics courses beyond Calculus II. The majority of chemistry majors have been taking MATH 365 in their final year, and it is not a prerequisite for any courses in chemistry. We feel that it is a core experience for students intending to go to graduate school, particularly in the physical side of chemistry, and would encourage majors interested in graduate studies to take it.

We are also including the list of courses that cannot be used to satisfy the upper-level elective course. 390 and 499 are variable credit-hour research courses (three research courses are already required: 416, 417, 418), and 411 is Laboratory Assistantship in Chemistry. Students must take courses other than these to complete the requirement. These courses have been excluded from the list of possible electives for quite some time, and this has been communicated during advising. Adding the exclusions to the catalog formalizes the process.