THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE

                                                                   FACULTY SENATE

 

Senate Document Number     3606S

 

Date of Senate Approval      04/13/06  

 

 

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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

 

APC Document  27:                              Changing Procedures for Declaring a Major in Chemistry

 

Effective Date:  Fall 2006

 

1.         Delete: On page 77, the paragraph under Declaration of Major in Chemistry

 

            Add:     On page 77, in place of deleted entry:

 

Students wishing to declare a major in chemistry must satisfy the LANG 120 requirement. Prior to declaring, the student must also:

 

1.  complete CHEM 222, 231, 232; MATH 191, 192; PHYS 221; and  LSIC 179 or 379.

2.  be enrolled in, or have completed CHEM 236, 237 and 380.

3.  have an overall GPA ≥ 2.00.

4.  have a GPA ≥ 2.30 in a minimum of seven credit hours of course work required for the

chemistry major, to include one chemistry lab course.

 

Students considering a major in chemistry should speak with a faculty member in the department. They are also encouraged to complete an Intent to Declare a Chemistry Major form, available from the Chair of Chemistry. Once this form is submitted, an advisor from the Chemistry department will be assigned to the student, facilitating student participation in departmental functions.

 

Impact:  No negative impact on the department. The positive impact is that students can obtain a faculty advisor in the department prior to declaring, and can declare their major once they know they are capable of majoring in chemistry. Students should also know at this point whom they want as their major/research advisor.

 

Rationale:  A number of students have recently declared chemistry majors before they knew if they could successfully complete all of the requirements, and the faculty within the Department of Chemistry believe that a student’s research advisor and faculty advisor should be one and the same. Since the choice of a research advisor occurs in the student’s fourth semester, the department feels that it is appropriate to require students to complete the above requirements before declaring a major. However, department planning is difficult without adequate knowledge of the number of students interested in the department, and students need access to quality and accurate advice early in their careers. Therefore, the department is also instituting an intent to declare process so students can be tracked and advised prior to officially declaring a major.

 

2.         Add:     On page 77, after the Declaration of Major in Chemistry section:

 

Remaining a Chemistry Major

Students who have declared a major in chemistry remain in good academic standing within the department if their GPA for courses required by the department remains at or above a 2.00 for BA degrees and 2.30 for BS degrees. If the GPA in courses required by the department falls below the aforementioned levels, the student will be placed on departmental warning and will have two semesters to raise the GPA to the required level. Should satisfactory improvement not occur within the allotted time, the department reserves the right to revoke the student’s major in chemistry. If this occurs, students may redeclare once their GPA has risen above the requisite level.

 

Impact:  This addition will have a positive impact on resources in that students will know that majoring in chemistry is a privilege and not a right, and that proper academic progress is required to remain a chemistry major.

 

Rationale:  As was mentioned above, a number of students who should not have chosen chemistry as a major, because they are not capable of completing the course work, remain in the department and continue to take limited resources away from other students. In addition to negatively impacting the other students in the department, the students in question are done a severe disservice by remaining in a major they will likely be unable to complete or, at best, will be unsuccessful with after they graduate.