THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE
FACULTY SENATE

Senate Document Number 1301S

Date of Senate Approval 01/18/01

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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

APC Document 11: Revision of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Concentrations within both the BA and BS Chemistry degrees.

Effective Date: Fall, 2001

I. Changes to the course listings.

A. Freshman and Sophomore Year Offerings

1. Replace on page 77, 2000-01 catalog, in the 111 description,

"Prerequisites: CHEM 132 or 144. Fall and Spring." with "Does not count for the major or the minor in Chemistry. Pre-or co-requisites: CHEM 132. Fall and Spring."

Rationale This change encourages students to take CHEM 111 simultaneously with CHEM 132, but allows students the flexibility to take it afterwards should the need arise. It also allows students who would benefit from a more interactive, hands on approach to learning, i.e., women and minorities, to maximize their experience while at the same time allowing students to fulfill their interdisciplinary natural science general education requirement.

2. Replace on page 77, 2000-01 catalog, in the 132 description,

"Co-requisite" with "Prerequisite"

Rationale This change is intended to significantly minimize the problems currently being encountered in CHEM 132 with a lack of quantitative and mathematical preparedness on the part of the students and improve the entire learning experience.

3. Replace on page 77, 2000-01 catalog, the 144 title and course description with

144 Introductory Quantitative Chemistry (4)

A general chemistry course with topical coverage including but not necessarily restricted to chemical equilibria, electrochemistry, acid-base theory, oxidation-reduction concepts, chemical kinetics and reaction mechanisms, and aspects of chemical thermodynamics. Emphasis on quantitative problem solving. Prerequisite: MATH 163 or equivalent; CHEM 132 and 111 or a satisfactory score on the Chemistry Placement Examination. Fall and Spring.

Rationale This change provides for a more accurate description of the content of CHEM 144 as it is currently being taught and how it will be taught in the future. Students intending to major in chemistry will be advised to enroll simultaneously in the newly created CHEM 145 lab (see below) in an effort to maximize their educational experience. CHEM 145 is not listed as a co-requisite to provide credit-hour flexibility for students from other disciplines.

4. Add on page 78, 2000-01 catalog, before 190

145 Quantitative Chemistry Laboratory (1)

In this laboratory, students will work in small research teams to design, implement, and analyze an interdisciplinary group project. In addition to the group project, students will learn many methods of quantitative analysis including volumetric analysis, pH measurements, spectrometry, and chromatography. Topics covered also include project design, sampling and sample preparation, acid-base and oxidation-reduction equilibria, and experimental statistics. Pre- or co-requisite: CHEM 144. Spring.

Rationale This addition results from a number of factors. First, the department recognizes that a hands on approach to general chemistry education is pedagogically the best way for students to learn (see overall rationale at the end of the document). Secondly, it stems from the elimination of CHEM 223, quantitative analysis, from the curriculum as part of the department's effort to more equitably distribute the learning load throughout a student's career (see overall rationale at the end of the document). Finally, it goes towards reducing the number of hours within the chemistry degrees.

5. Delete on page 78, 2000-01 catalog, the entire 222 entry.

Rationale This deletion also results from a desire to link lecture and laboratory learning and to expand the department's commitment to a research based learning experience.

6. Delete on page 78, 2000-01 catalog, the entire 223 entry.

Rationale This change results from a number of factors. First, the department recognizes that a hands on approach to general chemistry education is pedagogically the best way for students to learn (see overall rationale at the end of the document). Secondly, it stems from the department's effort to more equitably distribute the learning load throughout a student's career (see overall rationale at the end of the document). Finally, it goes towards reducing the number of hours within the chemistry degrees.

7. Delete on page 78, 2000-01 catalog, the entire 233 entry

Rationale This change stems from the department's desire and effort to redistribute more equitably the requirements of the major throughout a student's career. This course will be recreated at the 300 level (see item B.3. below).

8. Replace on page 78, 2000-01 catalog, the 231,232 entry with

234 Structure and Reactivity of Organic Molecules (4)

An introduction to modern organic chemistry that deals primarily with the three-dimensional structures of various organic functional groups and the relationship between structure and reactivity from both a thermodynamic and kinetic point of view. Spectroscopic analysis and identification is also covered in detail to facilitate work in the laboratory. The laboratory experience will expose students to isolation, purification, and characterization techniques that are essential to synthetic success. Prerequisite: CHEM 144. Fall.

235 Introductory Synthetic Organic Chemistry (4)

An introduction to specific organic reactions, organized by common mechanisms, with an emphasis on the design and implementation of multistep syntheses. The laboratory experience will center on the students using the laboratory techniques and skills from CHEM 234 along with lecture concepts to design and implement a synthetic scheme. Prerequisite: CHEM 234. Spring.

Rationale This deletion also results from a desire to link lecture and laboratory learning and to expand the department's commitment to a research based learning experience.

B. Junior and Senior Year Offerings

1. Delete on page 78, 2000-01 catalog, the entire 312 entry.

Rationale This change also results from a desire to link lecture and laboratory learning and to expand the department's commitment to a research based learning experience.

2. Replace on page 79, 2000-01 catalog, the 314 and 315 descriptions with

314,315 Physical Chemistry I and II Lab (1,1)

A series of experiments involving physical measurements, which provide an examination of various statistical procedures used in the reporting of data. Individual experiments will demonstrate fundamental principles of physical chemistry. Also included will be group, multi-week projects requiring students to design and conduct experiments and communicate results in written and oral format. Experiments will involve modern instruments, vacuum systems, and use of cryogenic fluids. CHEM 314 Pre-or co-requisite: CHEM 334. CHEM 315 Pre- or co-requisite: CHEM 335. CHEM 314: Fall. CHEM 315: Spring.

Rationale This change provides for a more accurate description of the content of the physical chemistry laboratory courses as they are currently being taught and how they will be taught in the future. It also expands the department's commitment to a research based learning experience and allows students who can benefit from a more interactive, hands on learning approach to maximize their experience.

3. Add on page 79, 2000-01 catalog, before 332,

328 Elements of Inorganic Chemistry (3)

A course that focuses on the systematic study of the chemical properties of selected main group, transition metal, and inner transition metal elements and compounds. Topics will also include inorganic chemistry of the elements based on modern principles of atomic structure and periodicity, chemical bonding, acid-base behavior, intermolecular forces, kinetics, and thermodynamics. Prerequisite: CHEM 145. Fall.

Rationale This change stems from the department's desire and effort to redistribute more equitably the requirements of the major throughout a student's career. This course replaces 233 (see item A.7. above).

4. Replace on page 79, 2000-01 catalog, the entire 332 description with

332 Instrumental Analysis (4)

Principles of analytical chemistry with emphases on instrumental methods and theory including potentiometry and electrolytic methods, molecular and atomic spectrochemical analysis, separation and derivatization methods, mass spectrometry, chromatography and electrophoresis. Methods of error reduction and experimental statistics are also included. In addition to introductory experiments on major instruments, students will complete a semester long independent project as part of a group. Completion of PHYS 231 prior to enrollment is recommended. Prerequisites: CHEM 145. Spring.

Rationale This change provides for a more accurate description of the content of the course as it is currently being taught and how it will be taught in the future. It also expands the department's commitment to a research based learning experience and allows students who can benefit from a more interactive, hands on learning approach to maximize their experience.

5. Delete on page 79, 2000-01 catalog, the entire entry for CHEM 333

6. Replace on page 79, 2000-01 catalog, the entire 334 and 335 descriptions with

334 Physical Chemistry I (3)

A study of chemical phenomena using fundamental physical principles and methods of calculus. Topics include an introduction to quantum theory, molecular symmetry, atomic and molecular spectroscopy, and chemical kinetics. Prerequisites: CHEM 235; PHYS 221; MATH 192. Fall.

335 Physical Chemistry II (3)

A continuation of the study of chemical phenomena using fundamental physical principles and methods of calculus. Topics include the study of the kinetic theory of gases; thermodynamics of gases, liquids and solids; phase and chemical equilibrium; phase diagrams; diffraction techniques for solids; and statistical thermodynamics. Prerequisite: CHEM 334. Spring.

Rationale This change provides for a more accurate description of the content of the physical chemistry courses as they are currently being taught and how they will be taught in the future.

7. Replace on page 79, 2000-01 catalog, in the CHEM 336 description, the words "CHEM 232 with a grade of C or better" with "CHEM 235."

8. Add on page 79, 2000-01 catalog, the following entry so it precedes the entry for CHEM 390.

380 Chemical Research Methods (1)

An introduction to research projects directed by the chemistry faculty and to fundamental concepts of research in chemistry. Use of both classical chemical literature and computerized information sources will be discussed. Students will be introduced to the presentation of research results using both poster format and oral communication methods. Prerequisites: CHEM 235. Fall.

Rationale This addition also expands the department's commitment to a research based learning experience and to a redistribution of the major requirements throughout a student's career. This course will assume some of the responsibilities currently associated with CHEM 412, Information Systems, which is being eliminated (see item 9 below).

9. Delete on page 80, 2000-01 catalog, the entire 412 entry.

Rationale This deletion stems from the department's commitment to a research based learning experience and to a redistribution of the major requirements throughout a student's career. It makes no sense to have students wait until their senior year to become literate about chemical information when they will need to evaluate such information in most of their preceding courses. Topics and material currently covered in this course will be redistributed to CHEM 145, 234, 235, 314, 315, 332, and 380.

10. Replace on page 80, 2000-01 catalog, within the description for CHEM 413, "CHEM 333" with "CHEM 328"

Rationale This change stems from a reorganization of the department's inorganic offerings and their distribution throughout a student's career.

11. Replace on page 80, 2000-01 catalog, within the title for CHEM 416,417, "(1-3, 1-3)" with (1,1) and add in the description "A student will also give a seminar on his or her research at the end of CHEM 417." before CHEM 416 prerequisite

Rationale This change stems from the department's efforts to accommodate the university's desire to limit majors to 60 credit-hours and from an agreement within the department to have consistent expectations of students who are involved in undergraduate research.

12. Add on page 80, 2000-01 catalog, the following entry so it follows the entry for CHEM 416,417

428 Group Theory and Computational Chemistry (2)

An introduction to the role of symmetry in structural chemistry and spectroscopy, and to the use of computational methods in structure determination and chemical properties. Point groups, character tables, uses of reducible representations, and transition probabilities. Molecular mechanics, semi-empirical methods, ab initio and density functional theories for computer-aided molecular structure calculations and drug design. Prerequisites: CHEM 328; 334. Fall

Rationale This change stems from the recent trend emerging in all areas of science of computers being used to design, run, and in some cases actually replace experiments. Knowledge about how to obtain computational insight into the understanding and interpretation of chemical phenomena is essential if chemistry students are to be successful after they graduate.

13. Add on page 80, 2000-01 catalog, the following entry so it precedes the entry for CHEM 430.

429 Advanced Inorganic Chemistry (2)

Inorganic chemical concepts including such topics as stereochemistry, structure and reaction chemistry of coordination compounds and selected compounds of representative elements, ligand field theory and electronic absorption spectra of transition metal complexes, structural and mechanistic aspects of organometallic compounds, introduction to cluster chemistry and aspects of bioinorganic chemistry. Prerequisites: CHEM 335; 428. Spring.

14. Replace on page 80, 2000-01 catalog, within the description for CHEM 436,437, "CHEM 436 prerequisite . . . Spring" with "Completion of CHEM 336 prior to enrollment is recommended. CHEM 436 prerequisite: CHEM 334. CHEM 437 prerequisite: CHEM 436. CHEM 436: Spring. CHEM 437: Fall"

II. Changes to degree requirements

A. Replace on page 75, 2000-01 catalog, under "Major in Chemistry for the Bachelor of Science Degree, Concentration in Chemistry," all of the degree requirements with the following:

I. Required courses in the major--43-44 hours, including: CHEM 144, 145, 234, 235, 314, 315, 328, 332, 334, 335, 380, 413, 416, 417, 428, 429, 436; and one 300 or 400 level course, excluding CHEM 390 and 411.

II. Required courses outside the major--19 hours, including MATH 191, 192, 365; PHYS 221 and 231(or 222); MATH 291 is also highly recommended for those planning to go to graduate school in chemistry.

III. Other departmental requirements--Chemistry Department Comprehensive Examination and a grade of C or better in CHEM 416 and 417 to demonstrate practical, written, and oral competency in chemistry.

B. Replace on page 76, 2000-01 catalog, under "Major in Chemistry for the Bachelor of Science Degree, Concentration in Biochemistry," section I and III with the following:

I. Required courses in the major--41-42 hours, including: CHEM 144, 145, 234, 235, 314, 315, 328, 334, 335, 336, 380, 416, 417, 436, 437; and one 300 or 400 level chemistry course or related course approved by the Chair of Chemistry, excluding CHEM 390 and 411.

C. Replace on page 76, 2000-01 catalog, under "Major in Chemistry for the Bachelor of Arts Degree, Concentration in Chemistry," section I and III with the following:

I. Required courses in the major--36 hours, including: CHEM 144, 145, 234, 235, 314, 332, 328, 334, 380, 413, 416, 417; and eight hours of 300 or 400 level chemistry courses, excluding CHEM 390 and 411.

D. Replace on page 76, 2000-01 catalog, under "Major in Chemistry for the Bachelor of Arts Degree, Concentration in Biochemistry," all of the degree requirements with the following:

I. Required courses in the major--38 hours, including: CHEM 144, 145, 234, 235, 314, 334, 336, 380, 416, 417, 436; BIOL 116; and seven hours of 300 or 400 level biology courses approved by the Chair of Chemistry.

E. Replace on page 76, 2000-01 catalog, under "Major in Chemistry for the Bachelor of Arts Degree, Chemistry with Teacher Licensure," section I and III with the following:

I. Required courses in the major--36 hours, including: CHEM 144, 145, 234, 235, 314, 328, 332, 334, 380, 413, 416, 417; and eight hours of 300 or 400 level chemistry courses, excluding CHEM 390 and 411.

Impact Statement
This change effectively does not impact the day-to-day function of the Chemistry Department. Recent enrollment data indicate that all of the changes covered by this proposal will result in an increase of only one-hour in the chemistry department's faculty contact hours. The impact of chemistry students upon the departments of Mathematics and Physics should be minimal since students will simply be switching courses. The increased flexibility that results from a less prescriptive approach to the biology requirements does not change the number of courses that students must take within the biology department. There is no chemistry student impact on Environmental Studies or Industrial and Engineering Management since chemistry majors are not required to take course in these programs.

This change will not impact University requirements or the education Department's Licensure Programs. The impact on departments that require chemistry courses is as follows

Current Proposed

A. Atmospheric Science
All Majors

CHEM 111 and 132 CHEM 111 and 132(4 hours) (4 hours)

B. Biology
All Majors

CHEM 111, 132, and 144 CHEM 111, 132, and 144(9 hours) (9 hours)CHEM 231 CHEM 234(3 hours) (4 hours)

(Ecology and Evolution Conc.)

CHEM 222 and 232 CHEM 235

(an option, not required)

(5 hours) (4 hours)
(Cell and Molecular Conc.)CHEM 222 and 232 CHEM 235(5 hours) (4 hours)

Note 1: The option of substituting CHEM 223 for 222 disappears with elimination of CHEM 223 from the curriculum.

Note 2: This is an increase of one hour to the General Biology concentration that is the recommended degree option for students seeking teacher licensure with a degree in biology.

Current Proposed

C. Environmental Studies
All Majors

CHEM 111, 132, and 144 CHEM 111, 132, and 144(9 hours) (9 hours)

(Pollution Control Conc.)

CHEM 223 and 231 CHEM 145 and 234
(an option, not required)(5 hours) (5 hours)

(two of these courses)

CHEM 222, 232, 332 CHEM 235, 332
and ENVR 321 and ENVR 321
(5-8 hours) (8 hours)

(Ecology ...Conc.)

NA NA
(Nat. Resource Mgmt Conc.)NA NA
(Earth Science Conc.)CHEM 222 and 231 CHEM 234(5 hours) (4 hours)

Note 3: The organic chemistry is an option, not a requirement for Earth Science concentration students. They may take PHYS 131 instead.

D. IEMT
All Majors

CHEM 111, 132, and 144 CHEM 111, 132, and 144(9 hours) (9 hours)

E. MathematicsCHEM 111, 132, and 144 CHEM 111, 132, and 144
(Pure Mathematics Conc.)(9 hours) (9 hours)

Note 4: This is one of three ways in which students may fulfill a major requirement. They may also take ECON 101 and 102 or PHYS 221 and 222.

(Applied Mathematics Conc.)

NA NA

(Statistics Conc.)

NA NA

(Teacher Licensure)

CHEM 111, 132, and 144 CHEM 111, 132, and 144

(9 hours) (9 hours)

Note 5: The chemistry is an option for teacher licensure students; they may also take PHYS 221 and 222.

F. Physics

CHEM 111, 132, and 144 CHEM 111, 132, and 144

(9 hours) (9 hours)

Rationale
A. Linkage of lecture and laboratories in the freshman and sophomore years and a research-based laboratory curricula.

In 1995 the National Science Foundation announced a new program to initiate "systemic change in the way introductory chemistry is taught" in colleges and universities across the nation. Since then, over $5 million has been invested in five initiatives that were beta-tested beginning in 1996-97. In general, these projects promote an interactive community of learners that encourages collaboration between students and faculty, and encourage interaction of persons in different disciplines. The common themes from all five studies can be summarized below.

1. Instructional methods that actively engage students in the process of learning are most effective.

2. Group learning or peer-led teams help students develop communication skills, cooperative attitudes, and teamwork experiences that industry leaders have identified as essential skills in the workplace.

3. Lectures and laboratory experiments should be closely integrated. Laboratories should be discovery-based and project orientated with fewer verification laboratories (laboratory spaces must be flexible with a minimum of casework, have space for students to work in teams, have spaces for "lectures" and with spaces for multiple, weeklong projects). One of the five NSF supported initiatives actually eliminated formal lectures and taught chemistry using a "laboratory only" approach; however, this approach is resource intensive. Pedagogues that merge the lecture and laboratory experiences are most effective. Important characteristics of the laboratory are

a. laboratory curricula should eliminate verification experiments and minimize skill development experiments;

b. laboratories should focus on development of student's problem solving abilities;

c. laboratories should help student's identify, develop, and refine their method of solving scientific problems;

d. laboratory experiments should facilitate sophisticated data acquisition and analysis and communication of results (we should provide more computer intensive laboratories, and all computer systems must be networked for rapid access to databases and publication houses); and

e. laboratory curricula should be more "research intensive" (we should expect many more student project laboratories and easy access to advanced laboratories for students at all times).

These NSF initiatives show that the trend in science education is (a) to blur the traditional distinction between the lecture and the laboratory and (b) to have a discovery-based and project orientated laboratory experience. Students learn science best by "doing science" and an undergraduate research program is the ideal vehicle to deliver this modern instructional environment. The curricula proposed by the chemistry department satisfy the first objective by greatly increasing the linkage between the lecture and laboratory experiences for the freshman and sophomore level courses. CHEM 111 laboratory will be integrated with CHEM 132 and the same will be true for organic I and II lecture and laboratories. CHEM 144 will have a CHEM 145 laboratory that students in selected majors will take. We are unable to have the laboratory required for all the students who enroll in CHEM 144 because we lack faculty resources to teach all of these students. We have eliminated the CHEM 223, Quantitative Chemistry, 2 credit hours, and replaced it with the CHEM 145, a one credit hour laboratory.

Also, an additional objective is to lay a solid foundation for students so that they can fully benefit from a research-centered experience in the upper level courses in the major. A research centered curriculum requires that student be able to use the scientific literature if they are in "investigative" laboratories. We have eliminated CHEM 412, Chemical Information Systems, and the information in that course will be distributed among CHEM 145, the organic chemistry laboratories and CHEM 380, a new course titled Chemical Research Methods. In this manner students will learn to use library resources early in their education rather than waiting until they are seniors.

Another goal was to reduce the number of science courses required during the sophomore year for our chemistry majors. In the past, students often enrolled in Calculus II and III, Organic Chemistry I and II, CHEM 223-Quantitative Chemistry, CHEM 233-Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry and Physics I and II in the sophomore year. This was an extreme burden. We have moved the quantitative material and descriptive inorganic to the freshman and junior years, respectively.

A final goal is to reduce the number of hours required by the BS degree (chemistry concentration) from 65-70 hours.

B. Enhancing the research core experiences for chemistry majors.
The previous section developed the rationale for a research-centered curriculum. Currently, the BA program only requires one research course and the BS requires two research courses. None of these curricula have a research methods course. We have found that students need to work 2 or more semesters to have a meaningful learning experience in the research laboratory. The new research core is CHEM 380, Chemical Research Method, and the existing courses, CHEM 416/417, Chemical Research I/II. All students will give seminars about their research in CHEM 417. Therefore, CHEM 415, Chemistry Seminar, is no longer required.

C. Addition of computational chemistry to the curriculum.
A recent trend emerging in all areas of science is the importance of computational insights in the understanding and interpretation of chemical phenomena. At the same time "wet-chemical" methods are being replaced by instrument-based analyses and understanding biochemistry is now critical to many areas of chemistry. As a consequence, (a) the two credit hours CHEM 223, Quantitative Chemistry is replaced by CHEM 145 and (b) CHEM 436, Biochemistry I and a new course, CHEM 428, Group Theory and computational Chemistry, are now required for the BS degree with a chemistry concentration. Even though, these two courses have been added to the BS degree/chemistry concentration the total number of required hours has been reduced from 65-70 credit hours to 62 credit hours.