THE
FACULTY
SENATE
Senate
Document Number 3506S
Date
of Senate Approval
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Statement
of Faculty Senate Action:
Adding
CHEM 406, 407, 408, 418;
Change course description and credit hours for CHEM 428, 429
Effective Date:
Fall, 2006
1. Add: On
page 79, new course, CHEM 222:
222 Organic Chemistry Laboratory (2)
An introduction to modern organic chemistry
laboratory techniques including contemporary synthesis, isolation,
purification, and characterization methods. Course is intended for students pursuing a degree in
chemistry or a career in the health professions. Prerequisites: CHEM 111, 145,
and 231. Fall.
Impact: More
flexibility for students and more efficiency for the Chemistry Department.
Rationale: The
curriculum currently has the organic laboratory and lecture administratively
built into the same course. This means the allowable limit on laboratory
enrollment necessitates limiting the enrollment in the lecture. With the
lecture and laboratory contained in one course, students must currently
withdraw from the entire course, even though they are performing satisfactorily
in the laboratory, and only need to withdraw from the lecture. Requiring the
first semester of organic lecture as prerequisite for the lab allows students
to be more efficient and perform better. It also allows them to gain experience
in the lecture before committing to a lab experience that they may not need if
they decide to no longer pursue their original area of study. More information
regarding this addition is provided in a comprehensive rationale at the end of
the document.
2. Add: On page 79,
two new courses, CHEM 231 and CHEM 232:
231, 232 Organic Chemistry I and II (3, 3)
An introduction to modern organic chemistry,
including contemporary discussions of structure, properties, synthesis, and
mechanisms. These courses are
intended for students pursuing a degree in chemistry or a career in the health
professions. CHEM 231 prerequisite: CHEM 132. CHEM 232 prerequisite: CHEM 231.
CHEM 231: Spring. CHEM 232: Fall.
Impact: More
flexibility for students and more efficiency for the Chemistry Department.
Rationale: The
curriculum currently has the organic laboratory experience for each organic
course built into the same course as the lecture. This means the allowable
limit on laboratory enrollment necessitates limiting the enrollment in the
lecture. This change allows students to take the organic laboratory at a later
date, after they have gained a substantial background in organic chemistry. It
also allows the department to advise students to take organic chemistry as
their second chemistry course without overburdening the department’s limited
resources. More information regarding this addition is provided in a
comprehensive rationale at the end of the document.
3. Add: On page 79,
new course, CHEM 236:
236 General
Chemistry II (3)
A
general chemistry course with topical coverage including, but not necessarily
restricted to chemical equilibria, electrochemistry,
acid-base theory, oxidation-reduction concepts, aspects of chemical
thermodynamics, and chemical kinetics and reaction mechanisms. Emphasis is
placed upon quantitative problem solving. This course is intended for students
pursuing a degree in chemistry or a career in the health professions.
Prerequisites: Completion of a high school chemistry course, and a satisfactory
score on the Chemistry Placement Examination; or CHEM 132. Pre- or corequisite: MATH 167. Spring.
Impact: More
flexibility and a better pedagogical experience for the students.
Rationale: The second
semester of general chemistry, CHEM 144, is currently taken after CHEM 132, and
immediately before organic chemistry. Although this has been a normal order of
coverage for decades in chemistry departments around the country, the order
does not make good pedagogical sense. The material covered at the end of CHEM
132 is ideally suited to be covered immediately before enrolling in organic
chemistry, while the material covered in the second semester of general
chemistry is ideally suited to be covered directly before enrolling in
inorganic and physical chemistry, two junior-level courses. Equally important
is the recognition nationally that organic chemistry is more applicable to the
majority of the student audience, biology and environmental studies majors, and
pre-health students than second semester general chemistry and should be
incorporated into a student’s education at an earlier point. The addition of
the course allows this to happen. The course being offered at three credit
hours also brings this lecture in line with what is done elsewhere around the
country. More information regarding this addition is provided in a
comprehensive rationale at the end of the document.
4. Add: On page 79,
new course, CHEM 237:
237 Analytical Chemistry (2)
A laboratory-based course with emphasis on
quantitative analyses including gravimetric, volumetric, electrochemical, and
spectrometric analyses.
Laboratory experiments are evaluated on technique, accuracy and precision.
Topics covered include sampling and sample preparation, acid-base and redox equilibria, thermodynamic
properties of ionic solutions, and experimental statistics. Prerequisite: CHEM
145. Pre- or corequisites: CHEM 236 and MATH 191. Spring.
Impact: Strengthens
a current weakness in the educational experience of UNCA chemistry majors by
bringing their analytical chemistry experience in-line with national trends.
Rationale: The
analytical program at UNCA is inconsistent with current modern analytical
chemistry. Our new analytical chemist is modernizing and strengthening the
analytical experience by adding this course to the curriculum.
5. Add: On page 80,
new courses, CHEM 406, 407, and 408:
406, 407, 408 Chemical
Literature Research I, II, III (1, 1, 1)
Directed library research and independent study in a
specialized area of chemistry, which results in a comprehensive, written report
and formal research seminar at the end of CHEM 408. Students submit reports and make presentations
documenting their progress at the end of CHEM 406 and 407. CHEM 406
prerequisite: CHEM 415. CHEM 407 prerequisite: CHEM 406. CHEM 408 prerequisite:
CHEM 407. CHEM 406: Spring. CHEM 407: Fall. CHEM 408: Spring
Impact: This change
provides a more appropriate research experience for BA students, who typically
are going into careers where active undergraduate laboratory research is of
minimal benefit to them. It will decrease the number of students working in the
department’s research laboratories, improving the experience for those who are
doing undergraduate laboratory research.
Rationale: Many
of the students seeking a BA in the major resent having to do research and
treat it as just another requirement that must be completed. Moreover, they
often do not have the skills to be overly successful in the laboratory and
require a substantial amount of extra time and effort from their research
advisors. This typically results in frustration for all involved, including the
other students working in the lab. This is not what the department wants for
its students. This change allows students to participate in a scholarly
activity that is more in line with their desires and skills and is more likely
to produce a productive result.
6. Delete: On
page 81, the entire entry for CHEM 416,
417:
Add: On
page 81, in place of the deleted entry:
416, 417, 418 Chemical Research
I, II, III (1, 1, 1)
Directed laboratory research and independent study in
a specialized area of chemistry which results in a comprehensive, written
research report and formal research seminar at the end of CHEM 418. Students also submit reports and make presentations
documenting their progress at the end of CHEM 416 and 417. CHEM 416
prerequisite: CHEM 415. CHEM 417 prerequisite: CHEM 416. CHEM 418 prerequisite:
CHEM 417. (An IP grade may be given). CHEM 416: Spring. CHEM 417: Fall. CHEM 418: Spring.
Impact: There is no
negative resource impact for the department associated with this change.
However, there is a positive impact on student morale in that they receive
credit for their research effort that is more commensurate with the
department’s expectation of effort and time. While the department still has the
ability to give an IP grade in extraordinary circumstances, the third research
course allows the department to move away from the normal issuing of IP grades,
which prevent students from receiving semester honors for excellent academic
performance.
Rationale: A
quality undergraduate research experience takes time, usually more than two
semesters. Currently, many students take 416 as a first semester junior and receive
an IP grade because their research has not progressed to the point where they
are ready for the final research course. Adding CHEM 418 and reintroducing CHEM
415 back into the requirements will allow students to officially take a
research- oriented course in five consecutive semesters and avoid the need for
an IP grade. This change also brings the amount of academic credit and
departmental expectations more in line with each other.
7. Delete: On
page 81, the course description and title for CHEM 428:
Add: On page 81, in place of deleted
entry:
428 Computational
Chemistry (3)
An introduction to the theory and practice of
computational chemistry, including molecular mechanics, semi-empirical and ab initio molecular orbital theory,
density functional theory, and molecular dynamics. Prerequisite: CHEM 335. Fall.
Impact: Dedicating
an entire class to computational chemistry will have a positive impact on the
student’s education. It also has no resource implications in that the department
now has three highly qualified computational chemists capable of teaching this
course whenever it is offered.
Rationale:
Computational chemistry has been an exploding area of chemistry for the
past several years. In the current curriculum, coverage of this area is limited
to part of a two-credit course. This change brings the coverage of the material
more in line with the importance of computational chemistry in today’s world of
chemistry. UNCA also has three excellent young computational chemists on staff,
giving the institution more expertise in this area than many research
institutions. Students need curricular experience in computational chemistry
for research with any of these three faculty members.
8. Delete: On
page 81, the entire course description for CHEM
429:
Add: On page 81, in place of deleted
entry:
429 Advanced
Inorganic Chemistry (3)
Covers an array of inorganic chemical concepts
including 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, group theory, and aspects of bioinorganic chemistry. Prerequisite: CHEM 335. Spring.
Impact: No negative
impact for the department. This course is already being taught and has simply
been expanded by one credit hour to accommodate the inclusion of group theory.
Rationale: The coverage
of group theory and computational chemistry were combined into a single class a
number of years ago because the department’s only computational chemist at the
time was its inorganic chemist. Since then, two additional computational
chemists have been hired, and the teaching of a computational chemistry course
is not limited to one faculty member. Although group theory is applicable to
many areas of chemistry, it is most appropriate to have it taught in an
inorganic course and the additional credit hour is to accommodate this
inclusion.