THE
FACULTY
SENATE
Senate
Document Number 3606S
Date
of Senate Approval
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Statement
of Faculty Senate Action:
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.