Senate Bill 1011-01
UNIVERSITY SENATE
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Introduced by: Undergraduate Academic Council
Date:
October 18, 2010
AMENDMENT OF EXISTING CHEMISTRY HONORS B.S. PROGRAM AND CREATION OF A
COMPREHENSIVE FORENSICS EMPHASIS WITHIN CHEMISTRY HONORS B.S. PROGRAM
IT IS HEREBY PROPOSED THAT THE FOLLOWING BE ADOPTED:
1.
That the existing Chemistry Honors track be amended as outlined in this proposal.
2.
That a Forensics track be added as an option within the existing Chemistry Honors B.S.
program.
3.
That this proposal be forwarded to the President for approval.
4.
That the proposal take effect upon the President's approval.
Rationale:
This bill proposes the creation of a second emphasis within the Department of Chemistry Honors
B.S. due to the popularity of the Department’s Forensics offerings amongst their Honors students. The
Department of Chemistry has expressed a desire to see acknowledgment on their official transcripts
that student work involved study in the field of forensics chemistry. The requirements for students in
the "standard" B.S. Honors Chemistry emphasis are sufficiently different from those for a "Forensics"
B.S. Honors student that the Department of Chemistry feels this split of the Honors Chemistry
program into two emphases is warranted. The proposed Comprehensive Forensics Honors emphasis
is modeled on the existing B.S. Chemistry/Comprehensive Forensics emphasis, except that research
or internship that leads to an honors thesis and seminar are explicitly required among the advanced
electives, in addition to minimum GPA requirements.
The Department of Chemistry has requested that the emphasis be made available retroactive to Fall
2007 in order to accommodate two current students who are in the Honors College and who will
graduate in May 2011. These students have received advisement congruent with the proposed
emphasis, and will have no trouble meeting the proposed requirements as laid out in this bill.
Senate Bill 1011-01
Additional Information:
Following is proposed bulletin text that reflects the changes contained in this bill. Underlined areas
are new text; the remainder is existing approved text. The Chemistry Department has suggested a
number of small changes to the existing bulletin text to correct for errors, update course numbers and
reflect changes to policy. The rationale for these broader changes to the Honors program are:
(1) The overall and major GPA requirements for entrance to and continuation in the Honors B.S.
Chemistry degree program have been lowered to 3.25 and 3.50, respectively, from 3.50 and 3.60,
respectively, at the suggestion of Dr. Jeffrey Haugaard, Director of the Honors College. The new
GPA numbers align the Department of Chemistry with the vast majority of other Departments that
have Honors degree programs.
(2) The number "A Chm 122" has been removed; this was a remnant of the course renumbering
exercise some years ago and this mistake was not previously picked up. Also, A Chm 352 is a writing
intensive course and should be listed as A Chm 352Z.
(3) A choice of courses is now provided for the yearlong Physical Chemistry sequence (A Chm 350 or
444 and A Chm 351 or 445), in agreement with our other B.S. Chemistry degrees.
(4) Laboratory course A Chm 353 (3 credits) is no longer offered by the Department. We have
replaced it with a laboratory course chosen from A Chm 417, 430, 446, or 450 (all are three credits).
(5) The requirement for "six credits of advanced chemistry, not including research courses" has been
replaced with "A Chm 442 and three credits of advanced chemistry, not including A Chm 425 or 426."
The inclusion of A Chm 442 (3 credits; Biochemistry) allows the Honors B.S. degree to meet
requirements for certification by the American Chemical Society; the research course numbers have
been included to make their exclusion more explicit.
(6) A Chm 424 is no longer offered by the Department and has been removed from the required
courses. Attendant corrections to required numbers of total credits have been made, including one
previous typographical error.
Senate Bill 1011-01
Honors Program – Proposed Bulletin Language
The honors program in chemistry is designed for outstanding students enrolled in the general program
leading to the B.S. degree, Chemistry Emphasis, or in the Comprehensive Forensic Chemistry
Emphasis. Students may apply for admission to the honors program by submitting a letter of request
to the department chair no later than April 15 of the sophomore year (for admission in the Fall) or
November 15 of the junior year (for admission in the Spring). Junior transfers may apply at the time
of their admission to the University. Primary emphasis will be placed on indications of academic
ability and maturity sufficient for applicants to pursue with distinction a program involving
independent research.
The minimum requirements for admission include: (1) Completion of A Chm 120 or T Chm 130, A
Chm 121 or T Chm 131, 122, A Chm 124, 125, 220, 221, 222, 223, 225 or their equivalents; (2) An
overall grade point average of 3.50 3.25; (3) A grade point average of 3.60 3.50 in chemistry courses
required for the major; and (4) Written recommendations from at least two faculty members, one of
whom, preferably should be from outside the Department of Chemistry.
Students in the program must maintain both a minimum grade point average of 3.50 3.25 overall and
of 3.60 3.50 in chemistry courses taken to satisfy major requirements during the junior and senior
years. The progress of participants in the honors program will be reviewed at the end of the junior
year by the student's adviser and the Departmental Undergraduate Committee. Students not meeting
academic and independent research standards at that time may be precluded from continuing in the
program during their senior year. These students may, of course, continue as majors.
Students may select from the following two emphases:
(1) Honors B.S. Chemistry, Chemistry emphasis: students in this emphasis are required to complete
a minimum of 71 70 credits as follows: in addition to the 19 credits listed above and the
mathematics and physics requirements listed for the general B.S. Chemistry program, chemistry
emphasis, A Chm 350 or 444, 351 or 445, 352Z, 353, 420, 442, three credits of advanced
laboratory chosen from A Chm 417, 430, 446, or 450, and
six
three credits of advanced
chemistry at the 400 level, not including research courses (64 63 credits total); AChem424
(1Credits), 3 credits of A Chm 426 (Undergraduate Research), and 4 credits of A Chm 427
(Honors Undergraduate Research). The independent study must include an honors thesis and
departmental seminar by the end of the student's last semester.
Senate Bill 1011-01
(2)
Honors B.S. Chemistry, Comprehensive Forensics emphasis: students in this emphasis are
required to complete a minimum of 82 credits as outlined in the general B.S. Chemistry
program, comprehensive forensics emphasis, with the exception that the 9 credits of
electives must come from A Chm 426, 427, 455, and R Crj 202. The independent study must
include an honors research project, culminating with a written honors thesis and
departmental seminar by the end of the student's last semester.
