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From: Steven Funck <sfunck**At_Symbol_Here**MESSIAH.EDU>
Subject: Re: ACS accreditation of undergraduate programs
Date: Jan 5, 2011 13:05 UTC
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Stacy: Below are some comments from my
Chair who has a lot more experience in this area than I do. Good
luck.
"For years, the ACS accredited degree in Biochemistry has
been just
what you described - a complete chemistry degree with a few additional
biology courses. This has been what the ACS has required. For
this
reason, some schools that really wanted a more interdisciplinary
biochemistry degree decided the ACS degree in biochemistry was not what
they wanted and they didn't pursue it. At my first position, we had
some significant scholarships for ACS degree bound students, and so we
had both programs accredited, even though we didn't like the looks of
the ACS biochemistry degree. I mention this to show that some
schools
will have good reasons for using the ACS accredited degree, even though
it seems quite lopsided. And certainly some chemists feel that the
rigorous training in chemistry will serve any student well (but likely
for graduate school, not necessarily when pursuing alternate careers.)
<
br>In
2008, the Committee on Professional Training for the American Chemical
Society made significant changes to the curriculum requirements for
accredited degrees, leaving the door open for degree programs in all
sorts of areas: environmental chemistry, biochemistry, materials,
forensics, etc. Any accredited program requires a core course in
each
of five disciplines: organic, inorganic, biochemistry, analytical
and
physical chemistry. Four upper level courses must build on these.
But
it has seemed to most everyone that this leaves more room for
interdisiplinary programs. The upper level courses can be outside of
chemistry if they have significant chemistry content and build on
introductory courses. For this reason, I think that a course like
molecular biology would work in this new system, as well as others.
For
schools that are now pursuing accreditation, this is the most certain
route to go. But for schools that are already accredited, they know
that their program is strong, and acceptable, and there may be no
reason to change. It is also possible that some of the faculty have
strong feelings about the chemistry content as well.
I think the
B.A. option is a good one for your daughter. She is the very kind of
student that we hope to attract with a new B.A. degree that we just
developed. Yes, an accredited degree looks good, but for her, it
doesn't have the courses that she needs the most. What you do know
is
that all the courses at institution X are strong and meet the standards
of the American Chemical Society. That's what will count when
medical
schools look at her transcript and when she takes the MCAT.
R
oseann K. Sachs
Professor and Chair
Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry
Messiah College
Grantham, PA 17027
Messiah College
Natural
Sciences Laboratory Programs Manager
Box 3049
1 College Ave
Granth
am, PA 17027
717-796-1800 ext. 2079