American Chemical Society

The Evolution of the ACS Approval Process: Moving

beyond the 2008 Guidelines

Anne B. McCoy

Department of Chemistry

The Ohio State University

Columbus, OH 43210

BCCE Symposium on The Evolution of the ACS Approval Process: Moving beyond the 2008 Guidelines

July 31, 2012

A bit of background

• The ACS approval program was instituted roughly 75 years ago, growing from 65 approved programs in 1940 to 667 approved programs today

• In 2008, CPT adopted the current Guidelines, which represented a significant departure from earlier Guidelines

– Greater curricular flexibility

– Greater emphasis on student skills

• In January 2012, we began an internal self-evaluation, as a first step in the development of the next version of the Guidelines

• Today’s symposium will combine information from Committee members about the Guidelines and approval process and small and large group discussion

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The remainder of today’s symposiumThe evolving landscape of chemistry education.

Richard Schwenz (University of Northern Colorado) 9:55

Small Group Discussion (10:15-10:35)

The role of undergraduate research in the certified chemistry major

Thomas Wenzel (Bates College) 10:35am

Break 10:55-11:10

The increasingly multidisciplinary nature of chemistry.

Joseph Francisco (Purdue University) 11:10am

Challenges in preparing professional chemists: Imparting and assessing student skills

Joel Shulman (University of Cincinnati) 11:30am

Small Group Discussion (11:50-12:10)

Panel Discussion (12:10-12:30)

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Areas for discussion:

• Faculty and Staffing issues

– Definitions; contact hours; support staff

• Technology and non-traditional curricular structures

– Online courses; virtual laboratories; non-traditional course materials; uses of innovative technology; integrated courses

• Role of undergraduate research

• Student skills and infrastructure

– Local instrumentation; general chemistry; student skills; balance between emerging fields and traditional subdisciplines

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