Future of the ACS/CPT Approval Program

Promoting excellence in undergraduate and graduate chemistry programs is an important activity of the American Chemical Society. The society has charged the Committee on Professional Training (CPT) with developing and administering guidelines for approval of undergraduate chemistry programs and also with conducting studies to help maintain excellence in postsecondary chemistry education.

Many chemists know of CPT's work from reading the annual compilations of graduates published in C&EN, using the "ACS Directory of Graduate Research" to find information about faculty or departments, or referring to CPT-sponsored surveys, such as the recent ones on graduate education in chemistry and on academic libraries. Department chairs participate in CPT's activities by reporting annual graduation information and by preparing five-year reports describing the programs in their departments.

ACS APPROVAL. Offering an ACS-approved program demands significant effort and commitment by both a department and its institution, but the benefits are many. Approval publicly recognizes the excellence of the chemistry educational opportunities that a program gives its students, and certification of graduates by the chair of an approved program documents the quality of their preparation. All students taking courses in an approved program benefit from a department that has the variety of resources to meet the high standards of approval. Faculty benefit from the commitment to professional development and growth required from approved programs. Departments are able to use approval as documentation of their capabilities and as leverage for obtaining crucial support from their institution.

ACS first established guidelines for approval of undergraduate chemistry programs in 1936 and has modified them over the years to reflect changes in the profession and the needs of the chemistry community. Two recent additions, for example, were the introduction of a requirement in 1999 that all certified chemistry majors have some significant experience with biochemistry and the revision of the chemistry education option degree in 2003 in an effort to increase the number of high school teachers with chemistry training.

CHANGE. Our profession is continually changing. Chemists are dealing with increasingly complex problems, using more advanced techniques and instrumentation, working in a global context, and interacting extensively with other disciplines. For example, the 2004– 06 ACS Strategic Plan states that the society will lead the chemical enterprise into the future by "transforming the definition of chemistry to encompass its true multidisciplinary nature."

Major changes are also occurring in education. Undergraduate pedagogy increasingly emphasizes connections of theory to applications, inquiry-based learning, and team experiences. The student population is becoming more diverse in many ways, such as age, gender, educational history, and national and ethnic background. For example, an increasing number of chemistry students receive part of their education at two-year colleges.

In light of these changes both in chemistry and in education, CPT is beginning a major revision of the ACS guidelines for approval of undergraduate chemistry programs. Our effort supports the ACS Strategic Plan, which states that "ACS will foster and promote chemical education reform to ensure that it reflects the current practice and impact of the discipline and the modern teaching techniques that help students learn chemistry and chemical engineering."

REVISING THE ACS GUIDELINES. To begin examining and revising the ACS guidelines, we are soliciting comments broadly from the chemistry community about the requirements for ACS approval. CPT will summarize and report on the comments that it receives and will use them to inform our work on the guidelines. After our initial assessment, we intend to publicize our proposals and seek additional responses from the chemistry community.

In particular, CPT seeks your comments on several points:

◾ What should an ACS-certified chemistry graduate know and be able to do?

◾ How should a chemistry curriculum balance traditional core courses (such as analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry) with more recently developed interdisciplinary areas (such as biochemistry, environmental science, green chemistry, and materials science)?

◾ What amount and type of laboratory work is appropriate for an ACS-certified chemistry graduate?

◾ What ancillary skills should an ACS-certified chemistry graduate have?

◾ Should approval require that programs regularly assess the effectiveness of their curriculum and pedagogical approaches as a means of improving their efforts?

Education is a shared concern of the entire chemistry community, and we hope to hear as many opinions as possible. The committee values every comment, whether about these particular questions or any other issue related to the ACS guidelines, and will carefully consider each one.

COMMENTS REQUESTED. Please send your comments to CPT by e-mail to cpt@acs.org with a subject of "ACS Guidelines Revision." Receiving your comments within several weeks will be particularly valuable, as CPT will use them in discussions this summer. Of course, we welcome your comments at any time during the process.

The committee looks forward to the participation of the entire chemistry community in the next revision of the ACS guidelines for undergraduate chemistry programs.