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Education

The ACS Approval Program And Research Universities

William F. Polik, Chair, and F. Fleming Crim, Vice Chair; ACS Committee on Professional Training

by William F. Polik, Chair, and F. Fleming Crim, Vice Chair; ACS Committee on Professional Training
October 23, 2006 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 84, Issue 43

Crim
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Credit: Larsen Photography
Credit: Larsen Photography

Research universities are major producers of undergraduate chemists, awarding half of the more than 10,000 bachelor's degrees in chemistry each year. They also educate a large cohort of domestic and international graduate students and are the center of the academic research enterprise. Research universities are essential players in undergraduate education not only because they produce undergraduate chemists but also because they shape the doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars who become the teachers of the next generation. For all of these reasons, research universities are important participants in the current work of the Committee on Professional Training (CPT) to develop new guidelines for ACS approval of undergraduate programs.

Polik
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Credit: Hope College Photo
Credit: Hope College Photo

ACS is unique among major scientific societies in offering a voluntary approval process for programs that award a bachelor's degree. The society, through CPT, approves programs. The chair of an approved program certifies the degrees of those graduates who meet the requirements of the society. Approval gives the imprimatur of the society to chemistry programs that meet high standards of commitment and educational experience, and the guidelines for approval are a point of comparison and aspiration for many programs. We believe that a close connection between research universities and the ACS approval program works to their mutual advantage in at least four ways:

  • The ACS approval program affects the preparation of students entering graduate school.
  • It is a means of influencing the educational enterprise widely.
  • It is a way to bring the newest science into many different programs.
  • It furthers the preparation of chemistry graduates for a variety of postgraduate opportunities.

Research universities are both consumers and suppliers of undergraduate chemists, producing new talent for other graduate programs while recruiting students to their programs. The ACS approval program provides an opportunity for research universities to transmit their desires about preparation of students to the entire community, but they need to "walk the walk" by preparing their students to those same standards. Research universities need to be on both sides of the equation, offering approved chemistry degree programs to create outstanding bachelor's chemists and recruiting such well-prepared undergraduates into their graduate programs.

The motivations for the involvement of the research universities in the ACS approval program go beyond this relatively simple quid pro quo. One is the intellectual leadership that research universities provide. Educational institutions often examine other programs to identify the directions in which they should head, and research universities are one significant source of shared educational strategies. Institutions measure their success, in part, by their ability to place students in top graduate programs. Research universities profoundly influence undergraduate education beyond their walls, both directly and indirectly.

The breadth of scholarship at a research university is one of its great virtues, leading to a variety of course offerings and a keen awareness of emerging areas. Scholarship areas and degree tracks at research universities can identify the hot new topics that undergraduates should see. An approval process in which the research universities actively participate can help bring the newest research ideas into the curricula of a variety of institutions.

The utility of a broad undergraduate experience in chemistry is another reason for faculty of research universities to care about ACS approval. A broad, molecular view of the world is the hallmark of modern chemistry, and the approval process seeks to establish a corresponding breadth in the education of certified bachelor's graduates. It is hard to believe that the "next big idea" will not rest on a molecular understanding of the world. A student with a narrow preparation is less able to seize new opportunities or to bring the organizing principles of chemistry to bear on new phenomena. Because students are unlikely to pursue an area to which they have received no introduction, the approval program promotes exposing students to many aspects of chemistry. Giving students a broad base on which to build their careers is a goal of the approval process and motivates the central idea that an approved undergraduate program should offer a range of experiences to the certified graduate.

Research universities should be central players in the ACS approval program for reasons that are both altruistic and self-interested. Their involvement is good for students, good for science, and good for them.

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of ACS.

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