Lectures and labs are taught by faculty. Rhodes does not utilize graduate teaching assistants. Because Rhodes only offers undergraduate education, chemistry majors have full access to the equipment and facilities. Classrooms and laboratory space are located in Kennedy Hall, a 22,000 square foot facility. A renovation of Kennedy Hall in the summer of 1999 included the renovation of all teaching laboratories.
Every effort is made to keep the curriculum and equipment current and innovative.
With the rigorous requirements of class work during the academic year, many students choose to undertake research during the summer. In addition to opportunities within the department, chemistry majors also have access to research at a broad selection of universities during the summer months. Chemistry students who are not preparing for graduate level work frequently participate in internships during their education at Rhodes. Recent graduates have taken research and technologist positions at such institutions as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, UT-Memphis, Schering Plough and Roche Biomedical. Following graduation from Rhodes, students have gone to a wide variety of institutions including Vanderbilt, Washington University, Emory, University of Tennessee, Wisconsin, Cornell, Indiana, Florida State University, Cal Tech, University of Washington, University of Arizona and the University of North Carolina.