Special Opportunities Upperclass students may compete for paid teaching assistant positions. This program is popular with students not just for the salary they earn, but because of the experience they gain. They are chosen on the basis of academic record and an interview. The assistants teach general chemistry laboratories under the direction of a full-time laboratory coordinator who works closely with them in the laboratory. After training, they present prelaboratory lectures, teach the laboratories, grade lab reports, and hold help sessions.
Students also serve as paid assistants in the chemistry department stockroom.
Through the American Chemical Society Affiliates group, students host outside speakers, take field trips to observe how chemistry is used in area businesses, and give chemical demonstrations and presentations in the community. The program provides individual advising beginning in the first semester at the College, and coordinates physician-alumni mentor programs and opportunites for research, internships, and volunteer experiences. A laser spectroscopy laboratory is available for physical chemistry teaching and research. All departmental instrumentation is available for student use in classes and research after appropriate training. After Graduation Upon completion of B.S. or A.B. degrees in chemistry or biochemistry, graduates have been very successful in their pursuit of entry into high quality graduate and medical degree programs, and in gaining employment in industry.