2012-2013 Undergraduate Bulletin [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
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 Return to: College of Science and Technology
Sabine Heinhorst, Chair
601.266.4701
Bell, Booth, Buchanan, Cannon, Heinhorst, Holder, Huang, Ledford, Masterson, McCormick, Miao, Pon, Rangachari, Wallace, Whitehead
Chemistry majors work toward the Bachelor of Science degree. There are four emphasis areas that lead to this degree: the American Chemical Society (ACS)-certified emphasis, the American Chemical Society (ACS)-certified emphasis in biochemistry, the biochemistry emphasis and the chemistry emphasis. All four emphases prepare students for careers in private industry or government and for admission to graduate programs in the chemical sciences, medicine, dentistry and other science-related professional programs. For information about advanced degrees in chemistry at Southern Miss, please see the Graduate Bulletin. Licensure to teach secondary school chemistry may be obtained through the chemistry emphasis. Special characteristics of each emphasis area are noted below.
Chemistry majors must satisfy the General Education Curriculum requirements of the university and the College of Science and Technology. The semester-hour requirement depends on the emphasis area studied. A minor is not required. Corresponding lecture and laboratory courses must be taken simultaneously. For a chemistry major to enroll in any chemistry course, he or she must have a grade of C or better in all prerequisite science and math courses. A chemistry major is allowed a total of three repeats in 100-, 200- and 300-level prerequisite science and math courses to achieve the required grade of C or better; any course may be repeated only once. To graduate, a grade of C or better must be achieved in all courses counted toward the chemistry major.
ACS-Certified Emphasis in Chemistry
Students completing this emphasis are certified by the Committee on Professional Training of the American Chemical Society and take a minimum of 49 semester hours of chemistry course work. The mathematics and science courses must be taken with the prerequisites or corequisites listed in this Bulletin. Key features of the curriculum are a requirement for physics with calculus (PHY 201 /PHY 201L , PHY 202 /PHY 202L ), mathematics through differential equations (MAT 285 ), and several senior-level chemistry courses (CHE 411 /CHE 411L , CHE 431 /CHE 431L , and CHE 496 ) with physical chemistry as a prerequisite. Students contemplating using this emphasis as preparation for admission to a professional school should consult with a preprofessional adviser about taking additional life sciences courses.
ACS-Certified Emphasis in Biochemistry
This area is a hybrid of the ACS-certified chemistry emphasis with the biochemistry emphasis. Incorporating a rigorous grounding in mathematics and chemistry with several courses in the life sciences, this emphasis area is an excellent preparation for graduate school in a biochemistry-related field. Students interested in scientific careers in biochemistry research are, therefore, encouraged to consider the ACS-certified biochemistry emphasis area.
Biochemistry Emphasis
This emphasis requires a minimum of 64 semester hours of chemistry, including 11 hours of senior-level biochemistry (CHE 421 /CHE 421L , CHE 422 , CHE 424 ) and 20 hours of biological sciences. It provides an excellent preparation for medical or dental school because of its extensive life sciences content. Students contemplating using this emphasis as preparation for careers as chemists in industry or government or for entry into graduate school in biochemistry or chemistry are strongly encouraged to take a full year of physical chemistry (CHE 461 /CHE 461L and CHE 462 /CHE 462L ).
Chemistry Emphasis
The advantage of this emphasis is its flexibility. The larger number of elective hours allows the student to take a minor or even a double-major in many other academic areas. This emphasis requires a minimum of 48 semester hours of chemistry. It requires nine semester hours of calculus, but it does not require completion of physics with calculus (PHY 201 /PHY 201L , PHY 202 /PHY 202L ), although this is strongly encouraged. Students contemplating using this emphasis as preparation for admission to a professional school should consult with a preprofessional adviser about taking additional life sciences courses.
Secondary School Teaching Licensure
An option with the chemistry emphasis allows the student to obtain Mississippi Department of Education secondary teaching licensure in chemistry, physical science and general science. The program requires a minimum of 39 hours of chemistry course work. Course work in biological sciences (BSC), geology (GLY) and physics (PHY) is also required, as are science education courses CIS 302 , SME 460 - Methods in Teaching Science — Secondary and SME 489 /SME 490 (Student Teaching). See degree plans for details. Students pursuing a degree in chemistry with licensure must earn a grade of C or higher in all chemistry courses and in all required professional education courses.
In addition, required teacher education courses include the following 15 hours: CIS 302 , REF 469 , SPE 400 , CIS 313 . Students must consult an adviser in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the current Bulletin for prerequisites and proper sequencing of courses.
Students who complete this program are eligible for a license through an NCATE-approved program. ProgramsBachelor of ScienceNon-degree
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