Chemistry

Ellensburg
Science 302

509-963-2811
Fax 509-963-1050
http://www.cwu.edu/~chem
Please see the Web site for how this major could be used for educational and career purposes.

Graduate Faculty
Chair
JoAnn P. Peters

Graduate Program Coordinator
Anne Johansen

Professors
JoAnn DeLuca, physical, organic
David G. Lygre, biochemistry

Associate Professors
Anthony Diaz, inorganic, solid state
Martha J. Kurtz, science education
Carin Thomas, biochemistry, toxicology

Assistant Professor
Eric Bullock, physical
Levente Fabry-Asztalos, organic, medicinal
Anne Johansen, environmental, analytical
Tim Sorey, chemistry education

Master of Science Chemistry

Program Objectives and Descriptions

The graduate program in chemistry is tailored to satisfy individual student aspirations and is designed to provide knowledge, skills and discovery within the chemical sciences. The program prepares candidates for professional employment in chemistry careers including industry, consulting, local, state and federal government, and for teaching at the community college or secondary level. Additionally, the program provides a foundation for further graduate studies beyond the M.S. level in chemistry and related fields. Graduate students in chemistry can focus their studies in any of the major areas of chemistry, including biochemistry, organic, physical, analytical and inorganic chemistry, and chemistry education. Emphasis in a specific area through appropriate courses and seminars is enhanced by requisite graduate research. Practical and collaborative internship experiences through industrial, govern-mental, academic research or community college teaching partnerships are possible. The department utilizes state-of-the-art and fully equipped laboratory facilities with an array of modern instrumentation and computation capabilities. Furthermore, it operates a state certified environmental testing laboratory.

Program Admission Requirements: Incoming students are expected to meet the requirements set forth by the graduate school, have earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry or a related field (equivalent to those offered at Central; see requirements for the B.S. and B.A. degrees in chemistry), and demonstrate a potential for superior scholarship. Applicants must provide GRE scores for the general test. Scores from the chemistry subject test may be requested in special cases. If a chemistry background deficiency exists at the time of student admission, it must be removed during the first year of graduate study without graduate credit. International students for whom English is a second language must provide TOEFL scores to demonstrate English proficiency.

Program Requirements: The M.S. degree in chemistry requires a minimum of 45 credits of graduate coursework and research study culminating with a thesis. Sixteen of these credits are research and thesis related (CHEM 595, CHEM 700). The remaining 29 credits are earned from coursework (a minimum of 18 at the 500 level or above). Of the 29 credits, students are required to take at least nine core credits in chemistry, enroll in CHEM 503, Introduction to Research, during the Fall quarter of their first year, and take at least one credit of CHEM 505, Current Topics in Chemistry. Four credits of seminar (CHEM 589 taken twice) are also required. This leaves 14 credits for elective courses. Candidates must also pass a final oral examination on their thesis project and coursework that is administered by candidate’s graduate thesis committee, and prepare a written thesis documenting their graduate research. Normal completion of the Master of Science requires two academic years and an intervening summer of study.

Electives: Fourteen credits of elective coursework at the 400 or 500 level are required for the M.S. degree in chemistry. Elective courses are selected with advising from the thesis committee and provide expertise in the fields of the individual student’s academic interests and research focus and complement professional goals. Elective topics offered by the chemistry department include biochemical toxicology, mechanistic organic chemistry, organic synthesis, environmental chemistry, solid-state chemistry, analytical instrumentation, graduate physical chemistry and chemistry education. Elective courses from other departments (biology, geology, mathematics, physics and psychology among others) may be selected with graduate committee approval.

Graduate Committee: Before the end of the candidate’s second quarter in the program and after consultation with all members of the chemistry graduate faculty, the student will select a thesis advisor to act as chair of the candidate’s graduate committee. The candidate, in consultation with the selected thesis advisor will assemble a three member thesis graduate committee; two members of the committee must be from the chemistry .

Examination: Each candidate must prepare a written thesis that documents the methods, analysis and results of the research they carried out during their graduate study. In addition, each candidate must pass a final oral examination on all phases of the student’s program. The review covering the student’s thesis and coursework consists of a seminar open to the public followed by queries from the thesis committee.