Chemistry Department

College of the Sciences
Ellensburg
Science Bldg., room 302

509-963-2811
Fax: 509-963-1050
www.cwu.edu/chemistry
See website for how this program may be used for educational and career purposes.

Faculty and Staff
Chair
Levente Fabry-Asztalos, PhD

Professor
Anthony Diaz, PhD, inorganic, solid state
Martha J. Kurtz, PhD, chemistry and science education
JoAnn Peters, PhD, organic, mechanistic
Carin Thomas, PhD, biochemistry, toxicology

Associate Professors
Levente Fabry-Asztalos, PhD, organic
Anne Johansen, PhD, environmental, analytical
Tim Sorey, PhD, chemistry education

Assistant Professors
Gil Belofsky, PhD, organic
Stephen Chamberland, PhD, organic
Yingbin Ge, PhD, physical
Todd Kroll, PhD, biochemistry
Dion Rivera, PhD, physical, analytical

Lecturers
Bing-Lin Chen, PhD, general
Robert Rittenhouse, PhD, general

Staff
Emil Babik, instrument technician
Tony Brown, stockroom manager
Don Davis, computer technician
Julie Khyler, safety officer
Mari Sorey, stockroom assistant
Lisa Stowe, secretary
Jeff Wilcox, instrument technician

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 MS 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, governmental, 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: Admission to CWU requires a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution. In addition, applicants must earn a minimum of a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) in all course work attempted in at least the last 90 quarter (60 semester) hours of recognized academic work. Admission decisions are based on a combination of factors: GPA, letters of recommendation from professors and others able to critically assess success in a graduate program, statement of purpose, standardized test scores (if applicable), academic preparation for work in the proposed field, and interests as matched with those of our faculty are all taken into consideration. Admission to the Chemistry Graduate Program requires an earned undergraduate degree in chemistry or a related field (equivalent to those offered at Central; see requirements for the BS and BA 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, appropriate courses must be taken to fill these gaps 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 MS 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. The first 2 credits of CHEM 589 consist of a research proposal written by the student and a one hour professional seminar based on this document. The research proposal should be a maximum of 10 pages in length (12 point, double spaced) and be composed of an introduction (including a brief survey of related work), objectives of proposed research, description of experimental approach, expected outcomes, and projected time line. The document is to be submitted to committee members at least one week before the scheduled seminar and must be approved by the committee as a condition of receiving credit. It is advised that the student take these credits before completion of his/her third quarter as a graduate student. The second 2 credits of CHEM 589 are the final oral examination on the student’s thesis project. A written thesis has to be prepared and submitted to the committee members following procedures specified by the Office of Graduate Studies and Research. Candidates must also pass a final oral examination on their thesis project and coursework that is administered by the candidate’s graduate thesis committee. 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 MS 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 faculty.

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.

Programs

Master of Science

Chemistry, MS