Chemistry

Master of Arts in Chemistry (94)
Master of Science in Chemistry (95)

Contact Person:
Dr. David A. Lindquist
Chemistry Department
(501) 569-8827
dalindquist@ualr.edu

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK 
Plan No. 94/95
Assessment Progress Report Form - Calendar Year 2004

I. USE OF ASSESSMENT FOR PROGRAM BUILDING AND IMPROVEMENT:

The 20th century saw the rise and maturation of the full strength of chemical knowledge in all areas of existence of advanced societies. We now live in a largely post chemistry world in which all of the essential material gifts that chemistry can provide have been given; a world in which the price of our poor stewardship must now be paid. In particular, the tremendous energies inherent in fossil fuels and the consequence of their abuse are finally going to get the respect they deserve. Delusions of a belief in alternative outcomes with new yet to be realized principles and elements, or of hypocritical prescience nostalgia are palpable.

At this year’s Pittcon, the Pittsburgh Conference & Exposition on Analytical Chemistry & Applied Spectroscopy, a plenary speaker was the noted MIT carbon chemist Mildred Dresselhaus. Her remarks are typical, to quote from the “Chemical and Engineering News” article of March 28, 2005. 

Electricity was not discovered by incremental improvements to the candle, and imaginative leaps will likewise be needed to solve the energy challenge. “I’m optimistic we’ll be able to solve the energy problem,” she said. “Why? Because great advances are made in science all the time and there are things we can do that we have not yet been thinking about.”

Nanoscience can help by providing advanced materials with novel properties- such as highly selective nanoscale catalysts for ammonia synthesis, which is “one of the largest energy-consuming processes of the industrial world, commanding about 1% of the world’s energy production.”

 In lieu of a miracle, or of enacting conservation measures, desperate efforts are now being exhausted to realize a hydrogen economy. A major portion of the Department of Energy budget has now been diverted to this red herring. In other strange developments, the Department of Defense budget is slated for another substantial increase and cuts are in store for the National Science Foundation. The illness of our addiction is starting to show and an increasingly barbaric and feudalistic society imminent.

Considering the dire straits we face, what are some bright spots for chemistry? What are the approaches necessary and the types of training we should be providing for the next generation of chemists? There are no easy answers, and all have substantial costs.

1.   The most promising advances are and will continue to be made in biochemistry. In the face of other degrading societal factors, some benefits should continue to come from the new biotechnologies:            proteomics, bioinformatics, genetic engineering, etc. Benefits of improved agricultural yields, higher nutritive value in food crops, new medicines, and the synthesis of useful compounds by bacteria are examples 

2.   The dangerous attacks against scientific principles, although rooted in denial, are also due to increasing scientific illiteracy. Teacher preparation programs must increase science content and chemistry students should be encouraged to become teachers.

3.   Chemistry professionals must strive harder to examine their motivations in light of the increasingly difficult choices that will be required of them. Careless optimism that may be lucrative in the short term will not be effective in the long term.

 4.  Hypothesis driven, sole investigator studies will not improve our lot. Interdisciplinary team approaches give the best shot at success.

In the end there may be nothing we can do to change course. Max Weber who coined the term “protestant work ethic” wrote in the preface to his book on the subject: “It is true that the path of human destiny cannot but appall him who surveys a section of it, but he will do well to keep his small personal commentaries to himself, as one does at the sight of the sea or of majestic mountains.”

II. FACULTY AND STAKE HOLDER INVOLVEMENT:

With apologies to the reader, this brief report reflects less on student assessment than on program assessment. The majority view among the chemistry graduate faculty is that a student already trained as an undergraduate, must seek their own future as they see fit. The traditional assessment measures of exams and the thesis remain the most valid means of monitoring progress. However, for the undergraduate in their formative years of training, the emerging assessment tools focused on feedback are a good thing.

We are pleased that in 2004 five students (four MS and one MA) completed their degrees, besting a long-term average of three a year. The increase is also significant by virtue of the fact that Applied Science now draws some students. We are also pleased that one of our 2004 graduates received the Outstanding Graduating Graduate Student award for the College. With the exception of one, who remains a choir director in their church, the graduates are working in their chosen field of study. Two are now PhD candidates in the Applied Chemistry option of the Department of Applied Science. The other two are employed in the private sector, one as a drug chemist at the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory and the other as a high school teacher in Jacksonville. Six new students entered our graduate program in 2004 so we are hopeful that we will continue to produce successful graduates in the coming years.