Mission

The mission of the undergraduate biochemistry program is to develop students' knowledge in the modern foundations underlying biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, microbiology, and chemistry. The program will foster a culture that values our students, strives to help them become self­learners and promotes an understanding that social consciousness and ethical behavior are essential features of a principled biochemistry community. The program will train students for graduate programs in science or as professionals in a variety of school, government or private laboratory positions.

Program Educational Objectives

1. Graduates will work as members of multidisciplinary teams (pharmaceutical, biology and chemistry) and develop and practice written and oral communication skills, both within the team and for a broader audience.
2. Graduates will have the ability to solve theoretical and open­ended biochemical problems with opportunities to design and conduct biochemical experiments to meet specific needs and constraints.
3. Graduates will recognize the importance of continued self­improvement, to engage in lifelong learning, and to advance the well­being of our community through an understanding of the social, ethical and cultural context of their work.

Program Outcomes

a. Students will bring together the modern foundational knowledge underlying biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, microbiology, and chemistry.
b. Extrapolate the understanding of the relationships between chemistry and biological sciences.
c. Explain, model and conceptualize chemical and life processes at the molecular level.
d. Manipulate, synthesize, and analyze molecules and their properties using contemporary laboratory equipment, methods and computer software.
e. Practice safe handling of equipment, molecules, and organisms.
f. Apply concepts of approximation, estimation, precision, and accuracy in biochemistry data acquisition.
g. Communicate the results of their work to chemists, biologists or to a lay audience.
h. Recognize the need for and have the ability to engage in lifelong learning.
i. Find employment in a health laboratory, in industry or in government, or be accepted into graduate studies or find employment in school systems.
j. Develop an awareness of ethical, professional and social issues and responsibilities.