Chemistry Department Receives ACS Accreditation

Published: May 07, 2010 | Read Time: 2 minutes

The Southern Utah University College of Science is pleased to announce the recent accreditation of their chemistry department by the American Chemical Society (ACS). This accreditation ensures that SUU’s program is comparable to other top chemistry programs in the nation.

“While chemistry has been very successful in placing its students in employment with a bachelor’s degree, and in graduate programs in chemistry or the allied health fields, this accreditation will improve the marketability of an SUU chemistry degree even more,” said Terry Alger, professor of chemistry.

The chemistry department first began the ACS application process in April of 2003. In order to gain accreditation, the ACS requires a written report of the program and a consistent record of quality chemistry education. Through standardized exams that evaluated SUU's chemistry program against others in the nation. SUU's students and programming came out on top, placing SUU's chemistry department in the top 5-10 percent of all colleges and universities nationwide.

“This certification validates a long standing tradition of quality chemistry at SUU,” said Professor of Chemistry Ty Redd.

The ACS provides an array of services for chemists in all employment situations, with particular interest in the continuing advancement of chemical education.

To ensure a standard of performance that is consistent and at a very high quality level to allow national and international competitiveness, ACS has established a very detailed list of input levels which they evaluate among higher ed chemistry programs nationwide.

The ACS examines what courses are offered in a chemistry program, to ensure that it meets their standards. They also look at what types of tests are offered, teaching loads of faculty, how many students are in each class, and the facilities and equipment available. The process then concludes with a visit from an evaluator to the campus.

Submitting its initial application for accreditation seven years ago, the Department of Science at SUU is proud to have finally attained American Chemical Society accreditation and looks forward to building on its proven foundation to continue to meet the interests and demands of its students and the chemical professional fields.

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