Program Overview
College of Natural and Health Sciences
Location: Ross Hall 1210
Telephone: 970-351-3082
Email: nhsadvising@unco.edu
Website: www.unco.edu/nhs/chemistry
Advising Information:
Students must consult with their assigned major advisor each semester prior to registering.
To find your advisor, log into ursa.unco.edu; go to 'Student' tab and click 'View Student Information' link. If no advisor is listed, contact the major program for advisor information.
The program consists of four parts:
- Liberal Arts Curriculum (LAC) Credits
- Required Major Credits
- Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) Credits
- University-Wide Credits
*For Educator licensure majors, PTEP coursework counts towards the minimum of nine upper-division UNC credits (300-400).
Program Description:
This program is designed to prepare students as secondary school chemistry teachers licensed in science by the Colorado Department of Education. In addition to a strong background in chemistry, students will receive training in biological sciences, physics, earth sciences and mathematics. Students receiving this degree can be certified by the American Chemical Society. See advisor for details.
Students graduating with this degree concentration will be well prepared to teach chemistry and other sciences in junior and senior high school. Students completing this program will be prepared to pursue graduate study in chemical education or science education.
The program will take four-five years to complete depending on high school background and the point in the educational career at which the program is entered.
Program Admission Requirements:
Academic Good Standing
Program Requirements:
- All students in the program must take an assessment examination before graduation.
- Students majoring in chemistry must earn a grade of “C” or better (C- is not acceptable) in all courses having a CHEM and SCED prefix which count toward the major.
- In accordance with University Policies, coursework earned more than 10 years prior to the date of matriculation to UNC may not be used to satisfy any major or minor requirements. Any exception to this policy is at the discretion of the academic program.
Program Recommendations:
- Graduate level CHEM courses are recommended for juniors and seniors. Other recommended electives include MATH 132, MATH 221, MATH 335, STAT 150, PHYS 321 and PHYS 343.
- It is recommended that students have a fundamental background in computers.
- Qualifying students may be eligible for a five-year program resulting in a B.S./M.S. degree. Consult your advisor early in your program for details.
PTEP Program Requirements:
Teacher candidates who complete an approved content degree and the UNC professional teacher education program, as well as pass the appropriate Colorado Department of Education designated PRAXIS exam (if applicable), will be eligible for recommendation from UNC for a Colorado Department of Education teaching license.
Teacher Candidates seeking licensure in this licensure program must complete the following program requirements:
- Maintain program GPA requirement
- Completion of Application for Initial Admission to PTEP - referred to as Checkpoint #1 (This checkpoint requires an out-of-pocket payment - to the chosen approved vendor - to obtain a fingerprint background check, which is required by the Colorado Department of Education.)
- Enrollment in this teacher licensure program results in a one-time program fee (Teacher Preparation Program Fee) assessed the semester of the first field experience course.
- Completion of Full Admission to PTEP - referred to as Checkpoint #2
- Completion of Application for Student Teaching - referred to as Checkpoint #3
- Completion of content specific PRAXIS test the semester prior to Student Teaching (if applicable)
- Candidates may not take extra courses with Student Teaching without prior approval from the Program Coordinator and the Associate Dean in charge of Educator Preparation.
- All PTEP courses, practicum field experiences, and methods courses need to be successfully completed prior to Student Teaching.
- A teacher candidate may be removed from the UNC teacher licensure pathway if they fail to meet professional, academic, or dispositional standards set by the program. In such cases, the student may continue in a different degree program and graduate; however, they will not receive a recommendation for licensure.
- Supervision of Student Teaching outside of UNC Faculty will be considered for approval.
- Teacher Candidates will not be placed in a school where they have a close relative attending and/or working. If teacher candidates need an exception to this, they will need approval from the Associate Dean in charge of Educator Preparation.
- Teacher Candidates placed in a middle or high school they once attended must notify their program coordinator and the Field Placement Officer immediately for a possible change in placement.
- Teacher education and educator preparation licensure programs do not accept Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) or field based courses that are more than ten years old. PLEASE NOTE: Teacher Candidates have the right to petition this policy at the discretion of the program coordinator.
Teacher Candidates work with the content advisor and/or Program Coordinator to determine when these requirements will be completed throughout the licensure program.
Degree Requirements — 121 Credits
1. Liberal Arts Curriculum — 31 credits
To complete the degree in 121 credits as outlined, the program recommends the below LAC courses that also count toward the 70 required major credits.
Any additional coursework completed outside of the recommended list below may extend the length of the program of study.
Written Communication — 6 credits
SCI 291 is recommended to fulfill Intermediate Written Communication requirement and will fulfill both the major requirements and the liberal arts curriculum.
See Written Communication courses
Mathematics — 3 credits
MATH 131 is recommended to fulfill Mathematics requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
See Mathematics courses
Arts & Humanities, History, Social & Behavioral Sciences, U.S. Multicultural Studies [MS], and International Studies [MS] — 15 credits
To complete the LAC in the minimum number of credits, be sure to choose at least one course with an IS designation and one course with an MS designation.
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Arts & Humanities, History, and Social & Behavioral Sciences courses
Natural & Physical Sciences — 7 credits
CHEM 111, CHEM 111L, and BIO 110 are recommended to fulfill Natural & Physical Sciences requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
See Natural & Physical Sciences courses
See Liberal Arts Curriculum
2. Required Major — 70 credits
Take all of the following courses:
| BIO 110 | Biology: Atoms to CellsLAS1LASLGT-SC1 | 4 |
| CHEM 111 | Principles of Chemistry ILAS1GT-SC1 | 4 |
| CHEM 111L | Principles of Chemistry I LaboratoryLAS1LASLGT-SC1 | 1 |
| CHEM 112 | Principles of Chemistry II | 4 |
| CHEM 112L | Principles of Chemistry II Laboratory | 1 |
| CHEM 331 | Organic Chemistry I | 4 |
| CHEM 331L | Organic Chemistry I Laboratory | 1 |
| CHEM 332 | Organic Chemistry II | 4 |
| CHEM 332L | Organic Chemistry II Laboratory | 1 |
| CHEM 321 | Chemical Analysis | 4 |
| CHEM 360 | Environmental Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 441 | Inorganic Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM 450 | Survey of Physical Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 450L | Survey of Physical Chemistry Laboratory | 1 |
| ECLD 260 | Language Acquisition in Multilingual SocietiesLAB3LAMSGT-SS3 | 3 |
| MATH 131 | Calculus ILAX1GT-MA1 | 4 |
| PHYS 220 | Introductory Physics ILAS1LASLGT-SC1 | 5 |
| SCI 291 | Scientific WritingLAW2GT-CO2 | 3 |
Science Licensure
| BIO 111 | Biology: Organisms to EcosystemsLAS1LASLGT-SC1 | 4 |
| ESCI 365 | Advanced Earth Science Concepts | 3 |
| MET 205 | General MeteorologyLAS1LASLGT-SC1 | 4 |
| PHYS 221 | Introductory Physics II | 5 |
| SCI 101 | Nature of Science | 1 |
3. Required PTEP — 36 credits
Phase I (5 credits taken concurrently)
| EDF 290 | Foundations of Education | 3 |
| STEP 161 | Observation and Analysis of Secondary Teaching I | 2 |
Phase II (8 credits taken concurrently)
| STEP 262 | Observation and Analysis of Secondary Teaching II | 2 |
| EDSE 201 | Culture of Special Education | 3 |
| PSY 349 | How Students Learn | 3 |
Phase III (11 credits taken concurrently)
| STEP 363 | Clinical Experience: Secondary | 2 |
| ECLD 341 | Content-Based Literacies for Equitable Access to PK-12 Instruction | 3 |
| ET 275 | Integration of Technologies in PK12 Teaching and Learning | 3 |
| SCED 441 | Methods of Teaching Secondary School Science | 3 |
Phase IV (12 credits)
4. University-Wide Credits — 0 credits*
*Note: Students must apply the recommended courses to both the liberal arts curriculum requirements and the major requirements to complete this degree program in 121 credit hours. Students may have an increased number of university wide electives to apply to this degree depending on the number of credits applied to both the LAC and the major. See your advisor for details.
This degree has received an exemption from the state to exceed the 120 credit hour limit.
ACS Certification obtained by completing the following:
Program Notes
All Students in the program must take an assessment examination before graduation. Students wishing to participate in the Honors Program should consult their advisors about LAC selections and other requirements.
A minimum grade point average of 2.5 in chemistry courses and a successful interview with members of the chemistry faculty are required for admission to PTEP, for eligibility to student teach, and for graduation.
Transfer students must take chemistry courses from two different UNC faculty before applying for admission to PTEP.