The lab switch in Chem 17-27 heralds future curriculum changes now being considered by a special committee chaired by Mallinckrodt Professor of Chemistry George M. Whitesides. Members of the committee, which meets weekly this term, include Professors Gregory L. Verdine, Cynthia M. Friend and James G. Anderson.
Professor of Chemistry David A. Evans, who is the chair of the department, says the committee has been meeting more frequently recently as the need for change becomes more pressing.
"The committee will be evaluating every aspect of the undergraduate and graduate curriculum," Evans says. "There could be a substantial revision, not just cosmetic changes, nine months from now."
Evans says such a major rethinking occurs about every 10 years. The last such major change occurred in 1984-85, when Dudley Herschbach was the chair and the two-track introductory organic chemistry system was initiated.
"Our collection of courses is in need of serious analysis," Evans says. "We may need to improve our course offerings to better convey the excitement of chemistry."
Students have apparently been interested in making changes in the department for a while. Two years ago, Virginia K. Loo '95-'96 and Sue Y. Kim '95 formed an undergraduate organization called the Association of Harvard-Radcliffe Chemistry Students (AHRCS), which was formed, according to Loo, because "the Chemistry Department needed more interaction between students and faculty."
AHRCS meets two to three times a semester, sponsors events such as faculty dinners and offers information on jobs and internships of chemistry concentrators. The organization also provides a way for under-class students to get advice from upperclass students about the concentration, Loo says.
Though Loo says all chemistry concentrators are considered members of AHRCS and receive bulletins and announcements by e-mail, only 20 to 30 students regularly attend the meetings.
Two springs ago, the group started a student-faculty committee, composed of two to three student representatives from each class and three faculty members in addition to Davis. The committee, which meets once a semester, allows students representatives to voice their concerns to the faculty.
And it seems the department has been receptive to those concerns. Last year, under the suggestion of the student-faculty committee, the beginning of the year-long research tutorial Chem 98 was moved from the fall of junior year to the spring of sophomore year.
"We hope to help chemistry concentrators get into research one semester earlier," Davis says.
Tenure Anyone?
But the most serious problem in the Chemistry Department, according to Loo, is the shortage of faculty available to teach organic chemistry.
Professor of Chemistry Eric N. Jacobsen says the lack of faculty is unquestionably the department's most pressing problem and points out that the department now has only seven faculty members.
"We are trying to hire atleast two professors specializing in organic chemistry and even three could be justified," Jacobsen says. "We are struggling to cover the basic introductory courses now, and usually have to hire visiting professors, like Wintner for Chemistry 17."
Though the lack of faculty has been a longstanding problem, Evans says the department wants to make sure it is selecting top-notch professors in the field.
"The organic chemistry professor search has been going on for the last several years. We do not want to hire just anyone off the street," he says.
According to Evans, two ongoing searches for Junior faculty with the expectation of tenure are now being conducted, one in organic chemistry and one in inorganic chemistry.
Jacobsen says that as part of the current revamping of the department, the faculty will have to rethink whether they are teaching in the most modern way. "I think we need to incorporate more environmental issues which are not traditionally taught into the courses," he says.