The objectives of the biology program are to educate teachers and to prepare students for entrance into graduate school, research careers, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, clinical technology, and related health service occupations.

The mission of the department is to provide our graduates with a solid academic foundation in the biological sciences with skills for further educational opportunities for careers in teaching, research, and public services.  We expect that our students will become productive and informed citizens, who are well prepared for entry-level positions in public and private institutions, and for graduate and professional studies in the biological and biomedical fields.

Mission

The mission of the department is to provide our graduates with a solid academic foundation in the biological sciences with skills for further educational opportunities for careers in teaching, research, and public services.  We expect that our students will become productive and informed citizens, who are well prepared for entry-level positions in public and private institutions, and for graduate and professional studies in the biological and biomedical fields.

The program offers a Bachelor of Science degree in one major, "Biology," with five options of concentration. The options are: Botany, Zoology, Medical Technology, Pre-Medicine and Ecotoxicology. The curriculum consists of (a) required non-biology courses, (b) required biology courses, and (c) specific electives for the various options. Students, with recommendations from their advisors, may select a minimum of 8 hours under the track options. The curriculum includes 114 semester hours of core and specialty courses as a biology major, 8 semester hours of biology option courses and 4 semester hours of free electives for a total of 126 semester hours needed for graduation with a B.S. degree in biology.

Although all biology options can provide prerequisites for several health-related professions such as physical therapy, surgeon's assistant, cytotechnology, occupational therapy, and public health, a specific cooperative degree curricula in pre-nursing is also offered.

The pre-medicine option is designed to meet needs in areas such as pre-dentistry, pre-medicine, and for students who plan to pursue graduate work. The botany option is designed to prepare students for careers in areas such as botany, pharmacy, forestry, herbology, plant ecology and plant taxonomy. The ecotoxicology option prepares students for careers in toxicology, environmental toxicology, environmental health, conservation, and research careers in industry and government.

The biology program provides, in cooperation with the School of Education, curricula for students planning to teach general biology in high schools. The curriculum for general biology education is found under the section devoted to secondary education in this catalogue