Chemistry
- The Chemistry Department is small enough to guarantee close faculty-student interaction and support.
- Chemistry’s rigorous curriculum attracts highly motivated and hardworking students that obtain strong laboratory skills, a solid foundation in theory, and the ability to write scientific reports modeled after peer-reviewed publications.
- Nearly every chemistry faculty member is involved in undergraduate research with students. Chemistry faculty have obtained funding for research with undergraduates through highly competitive awards from The National Science Foundation, the American Chemical Society, the private sector, and through RSCA at SUNY New Paltz. Chemistry majors have been awarded Foundation internships, summer REU fellowships, and study abroad opportunities.
- Third- and fourth-year chemistry students are given the opportunity to use all of the research-grade instrumentation the Department owns. Experience with this equipment is viewed as highly attractive to future employers.
- Post-graduate surveys have shown success in terms of job preparation and placement. Students who apply to medical school have a virtual 100 percent success rate. One-third of chemistry graduates attend graduate school; one-third enters the workforce; and another third are pre-medical or training to be secondary education teachers.
- The department provides learning opportunities beyond academics, including membership in the Chemistry Club, which arranges field trips and helps students develop leadership and organizational skills by helping to host chemistry-related events. Students that participate in research often have the chance to attend and present at scientific conferences with their faculty mentor and to publish their results in peer-reviewed journals.
